While studying piano and composition at the conservatories of Brussels and Antwerp, Maarten Van Ingelgem (°1976) caught the choir bug. In 2001, he started conducting the Ghent-based chamber choir for contemporary music De 2de Adem. So far, he has performed 40 premieres with them. Furthermore, he was one of the bass singers in Aquarius and is regularly invited to conduct or reinforce the bass section of ensembles such as the Brussels Chamber Choir and the Flemish Radio Choir. Furthermore, he is Artistic Director of the World Choir Games that are coming to Flanders in 2021.

His oeuvre as a composer ranges from solo work to string quartets, from a chamber opera to a piano concerto. The Belgian author society Sabam honored him with a Golden Poppy for his choral oeuvre, and, three times, he became laureate of the European Award for Choral Composers. Van Ingelgem is also Professor of Composition at LUCA School of Arts, Leuven.