Instruments

• Violin

• Trumpet

• Piano

Education

• BA in Music and BS in Computer Science, Western Washington University (2024)

Skills & Specialized Training

• Violin (any level)

• Trumpet (any level)

• Piano (beginner to intermediate)

• Music Theory/Ear Training/Improvisation (any level)

Bio

Igor is a multi-genre multi-instrumentalist that has an all-encompassing love of music, and they enjoy nothing more than sharing this magical realm with their students. Igor mixes classical and jazz techniques with influences from diverse styles from around the globe. Through their teaching, Igor tries to match the wide world of music to the specific interests of their students, not only establishing a solid foundational technique that will let their students thrive no matter what their musical goals, but also broaden their students understanding of what music can be.

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Igor’s family was their first musical influence, as their mom loved accompanying herself on guitar to various Soviet era folk songs, and their dad briefly studied violin and piano at a conservatory level before switching fields. Moving to the United States with their family at a young age, Igor grew up in South Florida and started studying music with classical violin lessons at age 7. They quickly fell in love with everything music, and soon joined the Florida Youth Orchestra, remaining a member of this group until they aged out at 18. During middle school they joined the school band on trumpet and began formal study in both classical trumpet and piano.

As a small child, Igor was always enraptured by musical street performers and at age 11 gained their first performance experience playing violin on the streets of their hometown. To this day they continue to entertain the public with occasional street performances, and often shares these performances with un-housed musicians as a unique and human form of outreach.

Fresh out of high school, Igor first pursued college at Florida Atlantic University’s Commercial Music Program, a hybrid program that combined traditional conservatory style musical education with a fully student-run record label. At FAU, Igor’s studies focused on classical and jazz trumpet as well as audio technology. During this time, they picked up guitar and bass and through FAU’s popular music ensemble and branched out to popular music genres, including rock, funk, metal, reggae and began experimenting with recording and producing acoustic, electric, and electronic music.

Ever since diving headfirst into popular music genres, they have had a passion for the stage and began performing and recording with various local bands. Due to cuts to Florida’s educational budget, Igor’s full-ride scholarship to FAU was severely reduced and they were forced to quit college and follow their parents out to the Greater Seattle Area. Here, they began their career as a private music instructor and immediately got involved with the local music scene, most notably with the short lived but bombastic funk act Brotha’ Groove, and the recently viral art-rock sensation Steel Beans, and garnered a notable reputation among local musicians as a skillful and dependable performer.

Igor moved up to Bellingham in 2021 to complete their undergraduate education at Western Washington University, pursuing and completing majors in both Music and Computer Science in early 2024. Igor hopes to use their tech-savvy to push the boundaries of what is possible with computer technology in music.

Influences

Igor has many diverse musical influences. In their violin playing, Igor cites the technique and tone of great players such as jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli and classical violinist David Oistrakh. Jazz players Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, and classicist Allen Vizzutti greatly influence their trumpet style. For piano, Igor greatly enjoys the works of Romantic era classical composers such as Beethoven and Chopin, and admires the playing of jazz pianists such as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and Herbie Hancock. In addition to classical and jazz influences, Igor enjoys absorbing music from popular American genres and electronic dance music styles, as well as various music traditions from around the world such as Indonesian Gamelan and Hindustani classical music. Igor especially loves the music of the African diaspora including funk, blues, soul, and hip-hop. They particularly enjoy the music of funk legend George Clinton and his group Parliament-Funkadelic, and greatly admire artists and groups such as Tom Waits, Jimi Hendrix, Betty Davis, Daft Punk, Justice, Barrington Levy, Yellowman, Rammstein, Kraftwerk among many others.