Willem Tanke (born April 4, 1959 in Hengelo, the Netherlands) is an organist and acclaimed recitalist known for his interpretations of works by J.S. Bach, Max Reger, Olivier Messiaen and contemporary composers. In addition he is noted for his own musical language as an improviser and a performing composer. As a teenager, he was drawn especially to wanting to play the organ by the religiously-inspired music of J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen, and also John Coltrane. Career Willem Tanke studied organ and improvisation with Jan Welmers, music theory with Joep Straesser and electronic music with Ton Bruynel at Utrecht Conservatory from 1977 till 1985. He concluded his studies with the Performance Diploma for Organ with full marks (the grade of 10 and honours), and also with diplomas for music theory and improvisation. In 1984 he sent a recording of Olivier Messiaen's Livre d'orgue to the composer and received an enthusiastic letter from Messiaen's wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod, assisting him to obtain a scholarship from the Dutch government and the Prins Bernhard Foundation for advanced studies of Messiaen's organ works, which he undertook with Jennifer Bate in London and in Düsseldorf in the late '80s. In the early part of his career Willem Tanke specialized in the interpretation of organ works by Olivier Messiaen, Max Reger and late 20th century composers. In 1994 he performed Messiaen's complete organ works in Haarlem (the Netherlands) and Puebla and Guadalajara (Mexico). Between 1972 and 1988 Willem Tanke was organist to various Roman Catholic churches in Hengelo and De Bilt. From 1989 until 2003 he was organist at St. Willibrordus Church in Berkel-Enschot, where he made recordings for his CDs, "My friend the Indian and other pieces" and "Imaginary Day". His SuperAudioCD "Meditations for a lent" consists entirely of recordings made at the Loret organ in Berkel-Enschot. Between 1998 and 2000 he was also organist of the Scots International Reformed Church in Rotterdam. Accompanying the African choir there, he learnt around forty songs from in particular Ghana and Cameroon. In the 21st century Willem Tanke became increasingly known as an improviser and a performing composer, solo and with other musicians. In 2006 he developed the 'rolling wrist' technique: the wrist rolls over the keyboard in order to produce fluent clusters and suggest micro-tones. Willem Tanke was a professor of organ as a main subject at Utrecht University of Professional Arts Education from 1988 until