Theun van Nieuwburg began his musical development as timpanist with the North Holland Youth Orchestra. He studied percussion and timpani to the Utrecht University of the Arts with Hans Zonderop, Johan Faber and Werner Otten. He attended various masterclasses with Rainer Seegers, Marinus Komst and Nick Woud. In 2002 he was timpanist and percussionist with the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival. In 2005 he graduated with a Master of Music.

As a permanent replacement player, he played percussion with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with which he has made many European and world tours He was percussionist with the Japanese taiko group Circle Percussion and samba group Absurdo.

At the Freiburger Barockorchester he learned how to play on authentic timpani. As timpanist, he worked at Holland Symfonia, the Dutch Symphony Orchestra, the Gelders Orchestra, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The highlight was playing the whole Wagner's Ring at the Dutch Opera. From 2014, he was accepted as a timpanist with the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Dutch Chamber Orchestra.