TAGI - the clarinet, violin, cello, piano quartet – has burst onto the chamber music scene with a debut performance at the Lukas Foss’ Hamptons Summer Music Festival with an attention-demanding performance that was praised by critics as “spellbinding as a Faust-like tale, producing a stunning effect.”

Members of TAGI – clarinetist Igor Begelman, violinist Grigory Kalinovsky, cellist Sophie Shao and pianist Tatiana Goncharova have brought audiences to their feet at the most prestigious venues around the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Kravis Center in Florida, Miyazaki Festival, Suntory and Casals Halls in Japan, Great Composers Festival in Canada, National Hall in Taiwan, Singapore Sun Festival and on stages of leading festivals such as Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, Marlboro, Ravinia, Tanglewood and Caramoor.

With their innovative programs, members of TAGI have toured throughout North and South America, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Israel and Russia. Numerous media outlets including NPR, PBS, Radio France, Japanese Public Networks, Israel National Television, and New York’s WQXR have featured the group and its members. Highlights of the past season include performances on the Asheville Chamber Music Series, Universities of Western and South Carolina, Bentley College, Emelin Theater, Howland Chamber Music Circle, Big Arts in Florida, Casals Festival, Moab Music Festival, Distinguished Artists Series at New York’s 92 Y, Juneau Jazz and Classics, Bridgehampton, Saratoga, Vail, and the Newport Festival, among others. Collectively and individually, members of TAGI have collaborated with Pinchas Zukerman, Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Christof Eschenbach, Ralph Kirshbaum, Carter Brey, David Shifrin, Jaime Laredo, Andre Previn, Eugene Istomin, Cho-Liang Lin, Andre-Michel Schub, Paquito D'Rivera, Andras Schiff, Fred Sherry, Ani Kavafian, Claude Frank, Andre Watts, Martha Argerich, and Richard Goode.

TAGI excels in the classical chamber repertoire but is also dedicated to promoting the music of our time, including premiering and performing works by Peter Schickele, Lera Auerbach, Meyer Kupferman, Elliot Schwartz, David Winkler and Alexander Krasotov. The all-Shostakovich recording released in 2002 on Centaur Records garnered wide critical acclaim, having been noted by the International Record Review for its “emotional intensity” and “overwhelming mastery.”

TAGI’s artists are passionate about bringing classical music to a wider audience, developing numerous outreach programs for the young and old, and performing in less traditional settings alongside their appearances at the world’s most respected venues. In order to further enrich the concert experience, TAGI’s extensively varied performance repertoire runs the range from classical style to contemporary music, of which they are particularly strong advocates, understanding the need to move forward. Their unique instrumentation provides the opportunity to further enrich their program by presenting quartets, trios, duos and the occasional solo, inspired by the rich, varied and sometimes rare repertoire for their instrument combination.

Equally rare is their exceptional individual talent. All laureates of prestigious international awards such as Avery Fisher Career Award, as well as Tchaikovsky, Rostropovich, Carl Nielsen, Geneva and Bellini International Competitions, they have been acknowledged as respected contributors to the world’s classical stage on their separate fields outside of the ensemble. Individually, the artists of TAGI studied at the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, Yale College, Manhattan School of Music and Moscow State Conservatory.

TAGI members –Igor Begelman, clarinet, Grigory Kalinovsky, violin, Sophie Shao, cello and Tatiana Goncharova, piano - reside in New York City. They hold teaching positions at the Manhattan School of Music, Bard College Conservatory of Music, Princeton University, North Carolina School of the Arts, Pinchas Zukerman Institute in Canada, Sarah Lawrence College and the Bowdoin Festival in Maine.

TAGI is represented by Isabella Puccini at Isabella Puccini Management.