Wieland Kuijken earned a higher degree in cello at the conservatory in Brussels in 1959. Already during his student years he started concentrating as an autodidact on the viola da gamba and more generally also on 17th- and 18th-century performance practice. His career started with the Alarius Ensemble, where he was active from 1959 to 1972. By virtue of his performances with his brothers Sigiswald and Barthold, and through collaboration with icons of the early music movement such as Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Alfred Deller, and Robert Kohnen, he earned an international reputation. Wieland Kuijken was co-founder of La Petite Bande and has been the permanent cellist of the Kuijken String Quartet since 1987. As a soloist he is very famous for his interpretation of Bach’s solo suites. He taught viola da gamba at the conservatories of Brussels and The Hague, and was invited as a jury member of countless international competitions. Furthermore he occasionally serves as a conductor in diverse projects in Europe and elsewhere.