The New European Ensemble (NEuE) tells stories, through the communicative power of new music. Stories that aim to reflect, challenge, inspire and deepen our understanding of human experience and our environment.

The group often combines music with film, literature, theatre, dance and visual art. The ensemble has collaborated with Edward Snowden, Boris van der Ham, Nick Verstand, DeFrame, Opera2Day, Het Nationale Theater (Netherlands National Theatre), Amnesty International, The International Criminal Court and War Child.

NEuE was founded in 2009 in the Netherlands by dedicated and passionate musicians from across Europe. The ensemble has built a reputation for imaginative programming as well as ‘fantastic’ (NRC) and ‘excellent performances’ (de Volkskrant) and has been called one of the ‘Netherland’s leading ensembles’ (Nieuwe Noten). In 2019, the NEuE was awarded the prestigious Kersjesprijs recognising ‘10 years of achievement at the highest level presenting contemporary music to a wide audience in a gripping and accessible way.’

Composers including Mark Anthony Turnage, José María Sánchez-Verdú, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Guo Wenjing, Carlo Boccadoro, Martijn Padding and Klas Torstensson have written works for the ensemble.

The group has performed in nearly all of The Netherlands’ major concert halls and theatres among them the Concertgebouw, Carré Theater and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Tivoli Vredenburg and The Royal Theatre in The Hague. The ensemble performs regularly at festivals such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Festival Vlaanderen, November Music, Shanghai New Music Week, Beijing Contemporary Music Festival and Svensk Musikvår. International tours bring the group to the UK, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Lebanon, China and Hong Kong.

The ensemble’s musicians regularly work with young composers and performers at the Hague’s Royal Conservatoire and at music schools worldwide.

Christopher Bouwman (The Hague, February 22, 1981) is a Dutch oboist. He plays as a soloist, in chamber music (including the Schulhoff Trio) and as an orchestra member. He plays a Lorée oboe; type Royal.
Christopher Bouwman grew up in The Hague. From the age of 12, he studied at the Royal Conservatory with Han de Vries and Pauline Austria, among others, and graduated with honors in 2006. At the same time he studied at the Geneva Conservatory in Switzerland with the oboist Maurice Bourgue. In 2009 he won second prize at the Fernand Gillet oboe competition. He also won prizes during his studies. For example, he received 1st prizes in the Princess Christina Competition and the Netherlands Young Music Talent Foundation. The EMCY awarded Bouwman the 2003 European Music Prize for Youth.
As a soloist he has made music with various orchestras, including the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, and also under various conductors such as Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta.
In 2006, Bouwman joined the then established Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana as solo oboist, part of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía opera house designed by Santiago Calatrava; the Opera of Valencia.