home Maarten Regtien Biography

Maarten Regtien (1963) started playing classical piano at the age of seven.

In 1975 he was introduced to the nearby living (province of Groningen, the Netherlands) Canadian jazz saxofonist and composer Alan Laurillard who introduced M. Regtien to jazz and improvisation.

During adolescence his musical taste started to grow towards 'anything new and unheard-of before.' This period included creating prepared piano's and tape experiments many years before he heard the music of John Cage or Brian Eno for the first time.

Favorite music in the schoolgooing years was the early psychedelic music of Pink Floyd, The Beatles' White Album, free jazz, cool jazz, bebop, early Philip Glass minimal music and above all master pianists Keith Jarret and Jasper Van't Hoff.

Though never heared classical music before M.Regtien started to study musicology at the Universities of Utrecht (RU, 1982) and at the University of Amsterdam (UvA, 1983-1988) where contemporary experimental music was tought on which he in 1988 graduated with a thesis on Penderecki's "Threnos".

During his studies M.Regtien started composing classical music besides his piano solo jazz-improvisations. The by the composer regarded first mature compositions originated from this time ("Le Petit Nicolas" and "3 tapecompositions").

Whereas the classical music is quite 'modern contemporain' the piano improvisations mostly dwelles in the jazz-realm.

After his studies Maarten Regtien started his carreer which encompassed work as nurse and as pianotechnician at the wellknown Dutch Andriessen pianofirm in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Currently Mr.Regtien is working as a Microsoft solution architect.


In the past 30 years M.Regtien has been active in:
  • classical music (~1987 - now)
    • some eleven stringquartets
    • two large orchestra works
    • various ensemble and solo pieces
    • various song cycles
    • a lot of computer music (amongst them the cd South ° The Ernest Shackleton Endurance Expedition (1914-1917) and three cds of "Computer Manipulated Improvisations")
    • >> for all the classical compositions (scores, reading about and listening), visit Compositions

  • jazz (~1980 - now)
Music of Maarten Regtien is available on this website and on YouTube.
Contact: maarten dot regtien2 ed gmail dot com