Career
Utendal was a native of Ghent, nowadays a Belgian city, but at the time part of Flanders and the Netherlands which were part of the Holy Roman Empire. Like many Flemish musicians and composers of his time, he served the Imperial family, the Habsburgs. He began already at a young age as a choirboy at the court of Mary of Hungary, sister of emperor Charles V and Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire.
She was given the position of Vogt (regent) of the Netherlands.
After Ferdinand was made Archduke of Further Austria in 1564 after his father"s death, he moved his court from Prague (he was the governor of Bohemia) to Innsbruck. Utendal followed his master to the Innsbruck court chapel to gain the position of vice chapel master in 1572 (as successor of Jacob Regnart).
He was also in charge of the education of the choir boys. Until 1581, Utendal worked for Ferdinand II in Innsbruck, where he died.
He even refused the position of chapel master at the court of Dresden in 1580.