started his musical career as a treble and soloist in the Schola Cantorum of the Cathedral of Sint Jan in ’s-Hertogenbosch, under the artistic direction of Maurice Pirenne. Following his studies in Classics at the University of Amsterdam, he decided to pursue a career in music and studied choral conducting under Daniël Reuss at the Amsterdam Conservatory. He took classes in choral and orchestra conducting with Daan Admiraal, Jan Bogaarts and others, and studied under Renaissance and Baroque specialists including Paul van Nevel and Jos van Veldhoven. He completed his studies with Sasja Hunnego as a soloist in the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
He has spent many years as a singer with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging and Cappella Amsterdam, in addition to performing 16th century polyphony with the specialist solo ensemble Cappella Pratensis. Since 2011 he has been coached in singing by voice specialist Paul Tripels and the well-known Dutch tenor Marcel Reijans, who guided him in the transition from tenor to baritone. During that period, he has taken on a small group of singing students, a number of whom he has prepared for entry in different conservatories of music in the Netherlands.
As choral director he covers a broad repertoire, from middle-ages and Renaissance to modern works. On his repertoire you will find works by Hildegard von Bingen and Machaut, alongside works by Ton de Leeuw and Escher. Over the years he has built significant experience performing large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, including a number of Bach compositions and recently Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.
Besides being a guest conductor, he is director and artistic leader of Vocaal Ensemble Photonen in Amsterdam, the Midsummer Voices project choir and orchestra, and the Ensemble Hermes that was set up in 2010 with trained amateurs and young professionals to focus on old music. He has been directing the Utrechts Vocaal Ensemble since autumn 2012, and became director of the Leids Kamerkoor in March 2016.