Loek Dikker | en

Loek Dikker was born in Amsterdam and has been active as a composer, pianist and conductor.
He has contributed in the above mentioned roles to film and to stage productions such as ballet, modern dance, musical theatre, and to the symphony orchestra. And with his jazzgroup “The Waterland Ensemble”, he has been touring the U.S.A. and Canada coast tot coast on several occasions.

In 1981 he wrote his first film score. This was the immediate start of a successful career as a composer, music supervisor, music editor, and music producer for the cinema.
His contribution to ”The Fourth Man”, directed by Paul Verhoeven, has gained the Prize for the best Dutch film score in 1983.
This score also brought him international recognition.

Since, he has been composing for film in countries throughout Europe and for Hollywood productions. The producers involved include: Joel Schumacher, Mark Levinson, Aaron Spelling, Frank Mancuso Jr. and Eric Fellner.
He has been working with directors such as Paul Verhoeven, Matthew Chapman, James Dearden on “Pascali’s Island” (also scriptwriter of “Fatal Attraction”), Eric Red, Richard Blank and Margarethe von Trotta on films featuring Johnny Depp, Ben Kingsley, Robert Redford, Eric Roberts, Beverley d’Angelo, Alicia Silverstone, Jeroen Krabbé, Maria Schrader and John Hurt.

In september 1990 he was awarded “The Golden Calf” - the Dutch “Oscar” - for his contribution to filmmusic in the last decade, and in March 1992 he received in Los Angeles “The Saturn Award” for his score for the Paramount Production “Body Parts”.
Loek moved to California 1994. When he returned to Europe a few years later, he split his his professional activities between Amsterdam, Los Angeles and Berlin.
In 1999 he wrote the music for Peter Delpeut’s newly arranged “silent-movie-with-live-symphony” project “Diva Dolorosa” which was shown in Amsterdam, Ghent and Rome.
In 2002 he met director Margaretha von Trotta, which resulted in composing for her succesful film “Rosenstrasse”, which was premiered in competition at the Filmfestival of Venice 2003. Earlier on, Loek composed the music for producer Laurens Straub’s movie “Führer Ex” which was also invited for the competition of the 2002 Venetian Filmfestival. A year later Loek received in Italy the Award Best European Filmmusic for his score for “Rosenstrasse”, the “Premio Cinemusica” at the Ravello/Amalfi Festival.

When Loek adapted early piano works of Ludwig von Beethoven for the symphony orchestra for the 2007 film production “Der junge Beethoven” (“young Beethoven”) in cooperation with film maker Michael Meert for the German broadcaster WDR, his arrangements were very well received, also by the experts of the Beethoven house in Bonn.
With his score for the film “Wolfsbergen” by Nanouk Leopold –which was premiered at the Berlinale in 2007- Loek continued his contribution to Dutch cinema.
Loek keeps on playing piano jazz concerts with his Waterland Trio and Waterland Sextet, and composing new music for the concert stage, such as his composition “Songs, Hymns, Dances” (2006) for Harp and String Quartet and "Legends" for Clarinet and String Quartet -commissioned by the “Travelling Music Ensemble” -as well as composing for film, theater and dance. .