The Johann Strauss Orchestra was founded by André Rieu

André Rieu

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...

 in 1987. At the time of its first concert on January 1, 1988 the orchestra consisted of 12 musicians. In 2008 the orchestra has expanded to 43 members and performs regularly with guest musicians and singers such as Mirusia Louwerse

Mirusia

Mirusia Louwerse is a Dutch Australian soprano. She performs as 'Mirusia' and is seen by the Australian press as "The Unconventional Pop Star"....

, Carmen Monarcha

Carmen Monarcha

Carmen Monarcha is a Brazilian soprano singer.Born into an artistic family in northern Brazil, her father is a writer and her mother a renowned Brazilian singer. She learned from a young age to play the cello and the piano and at first trained to be a concert cellist...

 and the Platin Tenors

Platin Tenors

The Platin Tenors are a trio of singers who regularly accompany André Rieu on his tours.* was born in Tasmania and studied mathematics and physics before taking private singing lessons at the National Opera Studio....

. The orchestra is well known for performing classical works with a distinctly unorthodox frivolity, joking with the audience and performing all sorts of antics.

Members

• Soloists
  Solo (music)
  In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
  
  : Carmen Monarcha
  Carmen Monarcha
  Carmen Monarcha is a Brazilian soprano singer.Born into an artistic family in northern Brazil, her father is a writer and her mother a renowned Brazilian singer. She learned from a young age to play the cello and the piano and at first trained to be a concert cellist...
  
  , Mirusia Louwerse
  Mirusia
  Mirusia Louwerse is a Dutch Australian soprano. She performs as 'Mirusia' and is seen by the Australian press as "The Unconventional Pop Star"....
  
   and Kimmy Skota.
• 1st Violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  : Jet Gelens, Frank Steijns, Lin Jong, Kremi Mineva, Freya Cremers, Diana Morsinkhof, Boris Goldenblank, Els Mercken, Vincenzo Viola, Lara Meuleman.
• 2nd Violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  : Cord Meyer, Agnes Walter and Jennifer Kowalski.
• Viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  : Klaartje Polman, Pierre Colen, Linda Custers, Nadejda Diakoff.
• Cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  : Tanja Derwahl, Margriet van Lexmond, Hanneke Roggen, Joëlle Tonnaer, Karin Hinze.
• Double bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  : Roland Lafosse, Jean Sassen, Franco Vulcano.
• Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  : Stéphanie Detry.
• Synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  : Ward Vlasveld.
• Oboe
  Oboe
  The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
  
  : Arthur Cordewener.
• Flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  : Teun Ramaekers, Nathalie Bolle.
• Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  : Roger Diederen, René Henket.
• Clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  /saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  : Manoe Konings.
• Saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  : Sanne Mestrom.
• Trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  : Ruud Merx.
• Horn
  Horn (instrument)
  The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
  
  : Noël Perdaens.
• Accordion
  Accordion
  The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
  
  /bass trombone: Leon van Wijk.
• Tuba
  Tuba
  The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
  
  : Ton Maessen.
• Percussion/kettledrum: Marcel Falize, Mireille Brepols, Glenn Falize.
• Choir
  Choir
  A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
  
  : Nicolle Steins, Karin Haine, Judith Luesink, Anna Reker, Virgenie Henket.

External links

• André Rieu (official website)
• André Rieu fansite
• André Rieu fansite (mainly movies)
• André Rieu fansite
• http://www.mirusia.net Mirusia's Website