Thursday, October 28, 2010

Andre Rieu coming to Ontario for holiday concert

André Rieu, the world’s most popular classical musician who is known for his energetic and festive live concerts, is bringing the Musical Holidays leg of his “Celebration of Music” 2010 North American Tour to Ontario, California for a concert on Thursday, December 2 at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Tickets can be purchased through the Citizens Business Bank Arena Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone (800-745-3000) and at all Ticketmaster retail locations.

Musical Holidays with André Rieu will give fans what they’ve come to expect from Rieu’s performances - celebrations of music in all its wonderful and powerful aspects, featuring André Rieu accompanied by his 55-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra and six powerful soloists. Fans will hear favourites and selections from his latest release Forever Vienna, as well as holiday classics.
“Music is the most wonderful thing in the world – it triggers emotions,” says André Rieu. “I want to bring joy with an ode to waltzes, polkas, romantic ballads and many more beautiful melodies. It will be a very special night.”

“His fans in the USA will love this new show,” says Marthijn Graafland, Director North America at André Rieu Productions and the promoter for this tour. “Especially since this tour is in the midst of the holiday period, it is not to be missed. In Europe, his Christmas concerts attract over 20,000 fans a night. André is known for creating the perfect holiday show atmosphere.”

Rieu will perform selections from his latest release, Forever Vienna, which made music history earlier this year when it climbed to No. 2 on the British pop charts. Released June 29 in the U.S. through UMG, Forever Vienna is Rieu’s first album to appear on the American pop chart, the Billboard 200, and his fifth No. 1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical chart.

An important part of André Rieu’s brilliance is his keen ability to discover and encourage the talents of other musicians, and the key members of his Johann Strauss Orchestra bring Rieu’s music to even greater heights:

Carmen Monarcha was hired by Rieu to tour with his Johann Strauss Orchestra in 2003 and has remained with the orchestra since. She has sung on several of Rieu's albums and has appeared in his PBS television broadcasts, receiving particular praise for her interpretation of “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Monarcha is the daughter of a renowned Brazilian singer, and received critical acclaim as a winner at the Bidu Sayão Vocal Competition, a major annual international singing competition held in Brazil and named in honor of that country's most famous opera singer.

· Mirusia Louwerse was born in Brisbane, Australia and became the youngest-ever winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award in 2006. Mirusia has been touring with Andre Rieu since 2007 as Soprano Soloist. She is of Dutch descent and can speak Dutch fluently. In May 2008, Rieu and Mirusia’s Waltzing Matilda album was released in Australia and was certified platinum within 10 days. Her new album, André Rieu Presents Mirusia Louwerse: Always and Forever, was just released in Australia through Universal Music and debuted at #1 on the ARIA Australian Classical chart. Her rendition of Schubert’s “Avé Maria” has been noted as one of the highlights of Rieu’s concerts.

· Kimmy Skota was recently discovered by Rieu on his first trip to South Africa. He was so impressed upon hearing this previously unknown talent that he hired her on the spot, leading to her debut performance with the Johann Strauss Orchestra immediately afterwards.
The Platin Tenors are Gary Bennett from Australia, Thomas Greuel from Germany, and & Béla Mavrák from Hungary. Formed in 2000, the Platin Tenors have traveled with André Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra for the last five years, performing more than 100 concerts together. The unity and harmony of their powerful voices under Rieu’s direction have been pleasing crowds all over the world.

André Rieu is one of the best-selling live acts in the world. Billboard ranked Rieu’s 2009 tour as the sixth best seller of the year, with 835,000 tickets sold worldwide. In 2008 and 2009, he toured the globe with a replica of the Viennese Schonbrunn castle, to which he added fountains and two ice rinks to make it the biggest stage in the world. Rieu, who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, travels with his own Johann Strauss Orchestra, and an entourage of more than 100 people in total. His concerts are known for their festive atmosphere, where fans are encouraged to get out of their seats and waltz in the aisles. His latest album reached #2 on the UK pop charts, and he is been certified 100-times platinum in Australia, while he also has his own television series in the Netherlands.

For complete tour and ticket information, visit: www.andrérieu.com.

No comments: