Acclaimed violinist, André Rieu (pronounced Ree-er) is very excited to be making his first ever trip to Australia in September. André will be undertaking a heavy schedule of interviews and TV appearances in Sydney (September 19 & 20) and Melbourne (September 21) to promote his amazing recordings and to announce his first ever Australian Tour with his orchestra, scheduled to take place in 2008.

“André’s success in Australia is unmatched in chart history. The domination of the Australian DVD chart is an absolute phenomenon in terms of sales. The pure artistry and popular appeal of André is what makes each DVD such a compelling experience,” says Universal Music Australia Manager Director, George Ash.

Radio switchboards jam every time they played a Rieu record. Retailers around the country are drawing up petitions for André to tour Australia. And the people have voted with their shopping dollars.

The result - that all 9 of his DVDs have stormed their way into the Top 40 ARIA DVD charts and stayed there for three consecutive weeks (weeks commencing July 30 - August 13). On August 6 this year, André commanded a record SIX of the ARIA Top 10 positions in the charts!

But who is André Rieu…? Before he completed his studies at the music academy in Brussels with honours (Premier Prix) in 1977, he had briefly considered not becoming a professional musician and had planned instead to open a small pizza bakery together with his wife in their native Maastricht. But nothing came of their plans. So in his late twenties he accepted a full-time job with a symphony, but starting in 1978 he also started played first violin in a salon orchestra. At first this was nothing more than a hobby. Soon, however, the quintet made a name for itself beyond the most south-western province of the Netherlands. “When we played Franz Lehár’s Gold and Silver, I felt as if a new world opened up to me.
I was immediately enthralled with the beat that many years later would more or less become the rhythm of my life: the waltz,” recalls the 57-year-old today.

After nearly ten years with the salon orchestra André Rieu wanted to take it a step further. “I never sat at home and waited to see if perhaps someday and somehow happiness or success would come to me in order to then start complaining when neither came knocking. I’ve always gone out in search of my happiness,” Rieu revealed in his biography (“My Music, My Life”).

Since 1994, he has released a staggering 19 albums (available on CD and DVD), he has sold in excess of 23 million CDs and DVDs worldwide. His most recent release, New York Memories (October 2006) has already achieved Double platinum status on DVD here in Australia. In the last 9 months, André Rieu has performed over 100 concerts across the world, touring extensively across the US and Europe.

The atmosphere at one of his concerts, complete with lavish costumes, is more like that of a pop concert. It is impossible to deny André Rieu his worldwide success, for the Dutch violinist and orchestra conductor has become not only an ambassador of light classical music, but first and foremost an internationally renowned star. Today he is known as the “Modern King of Waltz”. One might equally dub him the “King of Romance”.

Catch André Rieu on the promotional trail in Sydney on September 19 and 20, and Melbourne Sept 21.
In tandem with this promotional tour, the Ovation channel will mount an André Rieu week jam-packed with TV specials and premieres.

Upcoming André Rieu releases:

September 1 André Rieu On His Way to New York ( DVD)
September 8 Romance (DVD)
September 15 Love Around The World (DVD)
October 6 La Vie est belle (Life is Beautiful) CD and DVD
November 24 Wonderful World (working title) CD and DVD

www.andrerieu.com