Martijn’s 2023-2024 season set off with debuts at two international festivals. He conducted the MDR-Sinfonieorchester at Kunstfest Weimar and led the Filmaronica Banatul Timisoara at the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest.

The MDR-Sinfonieorchester invited Martijn to conduct the yearly Buchenwald Memorial Concert of Kunstfest Weimar; an important event in and around the city of Weimar, where the victims of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp are remembered in an evening with music and spoken word. Apart from speeches by contemporary witness Ivan Ivanji and Thuringian State Minister Bodo Ramelow, violinist Jonian Ilias Kadesha performed Poème for violin and orchestra by Szymon Laks, after the orchestral opening with music by Alexander Veprik (Weprik). The main piece of the program was Honegger’s third symphony Liturgique, which was received with a standing ovation.

Subsequently, Martijn travelled to Romania to conduct the Romanian premiere of John Adams’ Absolute Jest at the esteemed George Enescu Festival. After a successful concert at the Philharmonic Hall in Timisoara, the Arcadia Quartet and the Filarmonica Banatul made their way to Bucharest for a performance at the Radio Hall. The program for these performances also featured compositions by Romanian composer Adrian Pop, Mieczysław Weinberg, and Dmitri Shostakovich.