Walter van Dyk
Encyclopedia
Walter van Dyk is a British
actor
, singer and narrator
.
composer
Rudi Martinus van Dijk
and the Montessori educator Jeanne Elisabeth Anna Koning. Born in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, van Dyk was educated at Hull High School in Hull, Massachusetts
in the United States
, and later studied acting with Uta Hagen
at the Herbert Berghof
(HB) Studios in New York
and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
. He later studied singing at Trinity College of Music
in London.
in Kingston upon Thames
in The Importance of Being Earnest
directed by Stephen Unwin
. He appeared earlier this year at the Old Vic Theatre in London as Herr Schwarz in Georges Feydeau
's A Flea in her Ear directed by Richard Eyre
Van Dyk made his first professional American stage debut in March 1980 at the American Repertory Theatre
in the ART's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
playing Snug, the joiner. Since then Van Dyk has worked on both sides of the Atlantic. London West End theatre
includes the London Evening Standard
Award nominated Enter the Guardsman directed by Jeremy Sams
at the Donmar Warehouse
, the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
directed by Michael Pennington
, the Duke in Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, and George Ketteridge in the Olivier Award nominated production of Cole Porter
's High Society
. Van Dyk appeared in the USA in 2005 in the Yellow Barn Music Festival production in Amherst
, Massachusetts
of Peter Maxwell Davies
Eight Songs for a Mad King
. In the Netherlands, he appeared with his own ensemble, Van Dyk & Company, in a production of songs by Kurt Weill
and Bertolt Brecht
.
Van Dyk's work for television includes the lead role of Pieter in the BBC
Screenplay Can't Stop me Dreaming directed by Bernard Rudden (1992), and roles in The Detectives
, Birds of a Feather
, Framed, The Basil Brush Show, London's Burning
and Love Hurts. Van Dyk most recently appeared in Kevin MacDonald
's latest film Eagle of the Ninth (2011) released in the
UK March 18th, 2011. He played the role of Thoolen in the movie Incognito.
Van Dyk has made a specialty as narrator
of classical
chamber music
most recently in the 2007 production of Igor Stravinsky
's A Soldier's Tale
with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
at Wilton's Music Hall
in London. He has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival
, the Cheltenham
International Music Festival, and in the United States
for Collage New Music in Boston
as well as with the Peabody Trio in Chicago
, San Francisco, and Boulder, Colorado
. Other festivals include Music for Salem in NY, the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Vermont
, and the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Portland
, Maine
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, singer and narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
.
Early life
Van Dyk is the son of DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Rudi Martinus van Dijk
Rudi Martinus van Dijk
Rudi Martinus van Dijk was a Dutch composer of classical orchestral, chamber and vocal music, often featuring violin or piano....
and the Montessori educator Jeanne Elisabeth Anna Koning. Born in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, van Dyk was educated at Hull High School in Hull, Massachusetts
Hull, Massachusetts
Hull is a peninsula town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and later studied acting with Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
at the Herbert Berghof
Herbert Berghof
Herbert Berghof was an Austrian American actor, director and acting coach. He co-founded HB Studio in New York City with his wife Uta Hagen in 1945...
(HB) Studios in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He later studied singing at Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London.
Career
Walter van Dyk will open on September 22nd, 2011 at the Rose TheatreRose Theatre, Kingston
The Rose Theatre, Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The theatre seats 899 around a wide, lozenge shaped stage....
in Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
in The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
directed by Stephen Unwin
Stephen Unwin (director)
Stephen Unwin is an English theatre director. He completed his studies at the University of Cambridge in 1981, and has since directed over 50 professional productions and 12 operas. He was initially Assistant Director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh until 1988...
. He appeared earlier this year at the Old Vic Theatre in London as Herr Schwarz in Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau
Georges Feydeau was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his many lively farces.-Biography:Georges Feydeau was born in Paris, the son of novelist Ernest-Aimé Feydeau and Léocadie Bogaslawa Zalewska. At the age of twenty, Feydeau wrote his first comic...
's A Flea in her Ear directed by Richard Eyre
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre CBE is an English director of film, theatre, television, and opera.-Biography:Eyre was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset in south-west England, followed by Peterhouse at the University...
Van Dyk made his first professional American stage debut in March 1980 at the American Repertory Theatre
American Repertory Theatre
The American Repertory Theater is a professional not-for-profit theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts...
in the ART's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
playing Snug, the joiner. Since then Van Dyk has worked on both sides of the Atlantic. London West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
includes the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
Award nominated Enter the Guardsman directed by Jeremy Sams
Jeremy Sams
Jeremy Sams is a British film director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist....
at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:...
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
directed by Michael Pennington
Michael Pennington
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington is a British director and actor who, together with director Michael Bogdanov, founded the English Shakespeare Company...
, the Duke in Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, and George Ketteridge in the Olivier Award nominated production of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's High Society
High Society (musical)
High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning...
. Van Dyk appeared in the USA in 2005 in the Yellow Barn Music Festival production in Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
of Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
Eight Songs for a Mad King
Eight Songs for a Mad King
Eight Songs for a Mad King is a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow, based on words of George III. The work was written for the South-African actor Roy Hart and the composer's ensemble the Pierrot Players, and premiered on 22 April 1969...
. In the Netherlands, he appeared with his own ensemble, Van Dyk & Company, in a production of songs by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
and Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
.
Van Dyk's work for television includes the lead role of Pieter in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Screenplay Can't Stop me Dreaming directed by Bernard Rudden (1992), and roles in The Detectives
The Detectives
The Detectives is a British comedy television series, starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell, and George Sewell. It was a spoof of police dramas, which were numerous in the 1990s, and it was aired on BBC One...
, Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
, Framed, The Basil Brush Show, London's Burning
London's Burning
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
and Love Hurts. Van Dyk most recently appeared in Kevin MacDonald
Kevin MacDonald (director)
Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish director, best known for his films One Day in September, State of Play, The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void.-Personal life:...
's latest film Eagle of the Ninth (2011) released in the
UK March 18th, 2011. He played the role of Thoolen in the movie Incognito.
Van Dyk has made a specialty as narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
of classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
most recently in the 2007 production of Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's A Soldier's Tale
A Soldier's Tale
A Soldier's Tale is a 1988 romantic drama film directed and produced by Larry Parr, starring Gabriel Byrne and Marianne Basler. It is based on a novel by M. K. Joseph.-Cast:* Gabriel Byrne as Saul* Marianne Basler as Bell* Paul Wyett as Charlie...
with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.Sir Neville Marriner founded the ensemble as The Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields in London as a small, conductorless string group. The ensemble's name comes from Trafalgar Square's St Martin-in-the-Fields...
at Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall is a grade II* listed building, built as a music hall and now a more general-purpose performance space in Grace's Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
in London. He has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
, the Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
International Music Festival, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for Collage New Music in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
as well as with the Peabody Trio in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, San Francisco, and Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
. Other festivals include Music for Salem in NY, the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, and the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.