Excited to be recently posted as the Jazz and Choir teacher at Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School since returning to Calgary, Martijn is a creative, dedicated and hardworking performer, educator and composer who has lived in Canada, Japan and the UK.

Earning a Bachelor of Music from McGill University and a B.Ed. from University of Calgary Martijn has also had private lessons with notable trumpeters Laurie Frink, Allen Vizzutti, Bobby Shew, Pete Olstad, Saxophonist Bobby Mintzer, pianist Kenny Werner and drummer Kenny Aronof.

Highlights of his time in Canada, include performing and recording an album with Canadian Cuban band Cuba Libre (Masacote), performing at the Montreux Jazz festival with Saxophonee, being a performer with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks for the show Perched on the Edge of a Quarter Note and playing Haitian Kompa music with Montreal band Dixieband on tour in Paris.

He also composed and released an ECM-style album in Calgary entitled Always the Sun along with saxophonist Brian Christensen in 2003 and performed and studied at the Banff Centre as an artist-in-residence.

While living and teaching English in Tokyo from 2001 to 2003, Martijn joined the creative band The Conductors, an eclectic group of musicians from around the world and Japan that played an experimental and improvisational mix of jazz, hip hop, funk and pop music to ever bigger audiences for gigs that went on for 8 hours on a weekly basis.

Moving to the South of England in late 2007 and working as a school teacher, also brought opportunities to expand into other musical genres such as musicals and orchestra work as well as continuing to perform as a jazz musician, conducting and doing studio work.

Highlights of his time in England include playing jazz with Geoff Simkins, Julian Nicholas, Mark Bassey, Paul Greenwood (Incognito), performing for and meeting Andrew Lloyd Webber in the first remake of The Likes of Us, playing the pilot for the live remake of Round the Horne, performing for several months with legendary WHO drummer Bill Bruford and playing in a big band and Afro-beat band with Dire Straits saxophonist Chris White. While in England, Martijn also directed Sussex Jazz Orchestra (Ian Hamer) for 2 years and guest conducted various other big bands including The Studio 9 Orchestra. He was a regular member of the Brighton Jazz Mafia big band, Fred Woods big band (Dave Woods’s brother), Hasting big band and Terry Pack’s Trees.