|
The Dutch-born mezzo-soprano, Maartje Sevenster, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Solo Voice from the Schumann School of Music in the Netherlands (2005-2011), studying part-time with Roberta Alexander, Frans Huyts and Connie de Jongh. She also has Master of Science degree in Astronomy from the Leiden University (1987-1992), PhD in Astronomy from the Leiden University (1993-1997) and made her Postdoc at the Australian National Universirty (1998-2001).
Since 2009, Maartje Sevenster has focused on Baroque repertoire, both as a member of choirs or ensembles and as a soloist. Currently, she is alto soloist with the Canberra Bach Ensemble, and in performances with the Limestone consort and other Canberra-based musicians. In 2023, she was alto soloist in J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245 with Igitur Nos. She sings with the Bach Akademie Australia (Director: Madeleine Easton), and performed with the Song Company in the Canberra International Music Festival. With ensemble Adhoc Baroque, she performed many lesser-known pieces of the Baroque repertoire in a one-per-part setting to great acclaim, including several Australian premieres. She also performed the premieres of David Cassat's Die Hand, for mezzo-soprano, viola, cello, flute and clarinet, and Judith Clingan's In this Fateful Hour, and was part of the community oratorio Passion for Peace by Canberra composer Glenda Cloughley. She conducts a small community choir in the village of Gundaroo.
Next to performing, she has an ongoing interest in the acoustics of the vocal tract. The active control of resonances and the role of so-called formant theory in vocal training were the central topics of her bachelor thesis. She participated in the Estill Voice Training System level one and two courses in 2015.
Since April 2018, Dr Maartje Sevenster works in CSIRO's Climate Smart Agriculture group on the quantification of direct and indirect impacts of agriculture and other economic activities. She has worked in academia as well as in the private sector. She leads projects focusing on improving life cycle assessment and natural capital accounting for Australian agriculture, developing the pilot version of the Farmprint tool and working with a broad group of stakeholders on defining a common greenhouse-gas accounting methodology for agricultural sectors. As part of the Trusted Agrifood Exports mission, she evaluated the increasing role of sustainability metrics in trade and market access. She led a project linking GHG accounting principles with APSIM modelling to quantify net GHG effects of farming scenarios in rainfed cropping and continues to work with agronomists to evaluate environmental effects of farm management options.
Maartje Sevenster was a member of the board of the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society for 8 years (May 2002-June 2011) and is one of ~30 Certified LCA professionals in Australia and New Zealand. |
