As a performer, Fie Schouten inhabits multiple musical worlds with equal conviction and infectious enthusiasm. While she plays all clarinets, her preference remains for the low ones the bass clarinet, basset horn, and contrabass clarinet. Critics have praised her as “the most versatile clarinet player in the Netherlands.”

From her studies at the Amsterdam Conservatoire with Harry Sparnaay, contemporary music was Fie’s focus. “I knew this was my path, studying things I didn’t yet know, sharing something unexpected with my audience.” This commitment has resulted in over a hundred compositions written specifically for her and her ensembles, all premiered. Her repertoire includes music by Jonathan Harvey, Helmut Lachenmann, Rozalie Hirs, Theo Loevendie, Isabel Mundry, and Kaija Saariaho.

From 2008-2018, she was a designated Stockhausen soloist, performing works including MICHAELS REISE um die Erde (as one of the “Clownesque Swallows”), LICHT-BILDER, and MICHAELION with Ensemble Musikfabrik, ASKO|Schönberg, Le Balcon, and Birmingham Opera Company. She has collaborated with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, and numerous other leading ensembles.

Free improvisation forms an equally vital part of Schouten’s practice. Long-term partnerships include pianist Guus Janssen, cellist Vincent Courtois, drummer Sofia Borges, and saxophonists Frank Gratkowski and Sophie Hassfurther. Her collaboration with cellist Katharina Gross, formed in 2022, explores contemporary repertoire where both instruments”make sounds in the lower frequencies resonate, merge, or contrast.” In the last years they performed in eight different countries, among which Romania, Portugal and Austria. Their 2024 album BEE SAGE features works by Saariaho, Rotaru, Hirs, Tüzün, and Andrikopoulos.

An avid reader, Schouten finds inspiration browsing bookstores, and literature increasingly shapes her musical work. Her recent project FREE SPACE draws directly from Georges Perec’s Espèces d’espaces, while VOSTOK Remote Islands was inspired by Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands. This openness to other art forms enriches her approach to both composed contemporary music and free improvisation, creating unexpected dialogues between different creative worlds.