Michiel Borstlap (The Hague, 5 August 1966) has built an international reputation as a virtuoso pianist mixing jazz with classical and contemporary influences. At the time he graduates from the Hilversum Conservatory he is leading a sextet featuring a frontline with three rising stars, who will soon become important band leaders in their own right: Eric Vloeimans, Benjamin Herman and Yuri Honing. In 1996 Borstlap wins the BMI/Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition with the composition Memory Of Enchantment, which is recorded by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. In addition to jazz he also composes an Arab opera and film music, the latter earning him a Gouden Kalf (the Dutch Oscar). Both on stage and in the studio Borstlap manifests himself as a pivotal figure between different musical worlds: jazz, jazzrock, improv, pop and dance. Spontaneous improvisations in front of an audience lead to a lengthy collaboration with the British drummer Bill Bruford and the trio BBG, featuring ICP musicians Han Bennink and Ernst Glerum. The CD Monk Volume One earns the threesome an Edison Jazz (Dutch Grammy). Borstlap regularly performs with DJs and pop greats, including Gino Vannelli and Trijntje Oosterhuis. His best seller is the CD/DVD Solo 2010, on which he plays unaccompanied solo piano.