Martin Engstroem began his career organising concerts by creating his own series of Sunday afternoon concerts for young Swedish musicians at the National Museum in Stockholm. As a manager with Ibbs & Tillett, partner with Opéra et Concert, and consultant to companies like EMI, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, and the Paris Opera, Engstroem worked with many major international artists including Karl Böhm, Birgit Nilsson, Jessye Norman, Lucia Popp, Renato Bruson, Leonard Bernstein, Barbara Hendricks, Neil Shicoff, Han-Na Chang, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and for many years enjoyed a close collaboration with Herbert von Karajan.
In 1991, he began what became the Verbier Festival & Academy and he still serves as Artistic and Executive Director, presiding over its evolution into one of the most innovative performing arts communities in Europe. Between 1999 and 2003 Martin was Vice President of Artists & Repertoire of Deutsche Grammophon. He has been a jury member of numerous competitions including the Clara Haskil Competition, the Rubinstein Competition, and the Tchaikovsky Competition. In 2011 The Nobel Foundation in Lindau induced Martin Engstroem and Bill Gates to their Honorary Senate thereby recognizing their sustained personal commitment to supporting and encouraging young talents. In 2015, he received the Dmitri Shostakovich Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of Russian art. Engstroem is the first laureate of the Dmitri Shostakovich Prize who is not a musician.
