Etienne Houben (the Netherlands, 1982) studied classical percussion and earned his Bachelor degree with highest distinction and Master Degree at the Conservatorium Maastricht, the Netherlands.
His teachers were Werner Otten and Pieter Jansen.
During this period he was timpanist and percussionist at the Dutch National Youth Orchestra and had masterclasses from Rainer Seegers and Bert Flas (timpani), Tatiana Koleva (marimba), Ruud Wiener (vibraphone) and Franz Lang (snare drum).
Always interested in the broad spectrum of the percussion world, he developed into a
versatile and inspired musician:
He worked as timpanist at the Dutch Customs Orchestra and as a percussion teacher.
He performed with Dutch professional orchestras such as the Limburg and Gelders Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the East, André Rieu and the Dutch Royal Marine Band.
As a soloist in 2010 he won the international snare drum competition from the Percussive Arts Society in
Fermo, Italy.
In 2012 he was accepted at the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides, where he currently works as percussionist.
Conducting percussion ensembles is a passion also. His ensembles create various theatrical and cross-over performances and won several national and international championships such as the Dutch concert and marching championships, World Music Contest and the ONSK (Dutch Open Percussion Championship). Currently he conducts the youth and senior percussion ensembles from Concordia Obbicht, percussion ensemble Gertrudis St. Geertruid and 'Jong Brabant', a percussion project ensemble from the Dutch county of Brabant.
As a composer he wrote for Bart van Grinsven (timpanist Symphony Orchestra of the East) , Leonie Wolters (Flutist Staatskapelle Weimar), Aron Leijendeckers (percussionist Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie).
His piece Vertigo, commissioned by Inge Smedts ( Flutist Belgian Guides) and Nico Schoeters (National Belgian Orchestra) , has been recorded on the cd ‘Cocktail Maison’ in 2018.
He composes for percussion ensembles in all shapes and sizes and for contests like the World Music Contest and the ONSK. Music for wind ensembles are also on his repertoire recently.
He publishes his own works and publishes at Hit-Music, Tapspace, C.Alan Publications and Dutch Music Partners.
Furthermore he educates and gives workshops, masterclasses and rates music contests.
He lives with his wife Anne and daughter Bobbi in Obbicht,a charming little village near the beautiful banks of the river Maas.