FIE SCHOUTEN
The Spark
At age fifteen, Fie Schouten heard a fellow student play the bass clarinet and was immediately captivated. That moment sparked a journey fueled by her greatest quality: non-stop curiosity – “a kind of ongoing curiosity for what you don’t yet know without running around headless.” Inherited from her parents, this focused drive has defined her career.
The Musician
Based in Amsterdam where she was born and still lives, Fie has become a distinctive voice in contemporary music. Critics call her “the most versatile clarinet player in the Netherlands.” She has premiered around a 150 works written for her, collaborated with composers from Helmut Lachenmann to Julia Wolfe, and performed with leading ensembles including Ensemble Musikfabrik, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern. She also works in chamber formations with cellists Katharina Gross and Vincent Courtois, and pianist Guus Janssen.
An avid reader, she finds inspiration browsing bookstores, and literature increasingly shapes her work. Her recent project Free Space draws from Georges Perec’s Espèces d’espaces, while VOSTOK Remote Islands was inspired by Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands.
The Educator
As professor at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, she brings the same curiosity to teaching: “I feel it’s a necessity to keep developing, as a musician and as a human being.” She models asking questions rather than having all answers and she coordinated the Sustainable Performance program which supports musicians’ physical and mental well-being. Guest professorships and masterclasses have taken her to conservatories from Vienna, to Istanbul and from, Chicago to Porto.
The Leader
In 2014, she co-founded the Basklarinet Festijn with Tobias Klein, a biennial festival celebrating the bass clarinet through contemporary composed and improvised music. Since 2019, she has co-curated Nieuwe Noten Amsterdam, a concert series favoring experimentation and innovation and featuring new works by young and leading composers.
The Person
Awarded the Nieuw Geneco Fair Practice Award in 2019, Fie balances serious dedication with warmth and humor. Married and a mother of two, she is guided by Kaija Saariaho’s words – “For something we really must take much time, is making art” – and continues carving paths with infectious enthusiasm, always asking: what haven’t we discovered yet?