Arseniy Shkaptsov is Russian bassoonist and conductor. He is involved in both jazz and classical music and aims to strengthen diversity and bring together cultures and traditions through music.

Born in 1993 into a family of musicians, Arseniy was raised with music. At the age of eleven, Arseniy began playing the bassoon and was admitted just two years later to the “Central Music School of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow,” where he studied under the expert guidance of Professor Stanislav Katenin. As a dedicated young musician, Arseniy was supported by the International Foundations of Vladimir Spivakov and Yuriy Rozum. Thanks to these foundations, he had the honor of performing in numerous prestigious concert halls in Russia as well as abroad. As a young student, he also won a range of international competitions and has been awarded many titles.

In 2011, after winning one of the most important competitions for young musicians Concertino Praga, he performed as a soloist with Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Rudolfinum hall. In the same year he was admitted to the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland in the class of Maestro Gabor Meszaros. During his studies in Switzerland he collaborated with great musicians such as Kurt Masur, Kristian Jarvi, Mikhail Pletnev, Ennio Morricone, Daniel Schnyder, Martin Kuuskmann, Mario Venzago, Alexandr Vedernikov, and Xian Zhang; and performed with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Kammerphilharmonie Graubuenden, Basler Festival Orchestra, Symphonische Orchester Zürich, and International Regions Orchestra.

Arseniy has performed on festivals such as Usedom Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, Beethovenfest, Rheingau musik festival and Sommerfest Bad Kissingen.

In addition to being an accomplished bassoonist, Arseniy is a skilled conductor. He took his first lessons in conducting with his father, who is the chief conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Governor of Orel city and studied with the legendary Ilya Musin method. Throughout his university years, he has demonstrated strong leadership skills and has organized many concerts as a conductor and director of several different ensembles and projects.

As a conductor Arseniy has conducted: Oryol Govern Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Ruse Philharmonic (Bulgaria), Teatro Cantu (Italy), Baltic Sea Philharmonic (Germany), Carlovy Vary Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (Switzerland)