Maria van Nieukerken is conductor and artistic director of the professional chamber choir PA'dam, Toonkunst Rotterdam and Kamerkoor Toonkunst Rotterdam. With PA'dam Maria initiates special productions, such as Bach's Goldberg Variations in a vocal version and Mozart's Requiem in a totally different setting. With PA'dam she also regularly ventures into the world of (heavy) metal music with world famous bands such as Epica.

She also works as an assistant conductor and choir leader with Collegium Vocale Gent, the Groot Omroepkoor and the Vlaams Radiokoor, among others. With organist Wim Dijkstra she has led the Bach in Monnickendam series for over fifteen years.

Maria studied choral conducting with Daniel Reuss. She also received lessons from Marcus Creed, Jos van Veldhoven, Paul van Nevel, Hans van den Hombergh and Mark Shapiro (NY). In 1999 she attended the Internationale Meisterkurs Chorleitung led by Eric Ericson in Germany and in 2003 a master class led by Uwe Gronostay and Hartmut Haenchen. In 2004 she won the Bärenreiter Urtext Preis at the International Competition for Young Choral Conductors in Vienna.

Maria gave concerts all over Europe with various choirs and orchestras. She worked with orchestras such as Collegium Delft, Florilegium Musicum, Vaasa City Orchestra, International Bigband Rotterdam and Symfonieorkest Rijnmond. From 2001-2012 Maria was conductor of the Dutch Student Chamber Choir. She has performed as guest conductor with The Gents, Couleur Vocale and the Amsterdam Bach Consort, among others.

Maria is a regular jury member at international choral and composition competitions, including the European Award for Choral Composers and the International Competition for Young Choral Conductors in Italy.
During the Covid period, Maria developed as a specialist in digital rehearsal and coaching through media such as Zoom and Jamulus. Under the name OPMaat, she conducts workshops for companies on leadership and group dynamics.