“The [bandoneón] that is the heart of tango… played with soulful insistence… by Ben Bogart.”(Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“The sound of the bandoneón… is intrinsic to the tango, and Ben Bogart performed on it with stylistic authority.” (Tedrin Blair Lindsay, Lexington Harrold-Leader)

Bandoneonist Ben Bogart’s love for tango began when he first approached the genre through the dance. Once he held a bandoneón, he felt it was the instrument he was meant to play; as a keyboard instrument with reeds, Bogart was attracted to the bandoneón’s timbral qualities. Tango fascinates Bogart through its strong connection to Porteño culture and speech, unique concept of improvisation, as well as its own performance practices.

Ben studied classical music at UC Santa Cruz and jazz at Berklee College of Music before moving to Argentina to pursue the 2-year certificate at the esteemed Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce in Buenos Aires. He stayed in Argentina for a total of 6 years and studied with the top living bandoneón players and tango musicians.

A co-director and founder of the Argentine Tango group Cuarteto Tanguero, Bogart has been a touring Tango Artist and Educator since 2004. He has performed with Grammy-award winners and nominees as well as other tango experts, including Néstor Marconi, Rodolfo Mederos, Carlos Corrales, Raul Jaurena, Carlos Lazzari, Marcos Madrigal, Pablo Aslan, Ramiro Gallo, and Julián Peralta. Bogart has been featured as bandoneón soloist with the Cincinnati Opera, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra and the Lexington Philharmonic among many others.

Bogart’s educational mission is to eliminate the geographical barriers that restrict the teaching of the bandoneón to the centers of tango production (Argentina and Uruguay). Through his online school Bogart reaches students from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the U.S.A.