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, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, 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, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Boston's Faneuil Hall, LA's Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, at Caramoor and Ravinia Festivals. 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 Ravinia, Casals, Marlboro, Moab, Alpenglow, Juneau, Caramoor, Tucson, Tanglewood and Schleswig-Holstein. An avid proponent of new music, he has also premiered compositions by Jennifer Higdon, Anton Kuerti, Alex Krasotov, David Robert Coleman, 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. Mr. Begelman is the five-time recipient of the 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 served as a professor of Clarinet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and as the Director of Woodwind Program at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He also taught at Brooklyn College and Sarah Lawrence College and guest lectured at Yale, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music in addition to many master classes throughout the US. Most recently Mr. Begelman served as the Artist-in-Residence at the Peace Center in Greenville, SC. where his music appreciation lectures as well as young artists' mentorship were highly sought after programs reaching audiences far beyond the immediate community. Raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, Igor Begelman came to the United States in 1989. He received his education from The Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and CUNY Graduate Center. His affiliation with the Piatigorsky Foundation allows him to perform and teach classical music in less traditional settings. Mr. Begelman shares his musical adventures with his wife Larisa, daughter Eve and son Joshua. For more information please visit www.jwentworth.com.