Claire van Kampen, theater director and the wife of Mark Rylance, was 71 when she died on his birthday on Saturday, Jan. 18, Rylance confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE.

Formally know as Lady Rylance, van Kampen died in the ancient town of Kassel, Germany, surrounded by her family, said a statement issued by Mark Rylance and van Kampen’s daughte

Claire van Kampen, a theater director, composer and wife of actor Mark Rylance, died Saturday morning. She was 71. Van Kampen died in Kassel, Germany, “surrounded by her family” following a battle with cancer, Rylance and her daughter Juliet shared in a statement. Saturday was also her husband’s 65th birthday.

Claire van Kampen, who has died from cancer aged 71, was a pianist, composer and playwright who made arrangements of Tudor-era music for the BBC TV series Wolf Hall, introduced Shakespearean-era instruments to Broadway theatres and wrote Farinelli and the King (2015),

Actor and playwriter Mark Rylance announced over the weekend that his wife, director and composer Claire van Kampen, passed away amid her battle with cancer on his 65th birthday. She was 71 years old.

Claire van Kampen, theatre director and wife of award-winning actor Mark Rylance, has died aged 71. She died on her husband's 65th birthday. Daughter Juliet confirmed her mother's death on behalf of her family.