Izhar Elias (Amsterdam, 1977) is one of the most sought-after specialists in early music, chamber music and new music for guitar. He has given concerts, lectures, and masterclasses, and been the soloist in concertos with renowned orchestras, in Europe, Russia, south-east Asia, Australia and the USA. He won the prestigious Dutch Music Prize in 2011, the highest musical award given by the Dutch government.

Through extensive research, he has been able to recreate a musical language of the Baroque, Classic and Romantic periods using original instruments and historical methods. He has also premiered over fifty works and mixes different artistic disciplines in his collaborations with choreographers, experimental film makers and theatre directors. In 2014 he premiered the double concerto Schattenspiel, for electric guitar, classical guitar and big symphony orchestra, together with the composer and heavy metal guitarist Florian Magnus Maier in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

He has collaborated with artists such as guitarist Fernando Cordas, with whom Izhar Elias specializes in performing early 19th century duos on period instruments. He has a unique duo with Georgian clarinet virtuoso Levan Tskhadadze. He is member of trio Cordevento (with Erik Bosgraaf, recorder, and Alessandro Pianu, harpsichord), which revives the virtuoso music from the 17th century. Cordevento has performed in many of Europe’s most prestigious concert halls and early music festivals, such as the Konzerthaus (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Concertgebouw (Bruges), and the Utrecht Early Music Festival. His impressive collection of CD releases have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. 

Izhar has studied with Ton Terra, the Groningen Guitar Duo, Zoran Dukic, Kees Hendrikse and Carlo Barone (19th century performance practice).The performance practice of the baroque guitar he learned from a.o. William Carter, Adrián Rodriguez van der Spoel and Lex Eisenhardt.