‘On Wednesday afternoons after school, I was always allowed to watch TV, and there were often black-and-white films on. My classmates didn’t like them, but I thought they were wonderful. When I was 8, I even got a bowler hat, cane, and striped sweater from my parents, in the style of my heroes: Charlie Chaplin and, of course, The Little Rascals.’
Willem is a violinist by training and a clown at heart. He studied violin with John Harding at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and performed with the Ricciotti Ensemble, Zapp4, the Residentie Orchestra, the Gelders Orchestra, Spinvis, with Emmy Verhey in Camerata Antonio Lucio, and with Carel Kraayenhof in Sexteto Canyengue. Besides being a performing musician, Willem is also a composer, arranger, and lyricist and is regularly asked to be a director or acting coach.
