Ilse Schuit, born in 1999 in Bedum, a town in the North of the Netherlands, discovered her love for classical music through early involvement in classical ballet. Beginning ballet lessons at four, she added jazz ballet at eight and pointe technique at eleven.

Alongside her ballet training, Ilse explored her vocal talents in various choirs, starting with a children's church choir and later singing as a soprano in Sing2Gether under Julia Zaytseva's guidance from 2011 to 2021. She began singing lessons with Julia in 2013.

Between 2015 and 2017, Ilse attended a pre-bachelor program at the Lucia Martha Institute for Performing Arts, where she honed her skills in ensemble singing, acting, classical and jazz ballet, and various other dance forms.

In high school, as parts of both a research project and an honours project, Ilse taught a number of dance classes to students of her high school. For this project, she also conceived, choreographed, produced, and directed a showcase. The showcase was a retelling of an old fairy-tale through music from a wide range of different genres. She performed together with her students; her students danced and she both danced and sang resulting in a collaborative and dynamic presentation.

In 2016, Ilse performed for the first time as a soloist during a concert with the Marsari choir in Assen, performing solo pieces and a duet with Julia Zaytseva.

After graduating from the Praedinius Gymnasium in Groningen in 2016, Ilse took a gap year to focus on performing arts before pursuing a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Culture at the University of Groningen. During her fourth year, she chaired the study association SvNUTS.

In her third year of undergraduate studies, Ilse spent a year at the University of Glasgow to focus on English Linguistics. While in Glasgow, she engaged in theatre activities with Student Theatre at Glasgow (STAG) and the Shakespeare Society. For these societies her roles included actor, stage manager, venue designer, choreographer and backstage makeup help.

During the 2020-2021 academic year, Ilse sang soprano in the student choir Bathroom Scenario under Tobias Bethlehem's direction. 

Ilse completed her Bachelor's degree in English Language and Culture after four and a half years of study. For her thesis, focusing on the use of metaphor in Covid-related speeches, she received a commendable 8.8 out of 10.

In 2021, Ilse started a Bachelor of the Arts in Classical Voice and Performance at the Fontys Academy of Music and Performing Arts, studying under Margriet van Reisen and Sinan Vural. Relocating to Tilburg for her studies, Ilse also began taking ballet lessons at Factorium, initially with Monique Hombergen-Sanders and later with Clara Schönig. Since its founding in September 2023, Ilse has been member of TISK (Tilburgs Studentenkoor) led by Sil van den Hout.