Oskar Espina Ruiz, clarinet Since Spanish Clarinetist Oskar Espina Ruiz won top prizes at the Olga Koussevitzky and Artists International competitions in New York in 1999, he has completed very successful solo concert tours throughout Europe, the United States, South America, Russia, China and Japan, including recitals at major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories and Radio Television Hong Kong. Highlights from recent seasons include concerto appearances with the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in Russia and the Asunción Symphony in Paraguay. His performance at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic was "highly expressive, perfect in all the details and virtuosically executed", wrote Nevskoye Vremia of St. Petersburg. Other highlights of the season include recitals at the Royal Superior Conservatory in Madrid, Yotsuya Kumin Hall in Tokyo and Katherine the Great Palace in St Petersburg, as well as his Moscow debut recital at the Pushkin Museum. Critics in Tokyo highlight his "extremely advanced technique and passion", while ABC of Paraguay writes: "Through bewitching vibrancy and expressiveness Oskar Espina Ruiz brings forth the notes with an energy that reaches down to one's soul". His recent recording of the complete works for clarinet by legendary composer-clarinetist Julián Menéndez has received unanimous praise and the endorsements of clarinet soloists Richard Stoltzman, Charles Neidich and Vicente Peñarrocha. "Bravo and congratulations. You have opened a beautiful treasure chest of repertoire for the world of clarinetists." - writes Richard Stoltzman. "Menéndez's music fills an important niche. Espina-Ruiz plays the music with great feeling and technical aplomb." - writes Charles Neidich. "This recording ['Julián Menéndez Rediscovered'] is the result of the profound knowledge, excellent technique and sensitivity of Espina-Ruiz." - writes Vicente Peñarrocha. Espina-Ruiz's long research work and numerous performances on Menéndez led to the inclusion of Menéndez's clarinet, next to Benny Goodman's, at the Instrumental Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Other recordings include his solo CD Basque Heart, with works by Arriaga, Ravel, Milhaud and others, as well as his CD Abriendo Fronteras with Ernach Trio. He is also closely involved with contemporary music and has premiered works written for him by Ao, Hu, Chen, Bageneta, Villasol and Gaigne. In 2003, he gave the South American premiere of the original Copland Clarinet Concerto. Furthermore, he has composed several chamber music works, which were premiered in New York. He is on the clarinet faculty at Bloomingdale School of Music, in Manhattan, and has been a guest professor at nine of the main conservatories in China, including the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. He regularly appears at summer music festivals and master-classes in his native Spain. Oskar Espina Ruiz is Artistic Director of the Treetops Chamber Music Society, in Stamford, Connecticut.