Teije Hylkema moved from The Netherlands to Australia in 2012 and has worked as a guest principal with various orchestras including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra before becoming the Principal cellist in the Opera Australia Orchestra.

Teije studied at the Amsterdam Conservatorium under the guidance of Dmitri Ferschtman. During his studies he started the Romeo Quartet, an award-winning Amsterdam-based string quartet that was tutored by Valentin Berlinsky and Isaac Stern and performed throughout Europe.
He was the co-principal cellist at the Radio Kamer Filharmonie, an orchestra that specialized in baroque and modern repertoire with chief conductors Jaap van Zweden and Frans Brüggen. He was also a regular guest in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding and Claudio Abbado.

A dedicated chamber musician, Teije has performed in many festivals in Europe, including Luzern Festival & the Amsterdam Grachtenfestival.
In Australia, he was a guest artist at the Tyalgum Music festival, Newcastle Music Festival, “Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields” Festival, Opera Queensland and DanceNorth.

Teije is also active as a core musician of Sensory Concerts®; inclusive classical concerts for children, youth and adults with sensory and/or special needs.

As a soloist, Teije’s performances in Australia include Elgar’s cello concerto at City Recital Hall and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with Orchestra Victoria (Melb) and OAO (Sydney).

Recently, Teije toured the NSW region with his critically acclaimed “Bach to Bolling” concert program in collaboration with the Black Tulip Jazz Trio, he performed Paul Stanhope’s Dawn Lament at dawn in Uluru and was responsible for the world première of Threnody for cello solo by Australian composer Ross Fiddes.

Teije plays a cello made by Camillo Mandelli da Calco, Buenos Aires, 1916.