Martijn Padding (Amsterdam, 1956) studied composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, piano with Fania Chapiro and musicology at the University of Utrecht. His oeuvre ranges from solo instrumental works to large-scale orchestral compositions and music theatre. His more recent works are less prone to the angular construction and pithy harmonic structure of his earlier pieces, and although Padding’s music often still exhibits a technical-musical aspect, a theatrical element is increasingly evident. Padding’s compositional aesthetic precludes any hierarchical relationship amongst, for instance, modernistic elements, influences from popular culture and historical-based doctrines. Padding’s works are performed by prominent ensembles, soloists and orchestras in the Netherlands and abroad. He writes his music in close colllaboration with musicians and ensembles, including Gerard Bouwhuis, Asko|Schönberg, MAE ensemble, NAP, LOOS and the Veenfabriek.

In 2009, Padding was selected for the International Rostrum of Composers for First Harmonium Concerto. For a performance of the complete series of Beethoven's nine symphonies with Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna at the Holland Festival in 2010, Padding wrote a new overture, Glimpse, with the same orchestration as Beethoven's The Creatures of Prometheus. In 2011 Padding won an Edison Klassiek Award for his CD Three Concerti. In March 2012 his composition In Memoriam Hector Berlioz premiered with Het Gelders Orkest, where he had been composer in residence during one season. In the autumn of 2012, three of Padding's compositions premiered: Things that fall apart, Gesprek (a duo composition with Louis Andriessen) and HOP. From 2012 Padding has been working on his new opera Laika, which will premiere in June 2014 at the Holland Festival. As well as working as a composer, Martijn Padding is also Head of the composition faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague.