ABOUT

Pieter Schoonderwoerd

Thank you for visiting Your Jazz Career! I truly hope you’ll find ideas, models and mental tools here that will help you achieve your goals.

I started this website because the world needs more great music. My reasoning is simple: when more artists make a sustainable living, more art will be produced. A fulltime cubicle job leaves little room for making music after all. The approach of this platform is based on identity and strategy. In short, “Why-Do” instead of “How-To”. Being productive is not about being busy and adding even more things to your already cramped to-do list. Instead, it is about doing the right thing at the right time. Doing the important over the urgent. Doing less but better and infused with more meaning. This is the aim in my own life and Your Jazz Career is my way of helping you to do the same.

Pieter Schoonderwoerd

Pieter is a coach for driven and professional musicians looking to elevate their music career.

MEET PIETER SCHOONDERWOERD

I’m a jazz programmer, venue director, drummer, music entrepreneurship teacher and, since 2020, a career coach for jazz artists. I live in Utrecht, the Netherlands and work with clients all over the world.
 
As a career and performance coach for high-performing artists, I help my clients to dream bigger and to think in smaller steps to achieve their goals. From artistic identity, purpose, marketing, mindset to career strategy; being an artist is demanding in many different ways. It is my passion to bring clarity to your ambitions and craft a roadmap with you together.
 
I deeply believe that there is an art in everything. In music, but also in all the skills that are necessary for being a professional artist. Isn’t marketing about storytelling? Isn’t creating a career plan like a symphony where all pieces fit together?
 
Creating music – experiences – that matters for other people is your contribution to the world. Right now, my contribution is to assist high performing musicians in their creative and professional careers. To that end, I educate and challenge myself. Learned during a decade of working experience in the arts, consultancy and higher music education, I know there’s always a better way. A better way of doing things. A better way of looking at things. A better way to listen or to ask questions. So, I study music entrepreneurship and coaching all the time. I read about it, talk about it, explore it, try new insights and hone my own skills and art. Just like you do.
 
And I do it because I had people in my life that believed in me. People that listened to my crazy ideas and enabled me to grow and see the light. Having someone that encourages you and supports you to chase your dreams and do your best work is vital for success. Like they did for me, I could be that person for you.

Below a chronological overview of my education and work experience. Just in case you’re wondering what my own career thus far actually looks like.

  • 2003-2007: Bachelor of Business Administration (Zuyd Hogeschool)
  • 2004-2009: Drum teacher at Sound Academy Maastricht
  • 2007-2008: Junior-Project Manager at Sandenburg Concept Creation
  • 2008-2010: Bachelor of Music/Drums at Conservatorium Maastricht
  • 2009: Artist management course at IMMER
  • 2010-2011: Founded artist management agency Scone Hill Music
  • 2012: Album release The Space of a Jump by Bodypolitics
  • 2012-2015: Director of Indie-Pop festival Woot!Woot!Woolf
  • 2013-14 Working holiday in New Zealand
  • 2014-2019: Director of Jazz Maastricht Foundation
  • 2016-2019: Founder & teacher of music entrepreneurship program ‘Your Art as a Business’ at Conservatorium Maastricht
  • 2017-2019: Chair of AEC Working Group 3: Entrepreneurship – an advisory platform for higher music education in Europe based in Bruxelles, Belgium
  • 2018-now: Chair of the board of the Dutch Federation for Jazzvenues and Jazzfestivals (Vereniging Nederlandse Jazzpodia en Jazzfestivals)
  • 2019: Seth Godin’s altMBA program
  • 2019-2021: Boardmember of the Boy Edgar Award
  • 2019-2020: Jazz programmer at music venue de Doelen
  • 2020 – now: Founded www.yourjazzcareer.com
  • 2021 – now: Lecturer Music Entrepreneurship at Codarts (Rotterdam)

want to turn your dreams into a project?

Let’s do this together!

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