PRJCT Amsterdam is a young Baroque ensemble centered around countertenor Maarten Engeltjes.
The ensemble consists of a permanent core of outstanding young Baroque musicians who share a common 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.
In recent years, Artistic Director Maarten Engeltjes has welcomed global stars such as Rolando Villazón and Carolyn Sampson to PRJCT Amsterdam. With Villazón, the ensemble presented the program ‘Mozart: Kings, Emperors & A Bird Catcher’ at venues such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Tonhalle Zürich, and the Alte Oper Frankfurt. Soprano Carolyn Sampson and mezzo-soprano Julia Lezhneva performed in Handel’s Brockes Passion, presented with the Flemish Radio Choir at venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Flagey in Brussels, and De Doelen in Rotterdam. PRJCT Amsterdam has a wide range of plans for the coming years, ranging from CD recordings and new concert series to larger projects. PRJCT Amsterdam is a welcome guest at prestigious festivals and concert halls such as the Bachfest Leipzig, the Thüringer Bachwochen, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the 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 . 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 the British music magazine Gramophone. The ensemble’s recent performances of Handel’s *Brockes Passion* also received rave reviews: “a profound and deliberate artistic preparation, with intellectual taste and refined elegance,” according to the opera magazine *OperaWire* in 2026.
