Born in the Netherlands he began his studies at the Utrecht Conservatory, followed by specializing in Opera at the University of Music in Vienna and at the Amsterdam Opera Studio.
After winning a first prize at the Nico Dostal Singing Competition (Austria) he made his debut as Papageno during the Vienna Mozart Week in the Schönbrunn Theatre and as Dandini (La Cenerentola; Rossini) at the Rheinsberg Festival. He subsequently sang the roles of Sacha (Moskva Cheryomushki; Shostakovich) and Jovan (Zora D; Zebeljan) at the Vienna Chamber Opera, Patrocles (King Priam; Tippett), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte; Mozart), Musiklehrer (Ariadne auf Naxos; R. Strauss) and Colline (La Bohème; Puccini) at the Nederlandse Reisopera, Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro; Mozart) at Stadttheater Baden (including on tour in Japan), Action (West Side Story; Bernstein) at the Flanders Festival Gent, Escamillo at the Klosterneuburg Opera Festival, Jovan at the Belgrade Music Festival, Junius (The Rape of Lucretia; Britten) at the Bangkok Opera and the Hanoi Opera House, Maître Jean (La Colombe; Gounod) at Opera Trionfo, Claudius (Hamlet; Thomas) at Operazday, Nabucco (Nabucco; Verdi) with the New Philharmonic Orchestra, Angelotti (Tosca; Puccini) at the Dutch National Opera, Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde; Wagner) at Oper Wuppertal and the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer (Wagner) at Istanbul State Opera.

Martijn Sanders was a member of the soloist ensembles of Opera Zuid (Maastricht) and Theater Aachen where he was heard as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte; Mozart), Figaro, Popolani (Barbe Bleue; Offenbach), Sagrestano (Tosca; Puccini), Escamillo (Carmen; Bizet), De Bretigny (Manon; Massenet), Germont (La Traviata; Verdi), Falke (Die Fledermaus; Strauss), Fra Melitone (La Forza del destino; Verdi), Tonio (I Pagliacci; Leoncavallo), Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana; Mascagni) and Nabucco (Nabucco; Verdi).
He made his debut with the Munich Radio Orchestra as Vitellius (Hérodiade; Massenet) alongside Agnes Baltsa and Vladimir Chernov and conducted by Jun Märkl, and later returned there as Johann (Werther; Massenet) under Marco Armiliato. With the Dutch National Opera he performed roles in Die Gezeichneten (Schreker) and Tea (Tan Dun). He also sang the title role in The Flying Dutchman (Wagner) at Open-Air Opera in Bottrop with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen directed by Valtteri Rauhalammi. In the yearly New Year’s Opera Concerts of the Vredenburg Concert Hall he debuted as Amonasro (Aida; Verdi) and Gérard (Andrea Chénier; Giordano).
Martijn Sanders also established himself as a concert singer and has sung at many important concert halls in Europe and Asia. He is a regular guest at the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, including in the famous Saturday Matinee Concerts, in works such as Händel’s Messiah, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Brahms’ Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem and others. With the Brabant Orchestra under Michael Tabachnik he sang Joseph (L’enfance du Christ; Berlioz), and with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Edo de Waart he was heard as L’ami (La chute de la maison Usher; Debussy). With that same orchestra under the direction of Alexander Liebreich he performed the Don Quixote Songs by Ravel and Ibert. He sang Le Bal Masqué (Poulenc) with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and with The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra he performed Bach’s St Matthew Passion under Jaap van Zweden. Furthermore, he had the honour of singing the Baritone solo in The Bells (Rachmaninov) at the Prince Claus Concert in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. In Paris, he sang Deux Sonnets de Jean Cassou (Dutilleux) under the guidance of the composer.
Recent productions include Die Gezeichneten (Schreker) under Markus Stenz and A Village Romeo and Juliet (Delius) under Sir Mark Elder at the Saturday Matinee Concerts at the Royal Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Boroff (Fedora; Giordano) with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, a series of Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen under Heiko Förster, The Carnaval Brabant concerts with the Philharmonie Zuid Nederland under Per Otto Johansson and Figaro with the Orchestra of the 18th Century under Kenneth Montgomery.

Coming projects
The Badger/Priest in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at the Nationale Reisopera Enschede, the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer at Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca, Sirocco in Chabrier’s L’étoile at Opera Zuid Maastricht and the Verdi Requiem with the Noord Nederlands Orkest.