Maarten De Splenter (1984) is a Belgian composer active in both classical and light music. His compositions for orchestra, chamber music and theatre are performed at home and abroad.
De Splenter studied classical saxophone at the conservatoires of Brussels and Ghent and then obtained a second master's degree in Jazz & Light Music Composition at the Conservatoire of Tilburg. For his well-received thesis, he researched compositional systems in the musical Wicked, for which he had the opportunity to meet Oscar & Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz in New York.
As a saxophonist, Maarten won several prizes at solo competitions at a young age, including the prestigious Axion Classics prize in 2002. As a performer, he has been active as a saxophonist, pianist and vocalist in various orchestras, pop rock and folk bands. He composes for various genres ranging from orchestral and chamber music to folk and pop rock to music theatre and musicals. For the latter, he has frequently collaborated with Tony Award-nominated writer, director and translator Koen van Dijk.
After teaching saxophone and chamber music at the academy in Boom for 13 years, De Splenter now teaches composition (classical and jazz), songwriting, music theory and improvisation at the academy in Borgerhout.
At the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, he teaches Practical Harmony & Improvisation to string players, wind players, guitarists, composers, accordionists and harpists. He is also a practical supervisor for the master projects (Art Education Projects) in the Master of Education programme.
In 2020, Maarten De Splenter, together with Natalie Gordon (dance) and Ellen Dierckx (drama), conducted a one-year (preliminary) research project at the same institute within the CORPoREAL research group. His specific artistic and pedagogical research interests lie in genre-transcending creation methods within music education.
Affiliated with the Conservatoire as: teacher of Practical Harmony and Improvisation and practical supervisor of Art Education Project.