Faculty Chair Profile

Eugene Izotov
NMS Oboe Faculty Chair
Principal Oboe, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Eugene Izotov is principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, appointed by Daniel Barenboim in 2005. He previously has served as principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, associate principal oboe of the San Francisco Symphony, and principal oboe of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. Izotov has performed as guest principal oboe with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony Orchestra. He appears regularly with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, most recently performing Robert Schumann's Three Romances, op. 94 with James Levine at the piano. He is a frequent soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and has also been a featured soloist with the Boston Pops, Kansas City Symphony, United States Army Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony, performing works by Mozart, Strauss, Marcello, Krommer, Hummel, and Bach.

Mr. Izotov is the first prize winner of the 2001 Fernand Gillet International Solo Oboe Competition, a laureate of the 1995 New York International competition for Solo Oboe Players, the 1991 Russia Wind Players Competition, and the 1991 New Names International competition. His solo CD recording, Sound in Motion, featuring works by Rachmaninov, Pasculli, Ravel, and Silvestrini, was recently released on the Boston Records label.

Mr. Izotov is currently on the faculties of DePaul and Roosevelt universities; he previously taught at the Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has given numerous master classes at conservatories across the nation and abroad, including the New World Symphony; Boston University; Manhattan School of Music; San Francisco Conservatory; University of Michigan; University of California, Berkeley; Mannes College; Boston University's Tanglewood Institute; and Interlochen Center for the Arts. In 2003, at the invitation of James Levine, Izotov joined the woodwind faculty of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchstra in Switzerland. Since 2005, he continues to serve on the International Principals faculty of the Pacific Music Festival, founded by Leonard Bernstein in Sapporo, Japan. Mr. Izotov is a member of the Advisory Board for New Music School of Chicago.

A native of Russia, Eugene Izotov began his musical career at the age of six at the Gnesin School of Music in Moscow. He performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, appearing at the Sarasota, Hampden-Sydney, and Bowdoin festivals, in addition to the Tanglewood Music Festival, where he received the 1995 Outstanding Wind Player Award. Izotov is the recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University School of Music, where he studied with Ralph Gomberg.

If you would like to contact Mr. Izotov, please email him at eugeneizotov@newmusicschool.com.