Education:  After attendance at Harvard College (1959-61) Armstrong received a Diploma in Performance from the Longy School of Music (1967) and the BM from Emerson College (1968). He then earned graduate Performance degrees from the Yale School of Music (MMA in 1972, DMA 1980 on Late Works of Busoni) and completed a post-doctoral residency in Composition and Computer Music at the University of North Texas (1984-85).

Studies:  He studied Composition with Nicholas Van Slyck, Alexander Goehr, Thomas Clark, Phil Winsor and Larry Austin; Theory with Randall Thompson, Luise Vosgerchian, Robert Moevs, Hall Overton and Kevin Korsyn; Piano with Gregory Tucker, Artur Balsam, Ernst Lévy, Kyriena Siloti and John Kirkpatrick.

Honors:  New York Music Education League's Steinway Hall Piano Competition, first prize (1952); concerto appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1955); Harvard Dean's List (1960); Longy School and Emerson College scholarships (1967-68); Yale School of Music named scholarships in piano/composition/theory and Graduate Assistantship to the Curator of the Charles E. Ives Collection (1971-72).

Teaching (posts in reverse order):  Midwestern State University (TX) Assoc. Prof. as first occupant of the Bolin Distinguished Piano Chair (1981-85); Trinity College (CT) as Lecturer in Theory and Artist in Residence (1973-79); Wesleyan University (CT) as Visiting Instructor and Instrumental Teacher (1970-79); earlier posts as Piano Instructor at the Neighborhood Music School (New Haven) and Hartford Conservatory.

Systems Programming: At Ibid Inc (Forth-language shop in Hartford, CT) - wrote the intercommunications test suite for Coleco's Talking Cabbage Patch Kids ('85-6);  at the Federal Judiciary served as Linux Systems Administrator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Connecticut District (from 1995, retired 2011).

Affiliations (past & present): ACMA, AMC, AGNULA, CMS, CSND, EMF, ICMA, IMSLP, J, LAD, MDSO, NMUSA, SCI, SEAMUS, SIGAPL, SMCM;  served for a season as president of the Studio of Electronic Music Inc. (SEMI), Simsbury CT.

Post-1990:  Aside from his Federal Judiciary service (1995-2011), Armstrong's activity has been dedicated to composition.