André Rieu Gives Music Education Enormous Boost

André Rieu Gives Music Education An Enormous Boost

Chapeau Magazine, by Jo Cortenraedt:

On all the world stages, André Rieu says that he hails from a great musical region. Where "everyone" plays an instrument. He says that with a smile and wishes it were true.  Because in reality, music education is under pressure. Music lessons in school are for the government no longer a priority, so that is no longer a standard in the curriculum. And for separate music lessons, one has to pay. Something that not all parents can afford for their son or daughter.

The "Jeugdfonds Cultuur Limburg" (Youth Fund Culture Limburg) has been doing something about it for years, but it is not nearly enough. "We think there are more than 22,000 children who are not afforded the opportunity to follow music lessons," says Petra Dassen, president of the fund. "We only reach about a thousand children, so there are still a lot who need to be reached. With André and Marjorie Rieu's gesture we can immediately demand much more attention to our project and hopefully reach many more children."

The idea arose when André and Marjorie Rieu were visiting the Mayor of Maastricht, Annemarie Penn. "She was talking about how much poverty there actually was in the city, and that touched us" says André Rieu. We started to think about how we, in our own way can contribute, knowing that music education in the Netherlands is not doing so well."

Marjorie Rieu adds, "Many studies have shown that music is very good for people. It is good for your health, your humor, your creativity and much more."

The idea was born. "I read somewhere that music lessons for one child for an entire year would cost approximately €425.00," says André. "So, on a certain Sunday Afternoon Marjorie and I  said to each other: "You know something, we are going to give a thousand children the chance to follow music lessons for an entire year. That equates to €425,000.00. That's just not something, you can buy a house for that. We are currently in a position to do this. It comes from the heart." And that is not all.  Experience has shown that out of a thousand students, two hundred will ultimately remain. "There are only a few who will go on to a conservatory, but it is also good if some of them end up at in a musical society," says André. "We also will pay for their follow-on studies." 

At the same time, he and his wife hope that in another year someone else will be reinvesting in music lessons for thousands of children and that, as it were, would start a relay. The name is already there: "The André Rieu relay funds." I will also involve my orchestra to look for children who want to follow music lessons. Many of my orchestra members are already teaching music, and they can help with this project. So we are all going to put our shoulders to the wheel.

Thanks Ineke for article and John's Translation of it