Kedrick Armstrong
Porter Research Fellow
Graduate Student

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for his ability to "simply let the score speak for itself," Kedrick Armstrong enjoys a wide range of conducting. Kedrick was recently appointed as Creative Partner and Principal Conductor of the Galesburg Symphony Society/Knox-Galeburg Symphony. During the 2022/2023 season, he will debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, premiering a new opera, The Factotum, by Will Liverman and K Rico. Future engagements include the Oakland Symphony, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera, and the world premiere of Irene Britton Smith's Sinfonietta (1956) with the University of Colorado Boulder Symphony Orchestra. Kedrick has appeared with the Oakland Symphony, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Sinfonietta, DePaul University Opera Theater, and Wheaton College OperaMainstage. Kedrick uses his voice as a Black conductor to advocate for classical music's performance, publication, and preservation of minority voices. This advocacy and research have led to various speaking engagements and his current appointment as the Porter Research Fellow with the University of Colorado Boulder's American Music Research Center, where he's also pursuing an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting.