PRJCT Amsterdam is the young baroque ensemble centered around countertenor Maarten Engeltjes.
The ensemble is formed by a permanent core of outstanding young Baroque musicians with a shared musical vision.
PRJCT Amsterdam is a young baroque ensemble centered around countertenor Maarten Engeltjes, founded in 2017. The ensemble is formed by a permanent core of young, outstanding baroque musicians. PRJCT Amsterdam stands for imaginative programming and world-class concerts. In doing so, artistic director Maarten Engeltjes often seeks collaboration with other experienced, internationally established top musicians, as concertmaster and/or soloist.
In a short time, PRJCT Amsterdam has successfully established its name in the music world. Its first project, 'Tranen van een moeder' (Tears of a Mother), featuring Pergolesi's Stabat Mater among others and created in collaboration with writer P.F. Thomése, led to a sold-out Concertgebouw in 2023. PRJCT Amsterdam also garnered much praise with the program 'If Music be the Food of Love' with Andreas Scholl, including concerts at De Doelen, TivoliVredenburg, and sold-out venues at AMUZ Antwerp and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ Amsterdam.
Artistiek leider Maarten Engeltjes verwelkomde de afgelopen jaren wereldsterren als Rolando Villazón en Carolyn Sampson bij PRJCT Amsterdam. Met Villazón bracht het ensemble het programma ‘Mozart: Könige, Kaiser & Ein Vogelfänger’ naar podia als de Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, het Wiener Konzerthaus, het Gewandhaus Leipzig, de Tonhalle Zürich en de Alte Oper Frankfurt. Sopraan Carolyn Sampson en mezzosopraan Julia Lezhneva waren te horen in Händels Brockes-Passion, uitgevoerd met het Vlaams Radiokoor in onder meer het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Brussel en De Doelen Rotterdam. Voor de komende jaren heeft PRJCT Amsterdam een groot aantal plannen, variërend van cd-opnames en nieuwe concertreeksen tot grotere projecten. PRJCT Amsterdam is een graag geziene gast bij prestigieuze festivals en concertzalen als het Bachfest Leipzig, de Thüringer Bachwochen, de Kölner Philharmonie, de Elbphilharmonie Hamburg en het Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
PRJCT Amsterdam recorded its first two albums with the prestigious SONY Classical label. The first album, 'Forgotten Arias,' was released in February 2019, and the album 'Nicht Mehr Hier' came out in 2020. In 2023, PRJCT Amsterdam released its acclaimed album Stabat Mater: A Mother's Tears on the Pentatone label. The album was very well received by the national and international press: "All in all a very moving and engaging performance from one of the newest and slickest ensembles on the scene," according to British music magazine Gramophone. Recent performances of Handel's Brockes-Passion also received glowing reviews: "a profound and deliberate artistic preparation, with intellectual taste and refined elegance," according to opera magazine OperaWire in 2026. Stabat Mater: A Mother's Tears uit. Het album werd zeer goed ontvangen door de national and international press : “All in all a very moving and engaging performance from one of the newest and slickest ensembles on the scene”, aldus Brits muziekmagazine Gramophone. Ook de recente uitvoeringen van Händels Brockes-Passion konden op lovende kritieken rekenen: “a profound and deliberate artistic preparation, with intellectual taste and refined elegance”, aldus operamagazine OperaWire in 2026.
