Etienne Houben (the Netherlands, 1982) studied classical percussion and earned his Bachelor degree with highest distinction and Master Degree at the Conservatorium Maastricht, the Netherlands.
His teachers were Werner Otten and Pieter Jansen.
During this period he was timpanist and percussionist at the Dutch National Youth Orchestra and had masterclasses from Rainer Seegers and Bert Flas (timpani), Tatiana Koleva (marimba), Ruud Wiener (vibraphone) and Franz Lang (snare drum).