Anja van Keulen studied recorder, education and geography. She has worked as a teacher in primary and secondary education. She has taught as a lecturer and tutor at the Hogeschool Rotterdam, where she taught music, geography, intercultural education and internationalisation.

Since December 2008, she has worked as a coach in music education at the Concertgebouw, where she launched a programme for training schoolteachers in Amsterdam. Since October 2009, she has headed the Concertgebouw’s Education and Participation programme.