Ensemble Cordevento
appears in various guises, depending on the repertoire. ‘Corde e Vento’ is Italian and means ‘strings and winds’. The ensemble originated as a trio, consisting of Erik Bosgraaf (recorder), Izhar Elias (guitar) en Alessandro Pianu (harpsichord and organ). The trio focusses on music from around 1700 and earlier. In 2012 they recorded the successful album La Monarcha, with music of the Spanish territories (Brilliant Classics).

Nowadays Cordevento is also a baroque orchestra which has a growing number of albums to its name, under the direction of recorder player Erik Bosgraaf. The initial Vivaldi recorder concertos were followed in 2011 by adaptations made by Bosgraaf of Bach solo concertos. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons followed in 2013 in a virtuoso version for the recorder, an album which has recently been issued on vinyl as well. Cordevento plays on copies of historical instruments.

The ensemble has performed in Berlin, Utrecht, Barcelona, Modena, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sofia, Hong Kong and Seoul.

Erik Bosgraaf
is generally considered to be one of the world‘s best recorder players.

His repertoire extends from Vivaldi‘s Four Seasons to tomorrow‘s music. His recording of Jacob van Eyck‘s Der Fluyten Lust-hof sets a new standard and has led to his international breakthrough. Since then, he has recorded other bestsellers, mainly for Brilliant Classics. Around a hundred pieces have been composed for him, among which are twelve concertos. In 2011 Pierre Boulez, one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century, gave him permission to adapt his clarinet composition Dialogue de l‘ombre double for recorder. The world premiere of this new version took place in the sold-out main auditorium of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; the album was recorded in 2015.

As a soloist, Bosgraaf has worked with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden, the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, among others. He has performed with leading jazz musicians including saxophone player Yuri Honing and cellist Ernst Reijseger and is also known for his recordings for film makers Werner Herzog, Paul and Menno de Nooijer.

Bosgraaf teaches at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and is a visiting professor at the Cracow Music Academy. He has received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award (2009), Nederlandse Muziekprijs (2011), ECHO Rising Star (2011/2012) and the Northern Dutch music prize Het Gouden Viooltje (2012).