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The Dutch choral conductor, Maria van Nieukerken, studied at Marnix College Ede in Ede, the Netherlands (Classof 1991). She studied choral conducting with Daniel Reuss at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam (Class of 2000). She also studied piano there for a number of years with Marcel Baudet and Alexandre Hrisanide. She received lessons in choral and orchestral conducting from Marcus Creed, Jos van Veldhoven, Paul van Nevel, Hans van den Hombergh and Mark Shapiro (New York). In 1999 she was admitted to the International Master Course in Choral Conducting under the leadership of Eric Ericson, and in 2003 she took part in Uwe Gronostay’s and Hartmut Haenchen’s master-class with the Nederlands Kamerkoor. In September 2004 she won the Bärenreiter Urtext Preis during the semi-final of the International Competition for Young Choral Conductors in Vienna.
Maria van Nieukerken is conductor and artistic director of the professional chamber choir PA'dam (since 2013), the Belgian National Youth Choir BEVocal, Toonkunst Rotterdam (since 2008) and the Toonkunst Rotterdam Chamber Choir.
Maria van Nieukerken is regularly active as assistant conductor; in the current season for example for Collegium Vocale Gent and the Nederlands Kamerkoor. In this capacity she has worked closely with such conductors as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Reinbert de Leeuw, Philippe Herreweghe, Zsolt Nagy, Stefan Asbury, Heinz Holliger and Marcus Creed. She also directs various workshops for singers, choirs and conductors.
Between 2001 and 2012 Maria van Nieukerken was conductor of the Nederlands Studenten Kamerkoor, where she distinguished herself with contemporary music combined with theatrical elements. She appeared as guest conductor with for example The Gents, Couleur Vocale and the Amsterdam Bach Consort, and worked together with orchestras such as Florilegium Musicum Rotterdam, Collegium Delft, Accademia Amsterdam, Vaasa City Orchestra, the Nicolaas Consort, the Rotterdam Symphonic Wind Orchestra, the Amsterdam Tram Wind Band and the Rotterdam International Big Band.
Since 2005, Maria van Nieukerken has organized together with the organist Wim Dijkstra the concert series “Bach in Monnickendam” where five times a year she directs PA’dam and the Nicolaas Consort in a variety of programmes. In January 2016, she conducted her own programme with Cappella Amsterdam in the Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam and elsewhere. In spring 2017, she conducted the contemporary opera Cajanus in the Bavo church in Haarlem. In the summer of 2017, she was conductor of the international EuroChoir, with concerts in the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia. She will repeat this in the summer of 2018.
Maria van Nieukerken is regularly a member of the jury in international choral and composition competitions such as the Belgian Choir of the Year competition, the International Tonen 2000 Choir Festival and the European Award for Choral Composers. In 2015, she was a jury member in the International Competition for young Choral Conductors in Turin. In 2015 and 2016 she gave a number of master-classes, among others together with members of the Calefax Reed Quintet. |
