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Dr. Arnold Irchai's Biography




Arnold Irchai was born into a musical family.  His father worked at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater as a violinist for over forty years.  His mother was a prominent piano teacher.
Dr. Irchai began studying bassoon at the Leningrad Special Music School for Gifted Children and continued his studies at the State Leningrad Conservatory, USSR.  At the Conservatory he received his masters and doctoral degrees.  He has performed with major symphony orchestras since his school years.  Throughout his career, he has gained extensive performance and teaching experience.   From 1974 to 1990, he was principal bassoonist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under such world-renowned conductors as Kiril Kondrashin and Dmitry Kitaenko.  Dr. Irchai taught bassoon at the Gnessins Music Pedagogical Institute in Moscow, Russia.   Among his awards are the first prize in the All-Russia Music Competition for Woodwind Quintets and the Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation Award.  He has toured Europe, Asia and the Americas with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and other world-class orchestras.  Dr. Irchai has been performing solo recitals as well as chamber music recitals throughout the United States and the world for many years.  His recent solo performances include appearances at the Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center.  Dr. Irchai’s performances have been widely reviewed and featured in local, national, and international mass media.   His performances elicited admiring comments that “Irchai … was impressive not only for flexibility of his performance which audience have come to expect, but also for his tone quality – sweet but not cloying, with an even focused vibrato in the lyrical passages and deep tones that resonated with warmth” and “bassoon at its best” in the Washington Post.   Mount Vernon Gazette rightly praises Irchai as “a master of his instrument” having “singing tone and superb technique”.  Until recently, Dr. Irchai was a member of the faculty at both the Washington Conservatory of Music in Washington, DC, and Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, MD.  He was also the Principal Bassoon of Arlington Symphony, Arlington, VA, and Prince William Symphony, Manassas, VA.

Currently, Dr. Irchai is Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Florida, School of Music and the Principal Bassoon of the National Philharmonic, and the Principal Bassoon of the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra.  He holds the position of Program Director of the Mount Vernon Music Festival, VA.  He is also a faculty member of the Summit Music Festival, Tarry Town, NY, and International Academy of Music, NY.


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Bassoon Studio Office: (352) 392-9376