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Maarten Engeltjes (Counter)
was born in 1984 in the Netherlands and started singing in a boys-choir when he was four years old. In 1995 Sir David Wilcocks recognized his special talent and selected Maarten as soprano soloist for the Coronation Anthems (Händel) at a boys choir festival in Haarlem, the Netherlands. He also participated as a soloist on several CD recordings including Miserere Mei (Allegri).
Maarten's voice broke when he was 13 years old, and he decided to continue as a countertenor, under the guidance of Paul Hameleers.
After Maarten turned 16, he had his countertenor debut performance, singing an alto-aria in the St. Matthew’s Passion (Bach).
In 2003, the famous Michael Chance selected Maarten from among 20 talented young counter tenors, and invited him to participate in a master class, which was broadcasted on the Dutch national television.
In October 2004, Maarten and Michael Chance performed an evening program singing several duets by Purcell and Blow, including "An ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell", conducted by Gustav Leonhardt.
In October 2005 he was awarded as being the youngest participant of the “Concours International de Chant Baroque de Chimay” with 3 awards: the 2nd prize, le Prix du Baroque du Sablon and le Prix du Festival du Printemps des Arts de Nantes. The jury was chaired by (among others): William Christie and Jill Feldman.
In December 2005, Maarten participated as a soloist in the performances of Händel's Messiah and Bach's Weihnachts Oratorio in Japan, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven.
In October 2006 Maarten was awarded with two awards during the “Concorso Musica Sacra” in Rome (Italy). He was awarded with the 2nd prize and the prize of the youngest finalist. The jury was chaired a.o. by the directors of the opera houses of: Rome, Verona, Hamburg and Gent.
In may 2007 his debut-album was presented, performing songs from Dowland, Byrd and Purcell. The reviews where unanimously praising.
In September 2007 Maarten graduated cum laude with distinction at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague where he studied under the guidance of Maria Acda, Manon Heijne and Michael Chance.
Meanwhile he participated as a solo performer in numerous national and international concerts, with conductors as Gustav Leonhardt, Phillipe Pierlot, Christina Pluhar, Gabriel Garrido, Jos van Veldhoven and others.
2007 CD Arias by J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel for counter and orchestra together with rediscovered concertos and doubleconcertos for flute, oboe and violin by Quantz, Fasch, Telemann. Soloists: Maarten Engeltjes counter, Hajo Wienroth traversflute, Mark Baigent oboe and Simon Standage violin.
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