André Rieu (born October 1, 1949 in Maastricht, Holland) is a Dutch violinist and conductor. He is famous for creating an international revival in waltz music and for his many top selling recordings with his "Johann Strauss Orchestra."

Rieu began studying violin at age five. He was raised in a large musical family and his father was a conductor. From an early age he developed a fascination with the orchestra. He studied violin at the music academy in Liège and in Maastricht, (1968 - 1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977 he attend the music academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler. At the academy he won the Premier Prix.

Rieu was exposed to nothing but classical orchestral music until university where he performed the "Gold and Silver" waltz by Franz Lehar. He was impressed by the audience reaction to the waltz music and decided to pursue the waltz form. He formed the Maastricht Salon Orchestra and performed as a violinist with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. In 1987 he created the "Johann Strauss Orchestra" and his own production company.

Johann Strauss Orchestra

The orchestra began in 1987 with twelve members but now performs with over forty and up to fifty musicians. At the same time that the orchestra first toured Europe, there emerged a renewed interest in waltz music. This revival was mostly in the Netherlands and was ignited by their recording of the "Second Waltz" from Shostakovich's Jazz Suites. As a result, Rieu became known as "the King of Waltz."

Rieu and the "Johann Strauss Orchestra" have performed throughout Europe, in North America, and Japan. They have won a number of awards including two World Music Awards and have recordings that have gone gold and platinum in many countries around the world, including 8-times platinum in Holland. Rieu records from his own recording studio a wide range of classical music as well as popular and folk music plus music from famous sound tracks of motion pictures and theater musicals. His lively and colorful orchestral presentations have been able to draw audiences that normally aren't attracted to classical music.

Rieu works together with his brother Jean Philippe and son Pierre Rieu and plays on a 1667 Stradivarius violin. Some of his orchestra's performances have been broadcast in the United States on the PBS television network such as the 2005 airing of .

Partial discography

• Live in Tuscany (2004)
• The Flying Dutchman (2004)
• André Rieu at the Movies (2003)
• Live in Dublin (2003)
• Romantic Paradise (2003)
• Love around the world (2002)
• Dreaming (2002)
• Musik zum träumen (2001)
• La vie est belle (2000)
• Romantic Moments (1998)
• In Concert (1996)

See also

• List of violinists

External links

• André Rieu website