The young Dutch countertenor Maarten Engeltjes (1984) started singing at the age of 4 as a boy soprano. In 1995 Sir David Wilcocks recognized his special talent and selected Maarten as soloist for the Coronation Anthems (Händel) at the Boys Choir Festival in Haarlem, The Netherlands. As a boy soprano soloist, he also participated on several CD recordings in the Dom Cathedral in Riga, Latvia, including Allegri’s Miserere.

Maarten Engeltjes had his countertenor debut at the age of 16, singing the alto-arias in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. Numerous national and international performances quickly followed including Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpieces as well as all major Händel’s oratorios etc.

In 2003, Michael Chance selected Maarten out of 20 talented young countertenors and invited him to participate in a master class, which was also broadcast on Dutch national television. A joint orchestra recital with Michael Chance followed in 2004, where the artists performed duets by Purcell and Blow, including An ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell.

Strongly associated with the fields of both baroque and contemporary music some of his most recent engagements include the role of Tolomeo in Händel’s Giulio Cesare with Capella Cracoviensis in Krakow, Bertarido in Händel’s Rodelinda at the Via Stellæ Festival in Santiago de Compostella, the role of Adschib in Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa conducted by Markus Stenz at the NTR Zaterdagmatinee series at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lera Auerbach’s Dresdner Requiem with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Vladimir Jurowski conducting, the Matthäus-Passion with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging conducted by Jos van Veldhoven, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Concerto Köln, Bach’s Magnificat with the Bergen Philharmonic and Juanjo Mena conducting, the role of Mago Christiano in Händel’s Rinaldo at the Opéra de Lausanne, the role of Meraspe in Cavalli’s Artemisia with La Venexiana, a major European tour performing J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion with Ton Koopman and his Amsterdam Baroque Soloists and Bach’s B-minor Mass with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin conducted by Daniel Reuss.

Other past engagements include the role of The Angel at the world premiere of Rob Zuidam’s opera Adam in Ballingschap at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, Polinesso in Händel’s Ariodante conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli at the Festival de l’Opéra Baroque de Beaune, Dixit Dominus with the Nederlands Kamerkoor and conductor Peter Dijkstra, Cantatas from Bach conducted by Ton Koopman with the NPS Matinee series at the Concertgebouw, Stabat Mater of Vivaldi with Musica Amphion at the Festival Classique in The Hague, Bach’s Weihnachts Oratorium in Tokyo and Osaka and a world tour with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants in the young artists program Le Jardin des Voix, as well as a tour through Belgium with Flemish baroque orchestra B’Rock performing Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and Hasse’s Salve Regina.

In May 2007 his debut solo CD of songs by Purcell, Dowland and Byrd, was presented during a recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The CD was on the top-10 list of best selling classical CD’s in The Netherlands for many months and enjoyed unanimous critical acclaim. In the meantime he also recorded Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Solo Cantatas for Alto, the latter was released in January 2009.

Maarten Engeltjes graduated cum laude and with distinction from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in September 2007. He was coached by Maria Acda, Manon Heijne and Michael Chance and Andreas Scholl.