More about Wouter
2023
HaFa conducting: Conservatory of Amsterdam (1996-2002) with Gerrit Fokkema and master classes/lessons with Mark Wigglesworth, Edo de Waart and Jan Stulen, among others.
Bass trombone: Rotterdam Conservatory (1998-2004) with Ben van Dijk; master classes in New York, Chicago, Detmold and Cologne.
Partly because of a very broad musical interest, it is impossible for me to name one favorite composer. From renaissance to late romanticism, from classical to modern, from opera to jazz: so much beautiful music has been written. That is precisely what makes our profession so interesting!
In addition to my musical career, I graduated from the Wine Academy in 2017 and since then I have been giving wine advice, courses and on-site wine tastings as a Registered Vinologist. Furthermore, I regularly write about my hometown of Utrecht. In 2021, for example, after a four-year research project, my book Stille Torens was published, about the requisitioning of church bells in the city of Utrecht during World War II. Finally, as a bell ringer and bell guide, I can regularly be found on various Utrecht towers, such as the Dom Tower, where we keep a centuries-old tradition alive with the Utrecht Bellringers Guild.
How it began!
At age six I started percussion lessons and soon was allowed to play in the drum band and orchestra of the Royal Bilt Wind Band. When I was twelve years old, I traded my drum sticks for the trombone. From the age of seventeen I received weekly HaFa conducting lessons at the Hilversum Conservatory, and I was soon conducting several orchestras. A year later I was allowed to study at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where I received bass trombone as a minor. Partly due to the enthusiasm of my teacher Ben van Dijk, I decided to study this as a second principal subject in Rotterdam.
In 2004 I was hired as bass and contrabass trombonist at the Vlaamse Opera (Antwerp and Ghent), followed by an appointment in 2009 at Het Balletorkest. From 2017 to 2023, I was employed by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra.