Sigiswald Kuijken was born in 1944 near Brussels. He studied violin in the conservatories of Bruges and Brussels, concluding his last level studies with Maurice Raskin, in 1964.

At a young age, he made the acquaintance of antique music, together with his brother Wieland. Through personal study, he achieved an accurate knowledge of the instrumental executive praxis of the XVII and XVIII centuries. This led him to introduce, in 1969, a new and more authentic way of playing the violin, with the instrument kept free on the shoulder instead of tight under the chin. This method had a crucial influence in the approach to the violin repertoire, and has been adopted by many musicians since the early ‘70s.

From 1964 to 1972, Kuijken has been a member of of the Ensemble Alarius of Brussels (together with the brother Wieland, Robert Kohnen, and Janine Rubinlicht), with which he performed in Europe and in the United States. He also accomplished individual chamber music projects with artists like his brothers, Wieland and Barthold, Gustav Leonhardt, Robert Kohnen, Anner Bylsma, Franz Bruggen, and Renè Jacobs.

In 1972, encouraged by the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Gustav Leonhardt, he founds the baroque orchestra “La Petite Bande,” and holds many concerts throughout Europe, Australia, South America, China, and Japan. He also made several recordings for many record companies, such as Deutsche Armonia Mundi, Seon, Accent, Denon, and Hyperion.

From 1971 to 1996, Sigiswald Kuijken taught baroque violin at the Koninklijk Conservatorium a L’Aia, and since 1993 he has been teaching at the Koninklijk Muziek conservatorium of Brussels. Also, for many years, he has been called as a guest teacher in many international music institutions, such as the Royal College of Musik of Londra, the University of Salamanca e the Accademia Chigiana of Siena.

From 1998, Kuijken occasionally conducts modern symphonic orchestras, where he interprets romantic authors like Schumann, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.

On February 22nd, 2007, he has been awarded with the Laurea Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of Lovanio, in Belgium.