Bassist Daniel Armstrong retires from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Daniel Armstrong, a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s bass section, has retired after 27 years of service. He performed his last concert as a CSO member while in Toronto last month during the orchestra’s 2023 North American Tour.

A native of Canada, Armstrong has an unusual bond to Chicago. His first bass was a plywood instrument that his father bought from a hardware store in his hometown of Kitimat, British Columbia. That bass was manufactured in Chicago.

By June 1995, when Music Director Daniel Barenboim appointed Armstrong to the CSO bass section, he was playing a classic 18th-century Italian instrument. Before joining the CSO, Armstrong was assistant principal bass of the Milwaukee Symphony for 12 seasons. He also spent four seasons as a bass in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

During his CSO tenure, Armstrong has performed in concerts across Chicago and the world, including many CSO tours and the 2017 and 2018 Concerts for Peace organized by the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant Yo-Yo Ma and the Negaunee Music Institute.

“While it is deeply gratifying and a huge honor to be part of this great orchestra, and to perform for wonderful CSO audiences, the opportunities to bring music to people who might never see the inside of Symphony Center have been some of the most enriching experiences the CSO has given me,” Armstrong said.

A passionate music educator, Armstrong has been heavily involved in other Negaunee Music Institute programs, performing in schools, after-school programs, community centers, prisons, senior centers and hospitals, as a soloist and with a string quintet. Through the Institute, he has also performed in concert with members of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

A founding member of the contemporary music ensemble Present Music, Armstrong continues to play with that group. He has appeared as soloist on WFMT-FM, CBC Radio and with orchestras in Milwaukee and Ottawa. He also performs new music with the Jason Seed Stringtet and has played regularly on the CSO MusicNOW series. More recently, his compositional interests have helped him reach out to Chicago-area audiences, arranging music for the CSO ensemble Cinco and creating songs for Literacy Chicago. In addition, he has been involved in the Lullaby Project, which partners with young mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds to bring music into their children’s lives.

After starting piano studies at age 4, Armstrong taught himself ukulele, guitar and bass; he took his first formal bass lesson during his third year at the University of British Columbia. He switched from engineering to the music department, and he went on to earn music degrees at the University of British Columbia and the Juilliard School.

In retirement, Armstrong will continue his interests in chamber music, orchestra, piano, arranging and songwriting. He rejoined the CSO bass section as a guest for the Kansas City/Florida tour that capped the CSO’s touring activities in the 2022/23 Season and intends to return to the CSO on future occasions. He and his wife, Judith Harway, plan to return to Canada, enjoying their new home in Stratford, Ontario, as well as continuing to spend time in Chicago and the Midwest. He will receive the CSO’s Theodore Thomas Medallion for distinguished service at a later date.