Eugene Izotov (born 1973) is a Russian-born oboist and recording artist. He is currently the Principal Oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra appointed by Daniel Barenboim in 2005. First Russian-born oboist in any major U.S. symphony orchestra. Faculty member of DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Verbier Festival (Switzerland) and Pacific Music Festival (Japan). Prior to these posts, he served as the Principal Oboist of the Metropolitan Opera, Associate Principal Oboe of the San Francisco Symphony, Principal Oboist of the Kansas City Symphony and has taught at the Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He studied with American oboist Ralph Gomberg at Boston University, from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. In addition to being recognized as one of the world's premiere orchestral oboists, Izotov has been awarded top prizes at international competitions for solo oboists in Moscow (1990), Saint Petersburg (1991), New York (1995) and the First Prize at the 2001 Fernand Gillet International Oboe competition. Eugene Izotov's chamber music collaborations include regular partnerships with Pinchas Zukerman, James Levine, Jaime Laredo, André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Yo Yo Ma, Michael Tilson Thomas, Yefim Bronfman, and the Tokyo String Quartet. He is a frequent soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has recorded for Sony Classical, Boston Records, Lisem Records, BMG, Elektra, and CSOResound.