- Mirusia Louwerse
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Mirusia Louwerse, 2 January 2011
Mirusia Louwerse (born 29 March 1985) is a Dutch Australian[1] soprano. She performs as 'Mirusia' and is seen by the Australian press as "The Unconventional Pop Star".[2]
Louwerse was born in the Brisbane suburb of Birkdale. She graduated in December 2006 from the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane obtaining a Bachelor of Music in Performance in Classical Voice. In 2006, Louwerse became the youngest ever winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award[3] and went on to record a debut album entitled She Walks in Beauty.
Louwerse is a lyric soprano and has performed in such operas as Mozart's The Magic Flute, Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges and Britten's Albert Herring.[4]
Her aunt, who lives in the Netherlands, contacted André Rieu to tell him about her niece's talent. He listened to her voice on her website and phoned her straight away and two days later she was standing before him in his studio ready to sing.[1]
She has been touring with Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu since 2007 as soprano soloist.[5] She is of Dutch descent and can speak Dutch fluently. In May 2008, André Rieu and Louwerse released an album entitled Waltzing Matilda in Australia which made it to the number one position on the Australian music charts and went platinum within 10 days.[6]
Her album Always and Forever was released in Australia on 8 October 2010, and went straight to #1 on the ARIA classical charts[citation needed] and #17 on the ARIA Pop Charts[7]. It was also released in The Netherlands in December 2010 and reached #26 on the Dutch Pop Charts.[citation needed] Her DVD 'Always & Forever' was released in March 2011 and stayed at the #1 position on the ARIA DVD Charts for 4 weeks.[8]
Louwerse is an ambassador for the Australian Children's Music Foundation[9] and believes strongly that if children are exposed to music or are involved in music, they will grow up to be better human beings. In 2009, Louwerse participated in a concert to raise funds for the ACMF, which raised $100,000 for music in schools in Australia.[10]
Discography
Year Album title 2006 She Walks in Beauty (Independent release) 2007 Songs of Inspiration (ABC Classics) 2008 Waltzing Matilda (Universal Australia) #1 ARIA Pop Charts 2008 Waltzing Matilda – Special New Zealand Edition (Universal New Zealand) 2008 Ich tanze mit Dir in den Himmel Hinein (Universal Germany) 2010 Always & Forever (Universal Australia and Universal Netherlands) #1 Classical Charts 2011 "Always & Forever" (Universal Australia) #1 ARIA DVD Charts References
- ^ a b http://www.andrerieu.com/en/andre-jso/the-orchestra/mirusia-louwerse
- ^ The Unconventional Pop Star: http://www.undercover.fm/news/12949-video-mirusia-the-unconventional-pop-star
- ^ Media releases at Noosa Federation of the Arts; accessed 11 January 2011
- ^ http://www.mirusia.net[not in citation given]
- ^ Soloist with Andre Rieu: http://www.andrerieu.com/nl/andre-jso/het-orkest/mirusia-louwerse
- ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Andr%E9+Rieu+%26+Mirusia&titel=Waltzing+Matilda&cat=a[not in citation given]
- ^ http://www.theaureview.com/the-goss/aria-chart-news-kings-of-leon-blasts-to-the-top-of-the-aria-album-chart-on-debut
- ^ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_music.asp?chart=1V40DVD
- ^ Ambassador for the Australian Children's Music Foundation
- ^ http://www.themusicnetwork.com/music-news/industrial-strength/2010/08/19/industrial-strength-august-19/[not in citation given]
External links
- Official website
- Louwerse's page at André Rieu Translations
- Mirusia Louwerse at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- People from Brisbane
- Operatic sopranos
- Australian opera singers
- Australian sopranos
- Australian people of Dutch descent
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