Merel Martens is a full-time choir leader, arranger, music teaching specialist and vocal coach. In May 2015 she received a Master’s degree in ‘Innovative Choir Conducting’ from the Royal Academy of Music Aalborg in Denmark. She is influenced by colleagues such as Peder Karlsson (ex-The Real Group), Roger Treece (co-writer Vocabularies – Bobby McFerrin) and Jim Daus (the Intelligent Choir). In the Netherlands Merel is well-known for her involvement in the award-winning vocal groups “Pitch Control”,“MAZE Voices” and “VOÏSZ Vocal Projects”. She is also vocal coach for several (professional) vocal ensembles. She enjoys running workshops for choir conductors, coaching vocal groups and choirs, and especially working on Circle Singing, pop repertoire and vocal games.
Since November 2015, Merel has brought the ‘Vocal Leadership method to Codarts Conservatory Rotterdam, educating choir leaders and music teachers and teaching the master’s degree in this relatively new discipline. In June 2018 Merel was awarded ‘Best choir conductor of 2018’ by the Netherlands Choir Festival, and MAZE was awarded ‘Best Choir of the Netherlands’.