Arnold
Irchai
School of Music
Associate Professor
Specialization: Bassoon
T: (352)
392-9376
F: (352)
392-0461
E:
irchai@ufl.edu
Address:
300C AUD P.O. Box 117900
Gainesville, Fl 32611-7900
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, where he received his masters and doctoral degrees. He has performed with major symphony orchestras since his school years, and has gained extensive performance and teaching experience throughout his career. 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. He has been performing solo recitals as well as with chamber groups and a woodwind quintet throughout the United States and the world for many years. His recent solo performances include appearances in Lincoln Center, NY, and Kennedy Center, Washington, DC. Dr. Irchai's performances have been widely reviewed and featured in local, national and international mass media. His performances elicited the admiring comment 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 with the faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music, Washington, DC, and Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, MD, and the the Principal Bassoon of Arlington Symphony, Arlington, VA, and Prince William Symphony, Manassas, VA.
Currently, Dr. Irchai is the Principal Bassoon of the National Chamber Orchestra and the Program Director of the Mount Vernon Music Festival. He is also a faculty member of the Summit Music Festival, Tarry Town, NY.