Femke Steketee (BM'13) is a Dutch classical saxophone player, writer and columnist. She plays regularly with orchestras such as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and ensembles such as Syrène Saxophone Quartet and The Hague Quartet. She forms a duo with pianist Tobias Borsboom with whom she recently released her debut album ‘La fille et le saxophone.


"At the Royal Conservatory I studied with Frank Timpe and Leo van Oostrom. In this time there was still a very big ‘The Hague school’ and ‘The Hague tradition’ when it comes to studying classical saxophone. In Amsterdam the teaching and playing was done in a completely different way. A way that I was also very charmed by. When I studied in my fourth year of the Bachelor program, I arranged an exchange with Amsterdam, where Arno Bornkamp teaches. I wanted to learn the best of both worlds. After graduation for my Bachelor degree in The Hague I went to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, to study with Arno Bornkamp for my Master degree. This was a very logical next step for me, although it wasn’t an easy time. In The Hague my classmates felt like a family, while in Amsterdam I was confronted much more with a competitive atmosphere. It challenged me to get to know myself as a musician instead of a saxophonist and to search for ways – besides playing the best you can – to stand out.

During my studies I was already a bit active in the field. I started to play with orchestras such as the Residentie Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and became a member of the Syrène Saxophone Quartet. With this ensemble I went on tour to, among others, Canada, Taiwan and China and we recorded two cd’s together. I am part of a piano-saxophone duo with pianist Tobias Borsboom. Last year we released our debut album ‘La fille et le saxophone."

"I have searched for a long time for the topic of my Master’s research. It had to be something that would act as a stepping stone into the ‘real’ world, my life after the conservatoire. Cutbacks on culture and ageing audiences for classical music were hot topics (they still are!) and didn’t make me positive about my future. So, I decided to do something about it. I wanted to investigate how you could target a young audience (15-40 yrs) for classical music with online content.

In that time beauty and fashion blogs were a big thing. I caught myself regularly watching videos of people filming how they put on their makeup, showing what clothes they wore and even documented their lives in vlogs. (Major guilty pleasure!). On an evening like that, while binge-watching high quality content made by a vlogger, contemplating about different shades of pink eyeshadow , the idea occurred to me to start my own beauty blog, with a touch of classical music. I hired a web designer, bought a DSLR camera and two weeks later my blog and YouTube channel ‘Sax and the Pretty’ were born.

Combining makeup and fashion with classical music seems like a strange combination, but it worked: soon SATP had a group of more than 6000 loyal and young readers per month. I researched what type of content and tone of voice worked best and what didn’t. Five days a week I published blogs, columns, interviews and vlogs. I was one of the first to make vlogs about my life as a musician and took my camera behind the scenes and even with me on stage. Soon it paid off: readers started to visit my concerts or messaged me that they added Chopin to their playlist. Thanks to SATP, my target audience took their first steps in the concert hall.

Gradually I was asked by various orchestras or festivals to help them reach a younger audience. The content I made was quite new to the scene, so I guess I could say it gave a ‘breath of fresh air’ in a time when everyone was pretty hard-pressed to reach and develop a younger audience."

"I still remember the first time I heard ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ by Mussorgsky as a child. My father and solo trumpeter of the Residentie Orchestra took me to his concerts very often. This piece (and especially the saxophone solo) spoke to me and it was my biggest dream ever since to sit on that stage and play the piece myself. And so I did. I started in that same Residentie Orchestra during my studies. I love playing in orchestras, but I had to ‘grow’ into it. Partly because my father was suddenly a colleague as well and I felt I had to prove myself to him and to his colleagues too, who only knew me as the little girl who always sat in the hall, waiting for her father to finish the rehearsal or concert and now suddenly sat next to them on the stage.

Another big moment was the release of my solo album ‘La fille et le saxophone’ last year. This was a huge personal project in which I wanted to document my story and personality as a musician. Taking the step to record it (with crowdfunding and fundraising) was very scary. I never dreamed that the album would be received so well.

Oh well, I could speak hours and hours about pivotal moments, but I guess all of these moments in your (future) career often begin with your biggest failures. For instance, in my first year at the conservatory I had major embouchure problems, but the moment I understood what went wrong while playing (I actually still remember the exact day) I could play anything I wanted. I felt extremely liberated and I could express myself better through music without technical issues holding me back.

I think you should celebrate every bit of personal success and reflect on (even little) moments like these regularly, to see how far you’ve come. We live in a time that we mostly see success-stories on social media and a feast of accomplishments, but we forget to share the bumpy road towards that success; the self doubt, hours and hours of practice, the failure in between and the decision to proceed after wanting to give up. By leaving that part out we subconsciously give the signal that we have to live from one big, decisive moment to the other one. Deciding to not let that affect you, could be a pivotal moment in your career too."

"I feel privileged to have been able to study in normal times, to learn from my fellow students and to play my final exams as if they were concerts. But I do think you have a choice: you resign and wait for better times, or you are entrepreneurial and search for new ways. That’s easier said than done of course. This is how I did it: this year I discovered that I love writing and working with video and that I miss my blog (not the writing about mascara and lipgloss though..), but I felt I wanted to explore some possibilities there. So, I dived into the world of (cultural) content marketing and storytelling and made another dream come true: creating online content for classical musicians, online festivals and platforms and orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

I try to keep myself motivated to keep practicing, even when live concerts still can’t take place. When I don’t play I get depressed. I need it in order to channel my thoughts and emotions. Also, this is a great time to discover new music, new sounds and make plans for the future. Keeping in touch with fellow musicians, such as my quartet and pianist Tobias Borsboom is very important to me. We’re making new plans!"


"Our world changes and develops so fast at the moment (I don’t dare to make predictions about the cultural field in the future), but there’s one thing that will never change: the love for my instrument and music. I have a lot of dreams and I think that’s my way to stay positive, focused and to keep an eye on the future. To mention a few: I want to hear a big orchestra play in a concert hall and get totally overwhelmed by that. I want to play concerts again and feel the energy of the audience. I would love to make another cd, a completely different one than my debut album. I want to help other musicians and cultural organisations with their online appearance and content. I want to write a book. Conclusion: I have too many dreams to realise."


"It would be nice to meet a new generation of musicians over there. I feel a lot has changed already since I graduated. I have changed myself a lot too, and now that I have some experience, I guess it would be nice to arrange a meetup between Alumni and students. I’m curious to find out which topics are relevant for them now. These days, next to being a great player, you need to have a solid set of entrepreneurial skills also. We are all trained to be fantastic musicians, but when I graduated and walked out the door with my diploma in my hand, I thought: now what?! It took me a while to figure that one out and have a less ‘erratic’ career. I wish that during my studies I learned more about entrepreneurship on topics such as defining a personal mission and finding a niche within the cultural field and even finding and spreading my own story while converting it to my musical activities.

I will never forget what my teacher Leo van Oostrom once told me: “make sure you don’t get the same haircut everyone else has.” I truly believe that when you stay close to your own vision and true self, there’s space for everybody and that the feeling of competition fades."