Oskar Espina Ruiz- Kaleidoscope Arts Concert Series 2026

Saturday, June 13

7:30pm - 9:30pm

$15.00

Let Oskar Espina Ruiz take you on a clarinet journey, where precision meets passion and notes become stories. Joined by Kaleidoscope Arts Artistic Director, Victoria Schwartzman on the piano.

Oskar Espina Ruiz, Clarinet

Saturday, June 13, 2026 - 7:30pm

Let Oskar Espina Ruiz take you on a clarinet journey, where precision meets passion and notes become stories.

Oskar Espina Ruiz has emerged as one of the leading clarinetists of his generation, praised as a concerto soloist at the Casals Festival for his “masterful virtuosity” (El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico), and admired for his “rhapsodic ease” and “generous, tender warmth” (The Millbrook Independent) in chamber music collaborations with the top string quartets and piano trios of our time.

He has performed at major concert halls and festivals to high critical acclaim, including recitals in New York City, Washington DC, Moscow, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. He has appeared as soloist with the St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony (Russia), St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic (Russia), Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (Casals Festival, Puerto Rico), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción (Paraguay) and Bilbao Symphony (Spain).

His 2025-2026 season opened with two concerts with the Grammy Award winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano (Clarinet Quintets by Mozart and Gutiérrez Heras), followed by season performances with the Ulysses, Terra and Cassatt String Quartets, a recital with pianist Victoria Schwartzman, as well as chamber music concerts with UNCSA faculty colleagues.

Highlights of the past two seasons include his Casals Festival debut as soloist with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Alfonso Fuentes’ Clarinet Concerto; a Music Mountain performance of the complete Brahms Clarinet Sonatas with pianist Misha Dichter; as well as his new recital program, Brilliant American Women Composers of Our Time, with works by Teresa Carreño, Amy Beach, Gabriela Lena Frank, Eleanor Alberga, Jessie Montgomery, Joan Tower, Jennifer Higdon, and Claudia Montero.

Oskar Espina Ruiz holds an MFA from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, and a DMA from Stony Brook University, where his major teachers were Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima. While at the European Mozart Academy, flutist Aurèle Nicolet was one of his coaches and mentors. From 2009 to 2011 he was on the clarinet faculty at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, in San Juan, PR, and since 2011 is clarinet artist-faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, currently serving as associate professor.

Victoria Schwartzman, Piano

Artist Director of Kaleidoscope Arts

Victoria Schwartzman is a classical pianist currently based in New York City. An avid solo and chamber music performer, she regularly appears on stage throughout the United States and abroad. Deeply committed to music education, she is the co-founder of the Newburgh Music Festival, a week-long immersive classical music program devoted to solo performance and chamber music. She is on the faculty at Montclair State University as a Vocal Coach and on the piano faculty at Bard College Conservatory Preparatory Division.

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