David Kuyken – principal teacher of piano at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) as well as head of keyboard instruments – has served as Head of the Sweelinck Academie for the past seven years. Starting from the 2025–2026 academic year, David will shift focus to other responsibilities. How does he look back on his time at the Sweelinck Academie?

What was your vision when you started working at the Sweelinck Academie?
Historically, famous composers like Bach, Mozart, and Chopin didn’t separate composing, improvising, and performing - these were all part of the same musical practice. At conservatories today, it’s often standard to separate knowledge and skills into different subjects, breaking them down and teaching them individually. That means, for example, that as a pianist in a bachelor programme, you won’t really learn to compose, and only very little improvisation is included. To me, being a musician is precisely about bringing these elements together. That view also stems from my own background: I never studied at a conservatory myself. So when the position of Head of the Sweelinck Academie opened up, I saw it as a real opportunity to approach the education of young musicians differently.

How did that new approach take shape at the Sweelinck Academie?
When I first joined the Sweelinck Academie, students received a principal subject and a separate theory class. Over the past few years, we’ve redesigned the programme to make theory much more hands-on. Through the creative processes of composing and improvising, students gain a deep understanding of harmony, style, and voice leading, and they develop their ear in a very natural way. In addition, ensemble playing has become a structural part of the programme. Every student at the Sweelinck Academie now plays in a chamber music ensemble. Within those ensembles, students also receive their theory lessons. The repertoire they’re working on becomes the starting point for the theoretical content. There’s also a lot of collaboration with the jazz and pop talent programmes. All in all, we’ve built a very innovative curriculum.

How has that worked out? What have you observed in recent years?
It’s been fantastic! I can see that this approach really fosters autonomy and creativity in our students. They’re incredibly free in their musical expression and are used to functioning as musicians without relying solely on memorised material. You can really notice it in how easily they collaborate with young talents from the jazz and pop departments.

Is there a particular project you're especially proud of?
Last year, 34 students from the three talent programmes - classical, pop, and jazz - collaborated on a shared composition. It was absolutely brilliant. Each student submitted a short musical idea. Daahoud Salim Alvarez, a former student of mine and a real musical multitalent, brought the whole group together. He would highlight a fragment and ask: What can we do with this? Sometimes a tiny melodic line turned out to be the perfect foundation for a bass line or an improvisation. Daahoud shaped all the fragments into a full composition, arranged the material, and rehearsed it with the group so they could perform it themselves. It was incredibly moving: the students were performing and hearing their own material woven into the final piece - that’s a powerful experience. The final work was nearly 50 minutes long and full of the collective energy of all those young musicians. It may have been the most beautiful project I’ve ever witnessed. (More information about the project can be found here.)

What developments at the Sweelinck Academie do you think are important for the future?
As a talent programme and as the Sweelinck Academie, we’ve recently been involved in a large-scale initiative in the city, together with partners like the Concertgebouw and local music schools, to promote equal opportunities for talent development in neighbourhoods where that isn’t always a given. From within the Sweelinck Academie, I’ve played a central role in a pilot project aiming to increase diversity on concert stages in the long term. Talent programmes like ours can act as a bridge, connecting with local music schools - where musical development begins - and offering support to young talent that may not have easy access to the next level.

We’re also developing “plus academies” to encourage children who play underrepresented instruments. This effectively creates a pre-Sweelinck Academie phase. We’ve already piloted this with oboe, and within two years, it led to several oboe students entering the Sweelinck Academie - some of whom are now continuing their studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Will you miss the Sweelinck Academie?
Yes, definitely. Some students join when they’re just eight or nine years old. You can imagine how much they grow and change during their time at the Sweelinck Academie. It’s an incredibly dynamic and formative stage of life, and it’s been a privilege to witness and support that process.

I’m also proud of what we’ve built. I’ve been deeply involved in shaping the curriculum, and our talent programmes now serve as an example: they offer an integrated approach and foster collaboration between classical, jazz, and pop. In many ways, we’ve been pioneers in rethinking what music education can be.