Stéphanie Détry Pianist, violinist, tap dancer. (With JSO from 1997 - 2020)
July 2016: Stéphanie Détry showed her tap dancing skills in the 2016 concert series at the Vrijthof in Maastricht. Lou Bega performed his mega hit “Mambo # 5”, followed by “Tutti Frutti”. Stéphanie climbed on the piano while Ward Vlasveld was playing, threw her skirt and went on tap dancing! Click HERE to watch the concert.
2017. A fan found a video clip on YouTube of a tap dance show in the Claquettes club in Liège, Belgium. Stéphanie is violinist and pianist in the Johann Strauss Orchestra, but she also can play the ukulele and she runs with her husband a tap dance school.
Photo left by Patrick Verweire (2016). Photo below by Marcel van Hoorn (2018).
Since January 1st 2017 five musicians of André Rieu’s Johann Strauss Orchestra, started a new ensemble, named “The Gracenotes”. Their repertoire is ranging from music of the 18th century to romantic melodies, operetta, musical comedy and a touch of jazz. The unusual compositions require the five members to make new musical arrangements, giving the group a style which is both playful and unique. From left to right: Nadejda Diakoff, Karin Hinze, Anna Reker, Laurianne Thysebaert, Stéphanie Détry.
Click on the picture to the right, to go to the page on this website about the Gracenotes.
This is what André Rieu wrote on his official website about Stéphanie: Stéphanie Détry Stéphanie is a fantastic violinist and pianist as well. She originally joined the orchestra in 1997 as a violinist, and forgot all about the piano. But the old love did not fade away, and at the moment she plays the 88 black and white keys of the concert piano in the orchestra. She not only does this with the greatest skill, she is also one of the biggest clowns on the stage! Stéphanie is a passionate photographer. She makes photo albums of our life on tour, with wonderful black- and-white photographs that she develops herself. Every day she puts one photograph in to reflect how that day was for her. At the end of each tour, her diary has grown into a real art book! At home, Stéphanie has a whole collection of rare old cameras, and every time we have some spare time on tour, she’s off to look for something to add to her collection!
On December 18, 2020, Stéphanie said goodbye to the Johann Strauss Orchestra. We are still in a lock down due to the corona virus. Currently the orchestra cannot play yet. This is what Stéphanie wrote on Facebook: “Feeling grateful. And sad. And happy. And free. And lonely. And proud. And scared. And excited. And lucky. What an honor to have had as a friend and employer for 23 years the superstar André Rieu. Now it's time to say goodbye...” The photo is taken by Marcel van Hoorn and André wrote: “Thanks for 23 beautiful years together”. Stéphanie, you will be missed, we’ll never forget your “Balad for Adeline”, but we wish you all the best for the future. Goodluck.
Stéphanie and her husband run a tap dance club in Liège, Belgium. https://www.claquettesclub.be/ On Facebook you can find them under “Tap Liege”. We wish Stéphanie Détry and her husband Josh Hilberman all the best for the future.
Fall 2021. Martine Wijers, replacing Stéphanie Détry in the Johann Strauss Orchestra.
2017: Another special video of Stéphanie and her husband, together with the Gracenotes ensemble.
From lavenir.net , January 21, 2023, by Sabine Loutie. Translation by Diana D. Le. The Ampsinoise launches a tap dance festival in Liège (Belgium). The Ampsinoise Stéphanie Detry and her companion Josh Hilberman, professional tap dancers, are launching the 2nd Tap Liège Festival. From this Saturday and throughout the year, tap dancing will resound in Liège thanks to the Tap Liège Festival 2023. Behind this young festival which is in its second edition and which brings together professional companies from all over the world, we find Stéphanie Detry, 49 years old, originally from Ampsin, and her companion, Josh Hilberman, 56, Belgian-American. They are professional tap dancers, she for 12 years, he for 30 years, and together they founded the Liège tap dance club which today welcomes on its floor a hundred members from 8 to 80 years old. It is around tap dancing that the couple met. Stéphanie attended the conservatory of Liège to become a musician. Pianist, violinist, she joined André Rieu's orchestra with which she toured the world for 23 years, 2,000 concerts to her credit! On December 18, 2020, she left the orchestra. "Tap dancing was a teenage dream," she says. "Twelve years ago, I decided to get started by taking advantage of the tours to train with the teachers I found in each country. It was during a tap dance workshop in Barcelona that I met Josh. He already had an impressive career in the discipline." Love went through it and in 2013, the American finally returned to Stéphanie's home, in Belgium, to live there permanently. The two internationally renowned artists have decided to live their passion to the fullest, together. Two years later, they launched their tap dance club in Liège, which quickly became a success. "We first rented the room, then we bought it and we made it a beautiful tool, with a large floating floor." This is where we give courses for all ages and all levels, internships, masterclasses, and meetings." Then in 2021, a new boost: the desire to set up a festival itches them. The couple want to highlight this little-known discipline and, with a little help, a "Rayonnement Wallonie" scholarship has enabled them to realize their dream, in 2022. "Thanks to the network that Josh has woven in the middle tap dancing, the big names from all over the world met at Grivegnée. It's quite incredible and unique. Such a festival does not exist anywhere else in the world." The event is therefore rescheduled this year, with six meetings, the first of which is today (January 21, 2023). At the same time, Stéphanie and Josh embark on the creation of tap dancing shows. "I produced one last year, around classical music, and Josh is preparing his solo show for November." Tap dancing, for the Ampsinoise, is a real love at first sight, a discipline "which is both dance and a musical instrument and which can take so many forms. Tap dancing is pure joy. It is not only entertaining, they have an important expressive potential." The public will be able to experience it during the Liège festival "with the chance that the room being intimate, we experience the tap dancing as close as possible artists, we feel the vibrations.”
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