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B i o g r a p h y

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Igor Kogan is a music artist, bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He has performed at prestigious venues and festivals in U.S., Canada and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Steinway Hall (New York), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Bern Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Toronto Music Festival (Canada), Red Sea Jazz Festival (Israel); and appeared at renowned jazz clubs in NYC (Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Smalls, Zinc, Fat Cat), Los Angeles (Herb Alpert’s Vibrato, Catalina, Blue Whale, Vitellos, The Lighthouse) among other venues. 

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Born in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, he started to play violin at age seven. He immigrated to Israel at the age of fifteen where he simultaneously pursued his interest in music and science, and started to play bass and compose music. Later, he attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, from which he graduated with honors and earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Performance and Composition. His teachers included legendary bassists Reggie Workman, Ben Street and Mike Richmond. After spending several years in New York, working as a performing and recording musician, he relocated to Los Angeles in 2014, where he keeps busy composing and performing music for variety of projects and live concerts, and leading his own Jazz Quintet and 17 piece Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He recently recorded his debut jazz album "In a Big City" of original compositions and featuring 9-time Grammy Award nominee jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton.  

 

Session Bass Player

Besides leading his own groups and recording projects, Igor stays busy performing and recording with various artists, orchestras and projects in a variety of genres, including classical, jazz, pop, rock, Klezmer, world music, Broadway musicals, film/TV scores. In 2024 he completed a U.S. tour with Kyiv Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra. As a sideman jazz bass player he has performed with Plas Johnson, Jerome Jennings, Joey Morant, Valery Ponomarev, Leonid Ptashka, Oleg Butman, Anat Cohen, Mike Price, Mitch Manker, Shlomo Gronich, Alon Oleartchik, Maya Avraham and others.

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Film/Media Composer and Orchestrator

After spending several years in New York, working as a performing and recording musician, he became involved in Broadway productions as an arranger/orchestrator, and later as a composer. This led to develop his composing skills and to work on films, TV and media projects, as well as stage productions and live shows. He relocated to Los Angeles in 2014, where he continues to work as a composer, arranger and orchestrator on variety of projects including jazz and orchestral concert music as well as commercial projects, film/TV scores and trailers, recording sessions and Broadway musicals. Being inspired from both jazz and classical traditions, he combines these two musical worlds in his writing. 

Credits

  • Film/TV composer

      “Unstately” (TV short, 2018) – music composer;

      “Biophilia” (short film, 2017) – music composer;
      “The Late Shift” (short film, 2017) – music composer;

      “Well & Ties Day” (short film, 2017) – music composer;

      “This Much” (feature film, 2016) – music composer;
      “Broken Egg” (short film, 2016) – music composer and sound designer;
      “Hari”(short film, Cannes Festival 2016) – sound design and music;

      “Human Resources” (Pivot’s TV series, 2015) – additional music;
      “Chef’s Table” (TV series documentary, 2015) – additional music;

      “WeHo Bubbies (short film, 2015) – music composer and sound designer;
      “Speak English!” (feature film, 2015) – music editor;
      “All Through The House” (feature film, 2015) – sound designer;
      “An Unkindness of Ravens” (short film, 2014) –music composer and sound mixer;

      “I Made The Color Violet” (short film, 2014) – music composer;
      “Fury Written in Sand” (contemporary ballet, 2014) – music composer;

      “Abandon” (short film, 2014) – music composer;
      “Cigna Health Insurance” (TV Commercial, 2013) - music composer and sound mixer;
      “Ford” (TV Commercial, 2013) - music composer and sound mixer  

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  • Orchestrator at “Sonic Symphony” music production house for high-end motion picture,
    television and video game advertising campaigns - www.sonicsymphony.com

 

  • Composer and musical director of “Igor Kogan’s LA Big Band” – 17 piece contemporary jazz orchestra
     

  • Arranger, orchestrator and music copyist for musical theater, live productions and Broadway shows

      "Love Songs", Seal Beach Symphony, 2022

      "Kindness", Los Angeles, 2021

      "World Home Jazz Orchestra", Los Angeles, 2020

      “Warrior”, Los Angeles, CA, 2018
      “Icon", New York Musicals Festival, NY, 2016

      “Yanis Orchestra in Hollywood” – live orchestra show, Los Angeles, 2016
      “Songs Cycles”– Lithuanian Musical Festival, Vilnius, 2015

      “An American Victory” – Broadway show, New York, 2015
      “Dr. Butterfly”- Korean production, premiered in Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, 2013

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