Tchaikovsky Competition Finalist Nigel Armstrong Joins American Youth Symphony for Season Finale

The American Youth Symphony
(AYS), led by Music Director Alexander Treger and noted for its innovative
programming and inspiring performances, celebrates its legacy of training
exceptional musicians over the past 49 years, with “The Alumni Project,”
honoring the orchestra’s numerous illustrious “graduates” on Sunday, April 13,
2014, 7 pm, at UCLA’s Royce Hall.  The
concert, which concludes the season, features the orchestra’s 106 current
members and a host of alumni, including acclaimed former concertmaster Nigel
Armstrong, finalist in the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition, performing Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64, one of his
largest operatic works, which is scored for 125 players and depicts the
spectacular climb up an Alpine mountain from twilight to dusk.  Treger also conducts Debussy’s tone-poem An Afternoon of a Faun, Chausson’s
Poème, Op. 25, and Saint-Saëns’s Introduction
et rondo capriccioso, Op. 28.

Armstrong, hailed as “gifted” and
“blazing” (Chicago Tribune), is a
California native and recent graduate of The Colburn School Conservatory of
Music.  He trained with the
American Youth Symphony from 2008 to 2011 while studying at the Colburn
Conservatory and won Fourth Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011.  He continues his ascent to international fame
sharing his many talents in tango, bluegrass and classical music performances
around the world.

““It is an
honor to have Nigel and so many other estemmed American Youth Symphony alumni
join the orchestra for this special concert,” says Treger.  “It provides a great mentorship opportunity
for our current players to have the opportunity to share their stands with
these top professionals.”

AYS has trained more than 2,300
musicians since it was founded, and many of its alumni hold principal positions
with the world’s top orchestras, the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, among
them.  Additionally, AYS’s free concert
series, which has drawn more than a quarter of a million people to the Royce
Hall since its inception, provides vital music outreach to the community. 

Reservations
are recommended but not required for the American Youth Symphony’s free concert
at Royce Hall.  Royce Hall is located on
the campus of UCLA at 10745 Dickson Plaza in Westwood, CA, 90095.  For more information, please call (310)
470-2332 or log on to www.AYSymphony.org.