Louis van Dijk, also spelled Louis van Dyke (27 November 1941 – 12 April 2020), was a beloved Dutch pianist. Born as Arnold Ludwig van Dijk in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, he studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. Louis van Dijk became well known for his improvisational talent in the classical genre. He played with

Pim Jacobs Willem Bernard "Pim" Jacobs (29 October 1934 – 3 July 1996) was a Dutch jazz pianist, composer and television presenter. Early life Jacobs was born on 29 October 1934 in Hilversum, the Netherlands. His parents were artistic. He started playing ...

and

Pieter van Vollenhoven Pieter van Vollenhoven Jr. (born 30 April 1939) is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member, by marriage, of the Dutch royal house. Early life and career Van Vollenhoven was born in Schiedam, he is the second son of Pi ...

under the name ''Gevleugelde Vrienden'' ("Winged Friends"). In September 2005, he played at a charity concert at the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

to raise funds for

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

after the city was hit by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. For his accomplishments as a musician, he was awarded the honorary title of Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

. He died in

Laren Laren may refer to: Places * Laarne, municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders, earlier referenced as Laren * Laren, Gelderland, village in the Dutch municipality of Lochem * Laren, North Holland, municipality and town in the N ...

, aged 78.

References

External links

http://www.louisvandijk.nl
* Dutch jazz pianists 1941 births 2020 deaths Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Musicians from Amsterdam 21st-century Dutch classical pianists {{Netherlands-musician-stub