Maarten Altena
| Maarten Altena | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 22, 1943 Amsterdam |
| Genres | Jazz, free improvisation, contemporary classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Double bass |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Website | www |
Maarten van Regteren Altena (born January 22, 1943) is a Dutch composer and contrabassist. Altena attended the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (he studied contrabass) and graduated in 1968. Between 1980 and 1985, he studied composition with Robert Heppener.
Altena recorded in 1967 on Marion Brown's "Porto Novo", along with Han Bennink. After his graduation, Altena played in numerous ensembles, like formations around Willem Breuker and Theo Loevendie. He also played in the Dutch Ballet Orchestra and other orchestras. Halfway during the 1970s, he started with solo performances where he played his own work, partly composed, partly improvised.
Altena also founded his own ensemble, the Maarten Altena Kwartet (Maarten Altena Quartet) which expanded into the Maarten Altena Ensemble (MAE) in 1980. From that point on, focused his career on composing. In 1997 he stopped being an active member of this ensemble and left it completely in 2005 in order to be able to spend more time composing for other ensembles.
In 1978 Altena received the Wessel Ilcken Prize for jazz and improvised music.
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