He began learning the drums at the age of 11 and has been performing concerts ever since. His passion for Malinké percussion started in 1995, learning among others from Famoudou Konaté, Mamady Keïta, Soungalo Coulibaly, Billy Konaté, Sekouba Oularé and Harouna Dembélé.
He taught dununs at the Dante Agostini school in Toulouse, France, and accompanies many dance classes and workshops. Maarten has published two instructional books, “Djembe Dunun Drumset” (2005) and “Rythmes de Guinée” (2007).
He currently performs on European stages with the bands The Stingers, Les Fils de la Chose, The Electric Shakers, Julien Rieu de Pey and Valeria & The Mountain Boys.

Since 1998, he has been learning djembe and dununs in West Africa and in France, notably with Zoumana Diarra, Karim Tounkara, Lancei Kaba, Dialla Diawara, Thomas Gueï, Harouna Dembélé and Marius Gnonka.
He has accompanied dance classes and traditional festivals in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Europe. Benjamin also practiced the balafon with Seydou “Kanazoé” Diabaté. He is currently a mathematics teacher in international schools.

He started learning cello at the age of 6. Since 1998, he plays djembe, dununs and balafon, under the guidance of masters such as Harouna Dembele and Seydou “Kanazoé” Diabaté.
After traveling to Mali and Burkina Faso, he currently plays cello and African percussion in various dance and theater projects, such as Oublie Pas de Sourire, Méli Mélodie and Le Bruit du Silence.