Martijn grew up in the southern Limburg town of Meers, on the banks of the river Maas. The Limburg wind and brass band scene became his world at an early age. He was trained as a musician and later as a conductor in various orchestras in the
province. He uses music and creativity to connect and touch people. He prefers to think beyond style and genre. Thinking outside the box.

My motivation? Something must happen during a performance. A performance that
is not perfect can still be successful. As long as the emotion was palpable for a
moment. As long as there was a moment of silence. You achieve this by colouring
outside the lines of the score. And by giving the people you work with freedom and trust. Allowing them to deliver more than they thought they could.

CV
Martijn Pepels studied percussion with Pieter Janssen and Werner Otten at the
Maastricht Conservatory. This was followed by the HBO Music Management course at the Fontys Hogeschool in Tilburg. In 2004 he returned to Maastricht to study orchestral conducting with Jan Cober. He also took conducting lessons with Henrico Delamboye and Lucas Vis and masterclasses with Jac van Steen. He worked with the famous Ulster Orchestra in Belfast and won silver and bronze medals in a conducting competition with the MAV Symphony Orchestra in Budapest in 2014. Martijn conducts a number of amateur orchestras, but is also regularly in demand as a guest conductor with professional orchestras and projects at home and abroad. In 2018 he founded the professional Limburg chamber orchestra Heritage Sinfonietta, of which he is artistic director.