Bart Oenema (1967) a Dutch baritone and composer was in the late 1980's along with Michael Florusse the duo "Buurman Cabaret," directed by Fred Florusse. It soon became clear that he got the most satisfaction from the musical part of the cabaret. He decided to fully focus on the music by studying singing at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam with Charles van Tassel, Charlotte Rietdijk and Hein Meens. He later took lessons with vocal coach Geert Berghs. He also studied theater and film studies at the University of Amsterdam and studied philosophy for several years.
As a singer Bart Oenema is conneced to the professional chamber choir Cappella Amsterdam (Director: Daniel Reuss) since 2001. He is a regular soloist in oratorio and choral concerts. The repertoire of Cappella Amsterdam is very diverse. This makes Oenema sings a wide variety of music in various productions. With Cappella Amsterdam he worked with on several opera productions including; Thyeste by composer Jan van Vlijmen to the libretto by Hugo Claus, directed by Gerard-Jan Reijnders; the opera Marco Polo by the composer Tan Dun, directed by Pierre Audi. Furthermore, Mattheus Passion and Luther by Baldwin Tarenskeen, both musical theater productions directed by Paul Koek. Then of course all sorts of repertoire for chamber choir. Early music from Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck to world premieres by contemporary composers and everything in between. With Cappella Amsterdam, he works with top conductors as: Frans Brüggen, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jaap van Zweden, Reinbert de Leeuw, Jan Willem de Vriend and Daniel Reuss. And with top orchestras and ensembles such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Asko-Schönberg Ensemble and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bart Oenema also works as a singing teacher. He gives voice training to choirs ranging from Zeemanskoor to chamber choirs. From 1998 to 2001, he was a music teacher and conductor of the Jeugdtheaterschool Boemerang in Amersfoort. Here he led the Jeugdtheaterkoor (youth theater choir) and the musical class and taught voice training at the theater classes. Currently he is working as a vocal coach for the Stichting Podiumspektakel in Harderwijk. He currently lives in Kampen, the Netherlands.