Erik Bosgraaf is generally considered to be one of the world’s leading recorder players, and he is definitely the most adventurous. He improvises, plays jazz, utilizes electronics and likes working with people in other areas of artistic endeavour such as cinematography (Werner Herzog, Paul and Menno de Nooijer). His repertoire extends from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to tomorrow’s music. Bosgraaf’s recording of Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-hof set a new standard and led to his international breakthrough. Many other hits followed, mainly for the Brilliant Classics label. Around 100 pieces have been composed for him, among which are 12 concertos. In 2011, Pierre Boulez gave him permission to adapt his clarinet composition Dialogue de l’ombre double for the recorder. The world premiere of this new version took place in the sold-out main auditorium of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; the CD was recorded in 2015. Arvo Pärt allowed him to perform a concertante recorder version of Fratres, which had its world premiere in the composer’s hometown of Tallinn.
Bosgraaf made his USA debut at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden, who immediately invited him to his other orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, telling him: ‘There you can lead the orchestra yourself’ (which he did, to great acclaim). Since then, he is regularly invited as a conductor. If not playing the recorder, he leads from the harpsichord or – in classical and later repertoire for chamber orchestra – conducts from the front. Bosgraaf has worked with the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Melbourne Symphony, Dutch Radio Philharmonic, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Duisburger Philharmoniker, and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, among others. In 2021 Concerto Köln accompanied him on his solo debut at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and in October 2023 he was soloist at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra cond. by Ilan Volkov, performing the Origami Songs that Anna Meredith composed for him.
In the summer of 2023 he made his appearance at the prestigious Boston Early Music Festival and the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany. Bosgraaf is a visiting professor at the Cracow Music Academy (Poland), Amsterdam Conservatoire (Netherlands) and Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), and gives masterclasses all over the world. He received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2009, and the Netherlands Music Prize in 2011.
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