Prolific composer on song with OBE

The Glasgow-born musician – who has worked with Madonna and Pavarotti – is equally at home with pop musicians as when he is working on classical recordings and opera. He has released albums in his own right featuring collaborations with artists such as Bono and Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando. A talented jazz player, Armstrong trained […]

The Glasgow-born musician – who has worked with Madonna and Pavarotti – is equally at home with pop musicians as when he is working on classical recordings and opera.

He has released albums in his own right featuring collaborations with artists such as Bono and Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando.

A talented jazz player, Armstrong trained at the Royal Academy of Music and passed through the ranks of bands such as Hipsway, Texas and The Big Dish.

He became in-house composer to a Glasgow theatre company and by 1996 made a significant impact with his score to Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo And Juliet.

He teamed up with Luhrmann again with Moulin Rouge, which won him a Golden Globe and Bafta. Other major films have included his Grammy-winning Ray, The Quiet American and Layer Cake.

Armstrong has also worked with acts such as Massive Attack over the years. His own albums have included 2002’s As If To Nothing – which features a number of tracks which have become popular TV soundbeds – and Piano Works in 2004.

His first full classical release, Memory Takes My Hand, came out in 2008, although he has written commissions for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.

In 2007, Armstrong’s first opera, with a libretto by author Ian Rankin, received its premiere.

A visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music London, he recently worked on the soundtrack for a remake of mythical epic The Clash Of The Titans.