Ensemble Cristofori

Ensemble Cristofori, founded by its musical director Arthur Schoonderwoerd in 1995, performs in orchestral or chamber music settings. It brings together performers playing on period instruments, exploring repertoire from the 18th to the 21st century. Its name is inspired by that of the great Florentine keyboard instrument maker of the early 18th century, Bartolomeo Cristofori. The ensemble aims to familiarize a wide audience with music and musical performance on period instruments.
The size and setting of Cristofori are determined by the repertoire performed and range from a duo to a large group of instrumentalists and singers. Based on meticulous research, Cristofori‘s sensitive and colorful interpretations present new and revolutionary ideas on organology, improvisation, basso continuo, counterpoint, and orchestral balance.
Cristofori performs in prestigious venues and festivals across Europe such as the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, the Auditorium du Louvre, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Moscow Early Music Festival, Bruges, Barcelona, Regensburg, Innsbruck, Madrid, the Besançon International Festival, the Beethovenfest Bonn, etc.
The internationally acclaimed discography of Cristofori includes one of the most innovative recordings of Beethoven‘s piano concertos on period instruments. Since 2012, Cristofori has recorded half of the complete Mozart concertos for fortepiano (Label Accent). In 2021 a new project around the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven started on the CAvi-music label.