Kyle Armbrust started playing the viola at age three. Since giving his New York solo debut with Kurt Masur and the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, he has created a multi-dimensional career performing and recording a wide range of music. The New York Times has described him as “assured, brilliant, and stylish,” and the New York Post called him “musically mature, technically sound.” As a soloist, Armbrust has performed with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Lake George Chamber Orchestra, the Maple City Chamber Orchestra, and the Woodstock Festival Orchestra.
An active proponent of contemporary music, Armbrust has worked with Elliott Carter, Mario Davidovsky, Osvaldo Golijov, Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, and others. He first performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble in 2011 as part of the Tully SCOPE Festival, then again in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and he participated in the Carlos Iturralde ICElab in February 2012. Armbrust also performs with the Argento Ensemble and the Orchestra of the League of Composers. In addition to his other activities, Armbrust is currently the assistant principal viola of the New Jersey Symphony, the principal viola of the Westchester Philharmonic, and a founding member of the Knights Chamber Orchestra. He is a substitute member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Armbrust’s dedication to chamber music has led to festival appearances at Aix-en-Provence, Caramoor, Charlottesville, La Jolla SummerFest, Marlboro, Monadnock, Moritzburg, Ravinia, Schleswig-Holstein, Stillwater, and Verbier. He has performed at Bargemusic, the Gardner Museum, the Freer Gallery, the New York Yacht Club, the Neue Galerie, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Armbrust has also worked with Herbie Hancock, Lauryn Hill, Mya, Sufjan Stevens, Sting, and made an appearance on the show 30 Rock.
Armbrust received his B.M., M.M., and Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Michael Tree. He has recorded for Ancalagon, Cedille, Interscope, Naxos, Ondine, and Sony. Armbrust plays a Carlo Antonio Testore viola made in Milan in 1752 and plugs in with a DPA 4099V.
