Jörgen van Rijen was born on February 20th 1975 and started playing the trombone at the age of 8. From 1991 he studied with George Wiegel at the Rotterdam Conservatory where he finished his solodegree with the highest possible mark, 10 summa cum laude. He also studied for three months with Michel Becquet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon. Besides this he followed lessons and masterclasses with several teachers, such as Joseph Alessi, Jay Friedman, Christian Lindberg, Bart van Lier and the Paris trombonequartet.

Since 1997 Jörgen is principal trombonist with the Royal Concertgebouworchestra in Amsterdam. Before that he held the same position with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Apart from this he teaches the trombone at the Rotterdam Conservatory.

He won several prices and competitions among which:

• First price at the international trombone competition in Toulon, France in 2001.
• First price at the international trombone competition in Guebwiller, France 1999.
• First price at the National Soloist Contest for young musictalents.
• Winner of the Holliday-Inn/ClassicFM competition 1997.
• Laureate of the international brass competition of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia.

In March 2001, Jörgen made his solo debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the tromboneconcerto of Henri Tomasi. He performed as a soloist with several other orchestras and ensembles, such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, The Netherlands Fanfare Orchestra, New Sinfonietta Amsterdam and the windband of the Royal Dutch Marine. Besides this he gave recitals in prestigious festivals such as The Festival Radio France in Montpellier, the Lieksa Brassweek in Finland and the Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg.

He already gave masterclasses in New York, Toronto, Tokyo, Helsinki, Lisbon, Valencia and Amsterdam.