Van Maldere was born in Brussels and educated as a violinist and composer, probably by the directors of the Brussels court chapel, Jean-Joseph Fiocco and Henri-Jacques de Croes. From 1749 he was a violinist at the court of governor of the Low Countries, Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. From 1751 to 1753, van Maldere was director of the "Philarmonick Concerts" in Dublin, where William Manwaring published, in December 1752, the "Six Trios for 2 Fiddles and thorough Bass composed by Sieur Van Maldere". Van Maldere played in the Paris "Concert Spirituel" in August 1754. He accompanied the prince on his many travels, to France (Paris), Bohemia (Prague) and Austria (Vienna), where his two first comic operas were performed in Schönbrunn: "Le Déguisement pastoral" (1756) and "Les Amours champêtres" (1758). Van Maldere also played for the empress Maria Theresia in Vienna. His works were known to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf noted him as one of the most important virtuosos of his time.