Randy Armstrong (musician)

Did You Know?

• Armstrong graduated with a B.A. in Music Performance and Composition / World Music Studies from Columbia Pacific University in 1983.
• He studied West African drumming with Babatunde Olatunji and other West African drummers.
• His world music studies continued at the University of Ghana-Legon.

Musical career

He also toured with the rock and R&B group Annie Oakley. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations strongly influenced him. After moving to New Hampshire in 1973, he met flutist Ken LaRoche in 1974, and together they formed Do’a, a group whose name is a Persian word meaning "a call to prayer and meditation. Their music blended Western classical, jazz, and folk traditions with global instruments and influences. Do’a signed a four-album contract with Philo Records, distributed by Rounder Records. In 1986, the Do’a World Music Ensemble received official recognition from the United Nations for a concert tour promoting the International Year of Peace. Their 1989 album World Dance, on Global Pacific/CBS Associated, reached the Top 10 on the Billboard New Age chart. In 1992, Armstrong co-founded Unu Mondo with bassist Volker Nahrmann; their 1994 album Hand in Hand featured vocalist Olga Román, saxophonist Charlie Jennison, and Brazilian drummer Henrique De Almeida. Unu Mondo appeared on compilation albums released by Global Pacific Records in 1996 and toured the United States. From 1998 to 2000, Armstrong composed and recorded the soundtrack for the PBS series Dinner on the Diner, filmed in South Africa, Spain, Scotland, and Southeast Asia; the soundtrack was released by Ellipsis Arts in 2000. He later formed the Randy Armstrong Trio and World Fusion Ensemble with bassist Volker Nahrmann, drummer Jose Roman Duque, African drummer/dancer Theo Nii Martey, and Shamou on world percussion and vocals.

Career in music education

Armstrong has been active in arts education in New Hampshire, where he resides. He served as an Arts Councilor for the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts from 2003 to 2012, appointed by Governor Craig Benson and reappointed by Governor John Lynch, and also served on the board of the New Hampshire Alliance for Arts Education. Following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, he was selected as an artist representative for a Cultural Trade Mission to Ireland, Northern Ireland, and England sponsored by Governor Jeanne Shaheen. In May 2005, he attended a curatorial research trip on Son Jarocho music in Xalapa and Veracruz, Mexico, for the New England Foundation for the Arts. From 1991 to 2020, he directed the African Drumming and World Percussion Ensemble and taught North Indian sitar and tabla at Phillips Exeter Academy. Since 2002, he has taught graduate courses at Plymouth State University. He received the 2017 New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award for Arts Education and was an artist in residence with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra in 2017–2018. He is on the juried artist rosters of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts for Arts Education and Arts In Health. He also performs and conducts artist-in-residence programs with Genevieve Aichele of the New Hampshire Theater Project; together they released World Tales Volume 1 (1996) and World Tales Volume 2 (2007) on the UMP label.