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1973: Born in Moscow, Russia.
1980: Started music studies with his father, Alexander Izotov, and at Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow with Ivan Pushechnikov and Sergey Velikanov.
1991: Won the Russia Wind Players Competition in Saint Petersburg. Then moved to the USA, studying at Boston University School of Fine Arts with American oboist Ralph Gomberg.
1995: Was awarded at Third New York International Competition for Solo Oboists and performed as principal oboe at Tanglewood Music Festival, where he received the Outstanding Wind Player Award. First orchestral job with the New World Symphony in Miami. Immediately after that, he won the audition for principal oboe of Kansas City Symphony.
1996: Appointed associate principal oboe of the San Francisco Symphony, becoming the orchestra’s youngest member.
1999: Recorded the oboe solo for the song No Leaf Clover, composed and conducted by Michael Kamen for Metallica’s S&M album with the San Francisco Symphony.
2000: Performed Mozart’s Oboe Concerto at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
2001: First Prize at the Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition. Also received Boston University School of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni Award in Music.
2002: Appointed principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York by James Levine.
2003: Named Professor of Oboe at The Juilliard School. Also, he joined the woodwind faculty of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland at the invitation of Maestro Levine.
2005: Released the album Sound in Motion (Boston Records) with pianists Christopher Brown and Elizaveta Kopelman. He joined the International Principals faculty of the Pacific Music Festival founded by Leonard Bernstein in Sapporo, Japan. Then was appointed principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Daniel Barenboim and a faculty member at DePaul University and Roosevelt University.
2007: Performed Mozart’s Oboe Concerto at Symphony Center in Chicago with CSO / Ludovic Morlot.
2011: Named Oboe mentor for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra during its residency at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. This year he soloed in two programs with CSO: Marcello’s Oboe Concerto (conducting Nicholas McGegan) in April and a Baroque and dance hybrid program — with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago — including Vivaldi’s Oboe Concerto in F Major (conducting Ludovic Morlot) and Mozart’s Oboe Concerto (conducting Nicholas McGegan) in November.
2012: Participated in the recording for the Oscar-nominated score for Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln with CSO / John Williams.
2013: Premiered Martinů’s Oboe Concerto at Symphony Center in Chicago with CSO / Riccardo Muti.
2014: Performed Strauss’ Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D Major at Symphony Center in Chicago with CSO / Edo de Waart, in memory of his recently deceased friend William Bennett (principal oboe of the San Francisco Symphony). He joined the Oboe faculty of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.
2015: Appointed principal oboe of the San Francisco Symphony by Michael Tilson Thomas, and Professor of Oboe at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
2016: Performed Marcello’s Oboe Concerto at Davies Symphony Hall as soloist and conductor with the San Francisco Symphony.
2019: Invited by Valery Gergiev to serve on the first-ever woodwind jury of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.
2021: After a 15-month hiatus due to COVID, the San Francisco Symphony returned to live concerts. The Washington Post did a story about it, starring Izotov, which can be watched here. Full article on The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/the-first-performance-since-the-pandemic/2021/06/18/b8eaaf57-4cd1-4861-9b04-01b0c35e583f_video.html

20 Important Dates in the Life of Eugene Izotov

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