Marlene Dijkstra (1996) studies with Vera Beths at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where she obtained her bachelor degree in 2019, after she was taught by Veselina Manikova and Coosje Wijzenbeek. She followed master classes with Anner Bylsma, Liviu Prunaru and Candida Thompson and chamber music lessons with David Kuijken, Dmitri Ferschtman and Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir. She has participated in various festivals and academies such as the Mahler Academy, European Chamber Music Academy, London Masterclasses, West Dean College and the Peter de Grote Festival. Marlene received a grant to participate in the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau, where she was taught by Philipe Graffin, Raphaël Oleg, Alexis Galperine and Gérard Poulet and chamber music lessons by Raphaël Merlin, Frédéric Aguessy, Christian Ivaldi, Diana Ligeti and Pierre-Henri Xuereb, among others. During the festival she received an award for best performance of a newly composed work.
In the 2019/2020 season, Marlene was a member of the Academy of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She is a former member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and was concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra. She regularly substitutes in the Camerata RCO, the Residentie Orkest and the NNO. Marlene has worked with conductors such as Andris Nelssons, Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda and Semyon Bychkov. As a former primarius of the Helikon Quartet, she attended master classes with Eberhard Feltz, Quatuor Danel, Johannes Meissl, Miguel da Silva and the Chilingirian Quartet and performed in Tivoli Vredenburg and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, among others. Marlene has performed as a soloist with Groningen Student Orchestra MIRA and Philharmonie Noord.