Two world-class pianists come together for a very special collaboration at London Piano Festival: Kit Armstrong and Michael Wollny. Armstrong, a pianist who ‘combines musical maturity and youthful audacity in his exceptional playing’ joins forces with Wollny, who has long since earned his place in the international jazz Olympus and ‘has everything you can ask of a perfect jazz pianist…’

Both exceptional artists return to Kings Place and devote themselves to improvisation – each on their own and together. Two grand pianos, two heads, four hands and a great curiosity to be inspired by icons of classical and jazz literature for their own excursions. Which compositions will serve as their starting material?

Michael Wollny

Pianist Michael Wollny is considered one of the most important European jazz musicians of his generation. The Süddeutsche Zeitung calls him a musician who “can turn any conceivable music into an experience that takes your breath away”, while the FAZ considers him the “consummate piano master”. And he is anything but a typical jazz pianist. His inspirations come from Franz Schubert, Alban Berg or Gustav Mahler, from Björk or Kraftwerk, from Japanese gangster films or horror stories, his playing is as boundless as his search for the previously unheard. Wollny unfolds his fascination in the most diverse formats: solo at the piano, in duos with musicians as diverse as Heinz Sauer, Vincent Peirani, Tamar Halperin or Konstantin Gropper, in the Michael Wollny Trio, the quartet “Out Of Land” and many other collaborations with artists from the most diverse directions of the music world, such as Nils Landgren, Emile Parisien, the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Marius Neset, Leafcutter John or Joachim Kühn.

Kit Armstrong

Born in Los Angeles in 1992, Armstrong studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Alfred Brendel, who has guided Kit Armstrong as teacher and mentor since 2005, ascribes to him ” an understanding of the great piano works that combines freshness and subtlety, emotion and intellect”. His debut album for Deutsche Grammophon with works by William Byrd and John Bull, the founding fathers of music for keyboard instruments, was released in 2021 and immediately reached a high position in the German classical music charts. Armstrong has fascinated the music world ever since he entered the international stage twenty years ago. Armstrong’s approach to music is inspired by his education in sciences and mathematics. He has developed a strong artistic profile by tracing the roots of western classical keyboard music to the 16th century virginalists, making musical rarities an integral part of his performances and relating them to the great classical masterpieces of piano literature.

The performance will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.