Maite van der Marel

Disrupts. Questions. Encourages.

Born and raised in Utrecht, the Netherlands in 1986.

During my bachelor of Music Education at Codarts (conservatory in Rotterdam), I was already curious to explore new approaches in music education, while further developing my musical skills on the piano. During my Masters I dove into the philosophy and techniques of creative collaborative music making, inspired by Peter Renshaw, with the aim to help communities and especially young people to express their voice. I have worked in education and community projects in many different places in the world — the Netherlands, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Cuba and Brazil — with kids, teenagers, young adults and professionals, including people with mental or psychosocial vulnerabilities.

I connect arts and the creative process to social issues, interpersonal development and leadership. In essence I search for new meaning and relevance of music and arts in today's changing society. Intrigued by group dynamics, communication and conflict, I followed courses like Transactional Analysis and Deep Democracy. Throughout all of this, artistic quality remains central: the work is social and it is art. Both matter.

Through my practice Collecting Beats, I develop programs and interventions around three pillars: community activation, training and artistic cross-sector interventions. I currently also teach at ArtEZ University of the Arts, guiding students to connect their creativity to societal contexts.

Besides sparking creativity, I aim to empower participants to express themselves and share responsibility within the group. My leadership style is questioning, playful, empathetic, humorous and explorative. I always look for an alignment of the individual and the group, and search for profound meaning and urgency through (artistic) reflection.

As a composer and singer-songwriter, I go by the name Maite Rosa. Performing with piano, synths, vocals and electronic beats, I play with expectations through surprising twists and turns. My compositions are dynamic and layered, my improvisations expressive — and through my soft and quirky voice, I allow the audience to get very close.

Interested in working together or want to know more about my background? Feel free to reach out, I'm happy to share my CV on request.

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