When Sydney Grandmother Kate Young heard that the ‘King Of The Waltz’ André Rieu was going to be interviewed in-studio on Alan Jones program on 2GB last month, she wrote to Alan asking him to pass on her thanks to André for his beautiful music.
As a young girl at the Brigidine Convent in Randwick, she had studied violin for years, achieving honours and credits, all with the dream of, one day, becoming a concert violinist.
Unfortunately this dream had to take a back seat. Sadly, and with much hesitation, Kate had to sell her violin during the early 80's when her husband was laid off from work. It was Christmas, her children were very little and her new family desperately needed the money.
So touched was André by Kate’s story, that he instantly responded to Alan “I have tears in my eyes. Having to sell your violin to buy things for your kids? I am giving this lady a violin”.
After much deliberation by the musical maestro over the make and type of violin, Kate was today presented with a brand new Otto Jos. Klier violin, live on-air on Breakfast With Alan Jones (873 AM). Perfect for an advanced student, the violin is made from aged Bosnian maple and Austrian mountain spruce.
Currently in San Francisco in the middle of a US tour, André Rieu also phoned into the show to speak with Kate and Alan.
When Kate thanked him for the generous gift, his response was simple, “I only hope that this brings you happiness and joy, no one should be without music. Of course, now you will need to practice every day, I will be checking up on your progress when I come back to Sydney later this year!” he added with a laugh.
André Rieu will return to Australia this year for concerts October 15 – 31.
.
Comments
RSS feed for comments to this post.