Biography
Clarinetist Igor Begelman's virtuosity and imagination on his instrument have been praised by critics as "remarkable display of music making" and have earned him an impressive list of prizes, engagements and honors, including Avery Fisher Career Grant awarded to outstanding American artists.
In recent seasons Mr. Begelman appeared as a soloist with the I Musici de Montreal, Houston Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Boston Classical Orchestra, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Celestis, Astral and Chappaqua Chamber Orchestras as well as in recitals at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, New York's Merkin Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Boston's Faneuil Hall, LA's Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, at Caramoor and Ravinia Festivals. Winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, a prize awarded to outstanding American artists, Mr. Begelman has also soloed with the Bangor, Key West, Fairbanks and Ridgefield Symphonies, Bienne Symphony Orchestra, Odense Simfoniker, New Haven, Savannah and Greenwich Symphonies. He has performed recitals in Western and Eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Israel.
Equally accomplished as a recitalist and a chamber musician, Mr. Begelman performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has appeared at numerous festivals throughout the world, including Casals, Marlboro, Moab, Juneau, Caramoor, Tucson, Tanglewood and Schleswig-Holstein. An avid proponent of new music, Mr. Begelman has also premiered compositions by Jennifer Higdon, Anton Kuerti, Alex Krasotov, Meyer Kupferman, Elliot Schwartz, and Ralph Shapey.
Mr. Begelman was awarded top prizes at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition in Denmark and the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland. In addition, he has earned top prizes at William C. Byrd Competition, Koussevitsky Competition, International Clarinet Society Competition, Heida Hermanns International Competition, Tilden Prize Competition and Crane New Music Competition among others. His honors also include the Special Prize at the 41st Munich International Competition and awards from the Altamura/Caruso Foundation and Salon de Virtuosi. In 2008, Mr. Begelman received BRIO award from the Bronx Council for the Arts. He was also featured as a special guest in the Music section of "Lifestyles" magazine.
An active educator, Mr. Begelman has been a professor of Clarinet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is the Director of Woodwind Program at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He also teaches at Brooklyn College and Sarah Lawrence College. Mr. Begelman has guest lectured on various occasions at Yale, Juilliard, and Manhattan School of Music in addition to many master classes throughout the US.
Raised in Kiev, Ukraine, Igor Begelman came to the United States in 1989. He received his Master's degree from The Juilliard School of Music and a Bachelor's degree from The Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Begelman has also received valuable mentoring from Astral Artistic Services, a Philadelphia-based organization guiding emerging young artists.
Mr. Begelman currently resides in New York with his wife Larisa, daughter Eve and son Joshua. His affiliation with the Piatigorsky Foundation allows him to teach and perform classical music in less traditional settings. For more information please visit www.jwentworth.com.