Jan De Winne studied transverse flute and music theory at KASK & Royal Conservatory school of arts HOGENT & Howest as well as musicology at the university there. Subsequently he switched to the traverso and took classes with Barthold Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In 1987 he became laureate of the music competition Musica Antiqua in Bruges.

Between 1990 and 2005 Jan De Winne was affiliated with several international music ensembles: Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Collegium Vocale Gent, Wiener Akademie, and so on. With Marcel Ponseele he founded the ensemble Il Gardellino in 1988, with which he has toured all over the world.

Driven by his passionate interest in period instruments, Jan De Winne himself builds replicas of 18th- and 19th-century traversos. He teaches at the conservatories of Paris and Brussels. Since 2004 he is the owner and the driving force of the label Passacaille.

(photo © Evy Ottermans)