Cover Story: Teen Strings magazine Jan/Feb 2007, No.5

In the Moment
By David Templeton

For Nigel Armstrong, the emotional connection to the music is paramount.

Nigel Armstrong is in a trance. That’s what it looks like, anyway, when Armstrong—violin in place, eyes half-closed in concentration—launches the fiery last Allegro in Saint-Saëns’ Rondo Capriccioso, his sautillé bouncing with remarkable cleanness as his face reacts to the twists and turns of the music.

It’s a lot like watching a video of someone on a roller coaster; you’ve probably noticed that nine out of ten riders will be screaming and laughing and waving their arms, while one person just sits there, not shrieking, not laughing, but clearly reacting, trance-like, to every ascent and descent, soaking up every sensation along the way. In the end, it is usually the person with that look who experiences the ride most fully, and Nigel Armstrong has that look on his face right now.

Today, the 16-year-old violinist is the special guest soloist for an after-noon performance with the American Philharmonic-Sonoma County, performing at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park, California, about 40 miles north of San Francisco. His performance also includes Saint-Saëns’ Havanaise. Later, Nigel admits he lets himself get very involved in the music he is playing, and appreciates players who do not sacrifice emotional connection for mere technical proficiency.

“It was very fun to play those pieces with that orchestra,” he says a few days later. “And it was especially fun to work with the American Philharmonic’s conductor, Gabriel Sakakeeny, because he has so much passion and enthusiasm for the music.

“I like that.”

Armstrong is one of those players who’s been called a prodigy since before he learned to ride a bike. He began playing violin at the age of five, but requested lessons at four after hearing violin music coming from the house across the street, where the neighborhood violin teacher lived. He started high-school math and science classes at 12, and when featured on the popular National Public Radio program From the Top—playing Dvorák’s Romance in F minor, Op. 11—reporter Hayley Goldbach challenged Armstrong’s statement that his favorite thing to read was British news-magazine the Economist. His response to Goldbach’s impromptu news quiz proved that he really did read the topical magazine.

He debuted professionally with the Berkeley Symphony two years later, performing as the symphony’s inaugural Young Artist Award recipient. Since then, he has won a closet-full of awards, including some for his own compositions; in 2002, he earned Honorable Mention in the ASCAP Young Composers Morton Gould Awards for a composition entitled Song of the Zoonks.

Originally from the rural town of Sonoma (not far from Rohnert Park), Armstrong is a junior at Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts, a private boarding-school for the arts that focuses on music, theater, ballet, modern dance, creative writing, and the visual arts. Renowned as one of the best “finishing schools” for artistically oriented kids, the school, located about 25 minutes south of Boston, attracts students from all over the world.

Armstrong is a long way from home, but he says that living in the Boston area, surrounded by like-minded students—more than 25 of them are also violinists—is a good experience, though much different from Northern California.

“The richness of the culture at Walnut Hill is really powerful,” he says. “It’s interesting that the international students, a lot of them, end up adopting the attitudes of the culture here, which is a mix of East Coast attitude and a kind of high-school-artist attitude.

“It’s a very high-charged energy around here.”

Of course, the Boston area affords many cultural opportunities. “Musically, there is a lot more going on here, in general,” he says. “A lot of interesting things are happening in Boston.”

He visits the city at least twice a week for chamber-music coaching, and is frequently able to attend concerts in his spare time, of which he doesn’t have much.

And that’s how he likes it.

With so many performances at school and a number of auditions lined up, his primary priority is to develop a strong repertoire of audition pieces, all while continuing to hone his musical chops, and work on his own compositions.

“The coolest thing I’m doing right now is my own music,” he says. “I really enjoy creating.”

Occasionally, Armstrong even manages to have a little non-musical fun, though there are those who might challenge his definition of the word “fun.” When not practicing the violin, he enjoys studying world-philosophy and the occasional European novel (he’s recently been reading the works of the French philosopher Voltaire and just finished novelist Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose). He is fond of playing logic games such as chess, Go, and the Chinese variants of Go.

As for sports, all things considered, soccer is his favorite game.

“I’m not very good at soccer,” he allows, with a laugh, “but I like playing soccer anyway. I like that it’s a team sport, and involves thinking as a unit rather than as a single person. I think it’s important for a musician to develop different interests, to create a life aside from music. Influenced by music, yes, but not focused only on music.”

Laughing, he adds, “I don’t really know how to do that, but I do think it’s a good idea.”

Armstrong is not certain what his steps will be beyond high school. He intends to be a professional musician—and is already well on his way—but is still unsure whether he sees himself as a soloist, a member of an orchestra, or part of a chamber ensemble—all of which he has enjoyed.

“I’m keeping my options open. I could be happy doing many things,” he says.

As for college, he’s applying to Harvard, but is keeping his options open there as well. “I don’t know what school I really want to go to,” he says. “Actually, ‘I don’t know’ is something I’ve been saying and thinking a lot lately. I’ve got a lot of things to figure out.”

It’s not too surprising—especially coming from someone who’s fluent in the philoso–phical musings of controversial French rationalists—that Armstrong has strong opinions on many subjects, none stronger than his ideas about music. Mainly, he is committed to classical music. Secondly, for a teen who is interested in so many intellectual pursuits, his approach to music is surprisingly poetic and emotional.

“One thing I find very important in my own playing,” he explains, “is to keep remembering that music is not just an intellectual exercise. It is an emotional exercise, too. I find that lacking in many musicians, professional or not, and especially in young players, where classical training is often just a step to something else, away from classical music and toward something else: maybe rock ‘n’ roll or traditional music. I really do believe that the love of classical music is being lost, even among young classically trained players.

“Rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t appeal to me on an emotional level as much as classical music does,” he continues. “It doesn’t resonate at a higher level for me. Rock and classical are different art forms and they both have their unique appeals, but I prefer the intensity of classical music. I find that classical music is thoughtful and contemplative—but it’s very direct, and that’s where the intensity comes in. It’s not relaxed music. I’m intense when I play, because the emotions are intense, and for me, that should be the goal of a musician: to experience fully the emotions you are playing.”

Asked to boil that down to a short, simple piece of advice for other young players, Armstrong is silent for several seconds. Finally, he says, “A lot of young players make the mistake of focusing only on cultivating their expertise instead of focusing on what makes the music so wonderful. My advice is to remember why you are a musician.

“The music is the moment,” he says. “Enjoy yourself.” 

Teen Strings Magazine Article
Teen Strings Magazine