Katharine Dain & Sam Armstrong
Soprano Katharine Dain performs opera, orchestral repertoire, chamber music, and song throughout Europe and North America and is a writer and collaborator on a wide range of creative projects. She was Artist-in-Residence with Helsinki’s Tapiola Sinfonietta in the 2022-23 season and has recently performed as soloist with the Dutch National Opera, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra of the 18th Century. She studied at Harvard, Guildhall, and Mannes, and she lives in the Netherlands. www.katharinedain.com
Hailed as a “major new talent” by International Piano, British pianist Sam Armstrong’s recent performance highlights included Wigmore Hall with violinist Geneva Lewis,
the Bath Festival and Perth Concert Hall with violinist Irène Duval, and invitations to numerous European festivals. Sam studied with Helen Krizos in Manchester at the RNCM and subsequently in New York with Richard Goode at Mannes, winning the most important awards for piano in both institutions: first prize in the RNCM Piano Recital Prize and the Nadia Reisenberg Debut Award from Mannes. www.samarmstrongpianist.com
Katharine and Sam met as students in New York. Their first album as a duo, “Regards sur l’Infini” (7 Mountain Records, 2020), featured music of Messiaen, Delbos, Debussy, Saariaho, and Dutilleux and was universally praised in the press: it was the Guardian’s Classical CD of the week, recommended by Gramophone, in numerous best-of-the-year lists in Dutch outlets, and won an Edison Klassiek Award for Best Debut. The duo has since performed recitals in Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Concertgebouw Brugge, and De Doelen, among others.
Photo credits: Jasper Grijpink