André Rieu

Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu is one of the most successful classical musical performers of modern time. In August 2018, Billboard reported that he had become the highest grossing classical artist in the industry magazine's Boxscore history, with a reported total gross from all shows standing at $550 million. Following a concert in Berlin in February 2018, Universal Music announced that he had accumulated 500 Platinum Awards for worldwide sales of CDs and DVDs. Born in the southeast of the Netherlands, Rieu began to play the violin at the age of five as his father was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony. He studied with Jo Juda, Herman Krebbers and André Gertler and attended the Conservatoire Royal in Liège, Conservatorium Maastricht, Brussels Music Academy and Royal Conservatory Brussels. Devoted to the waltz, he established the Maastricht Salon Orchestra in 1978, had a stint with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra and created the Johann Strauss Orchestra in 1987. Since then, with an ensemble ranging from 80 to 150 players, he has performed around the world in as many as 100 concerts per year. He has had 36 releases on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart including 20 top ten hits and two that topped the chart: 'Forever Vienna' (2010) with Johann Strauss Orchestra and 'Home for the Holidays' (2012). He has had eight releases on the UK Albums Chart with seven in the top ten: 'And the Waltz Goes On' (2011), 'Magic of the Movies' (2012), 'Music of the Night' (2013), 'Love in Venice' (2014), 'Roman Holiday' (2015), 'Falling in Love' (2016) and 'Amore' (2017).

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