Martijn Padding (*1956) has a fascination for transparency and contradictions between the logical and the illogical. In his work he looks for subtlety rather than the grand gesture. Although his pieces often take their cue from a technical musical starting point, his work increasingly contains a theatrical element. In his recent work, his characteristic angularity and concise harmonically structured language are less prominent. His aesthetic recognizes no hierarchy among modernist elements, influences from pop culture or historical classical principles, for example. In December 2022 Padding resigned from his position as the Head of the Composition department which he held for 16 years.

Padding's compositions are performed by many leading ensembles, soloists and orchestras worldwide. In 2014, the opera Laika on a libretto P.F. Thomése directed by artist Aernout Mik premiered at the Holland Festival. In 2015 Padding wrote the farewell work Ick seg adieu on commission for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on the departure of Mariss Jansons. In 2020 Jaap van Zweden premiered Padding's Softly Bouncing with the same orchestra.

In 2009 Padding won the Unesco Prize (International Rostrum of Composers) with his First Harmonium Concerto written for Dirk Luimes and the orchestra De Ereprijs. In 2011 he received the Edison Klassiek for the Asko|Schönberg CD recording of his Three Concerti' and in 2016 the Johan Wagenaar Prize for his entire oeuvre. In 2020 Martijn Padding was awarded the Andreaspenning of the city of Amsterdam.