Professor Rineke Smilde
Rineke Smilde is professor of Lifelong Learning in Music & the Arts at the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences summa cum laude from the University of Göttingen, Germany, a master's degree in Musicology (20th Century music) from the University of Amsterdam and she graduated as a performing musician with principal study Flute at the Groningen Conservatoire. For many years Rineke Smilde had a career as a performing artist and as a professor of Flute at the Alkmaar Conservatoire and she taught Music History at the Royal Conservatiore in The Hague. She was director of the Department of Classical Music at the Prince Claus Conservatoire from 1994 to 1998 and director of the conservatoire from 1998 to 2004. In 1997 she founded the Peter the Great Festival, a yearly recurring festival in the city and province of Groningen, consisting of chamber music concerts in special venues and a summer academy for young, talented string players and pianists from all over the world. She was the artistic director of this festival until 2006.
As of 1995 Rineke Smilde has been active in the European Association of Conservatoires as a council member and from 2002 until 2005 as vice president. She also led various research groups on lifelong learning. She was elected Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (HonFGS) in 2001. From 2005 to 2008 Rineke Smilde served as a board member of the European Association of Music in Schools.
In 2004 Rineke Smilde was appointed professor of Lifelong Learning in Music & the Arts at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Prince Claus Conservatoire) in Groningen and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Design, Music and Dance (Royal Conservatoire) in The Hague. Together with a group of researchers consisting of teachers from both institutions, international external researchers and experts from the professional field and supported by two external advisors, she examines concepts of lifelong learning for musicians and artists. The group of researchers conducts (practice based) research into the question how professional artists can respond in a meaningful way to our rapidly changing society with the aim to make students more adaptive and responsive to change in the labour market and to contribute to musicians' and artists' continuing professional development. Rineke Smilde gave numerous presentations and lectures at, for example, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre in Brazil, the Antwerp Conservatoire and New York University. Furthermore she is a regular speaker on conferences dedicated to lifelong learning and music education. She has also served as an external examiner for the Royal College of Music in London since 2007. In 2008 she received a knighthood from the Queen for her work.