Daniel Armstrong joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June 1995, after 12 seasons as assistant principal bass in the Milwaukee Symphony and four with the Winnipeg Symphony. Having started on piano at four in a small town on the north coast of British Columbia, he began studying bass as a third-year college student when music finally overcame other interests. He switched from engineering to the music department and earned music degrees at the University of British Columbia and Juilliard.
A founding member of the contemporary music ensemble Present Music, Armstrong continues to play with them as time allows. He has appeared as soloist on WFMT, CBC Radio and with orchestras in Milwaukee and Ottawa. He also performs new music with the Jason Seed Stringtet and the CSO’s MusicNOW series. More recently, his arranging and compositional interests have helped him reach out to audiences throughout the Chicago area, as a member of the CSO ensemble Cinco, and through involvement in the Lullaby Project, which helps young mothers write and perform songs for their children.
Armstrong retired from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in February 2023.
