Anton Doornhein studied organ as principal subject at the Rotterdam Conservatory with Jet Dubbeldam. At the conclusion of this studie he was awarded the diplomas Teaching Musician and Performing Musician.

After his training he attended various courses by, among others, Albert de Klerk and Kamiel d'Hooghe. After this he attended lessons interpretation by Marie Louise Langlais-Jaquet at the "Conservatoire International de Musique" in Paris, which were crowned with a unanimous award of the Grand Prix.

In 1985 he won the National Organ Festival at Leyden, catagory romantic music, and in 1988 he was prizewinner at the International Organ Festival at Nijmegen. He was also one of the finalists at the International Bach Festival 1995 in the Sint Bavo Church in Haarlem.

For his services to French organ culture, in 1997 he was awarded the Bronze Medal, and in 2004 with the Silver Medal of Arts, Sciences et Lettres.

In 2001 he won three prizes at the Cesar Franck Organ Festival in the Sint Bavo Cathedral in Haarlem: the second prize, the audience prize and the Charles Tournemire prize.

Anton Doornhein is organist of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Dominicus in Rotterdam.

Several cd's have come from his hand with recordings from the St. Agatha church in Lisse, “Grote kerk” in Beverwijk, the Moses and Aäron church in Amsterdam, and the Katarina church in Stockholm. In 2007 he recorded the complete organ works of Joseph Jongen. They are published in 2 cd-boxes of 2 cd's. He performed these works in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kerk in Laken (Belgium) and in the Marienbasilika of Kevelaer (Germany).