Gorgeous dress.

Here in the orchestra behind André.

April 2023.

September 2024. Annabelle was absent from the orchestra during the months of June, July and August 2024, due to an injury (broken finger). She posted a photo on social media from Amsterdam, cycling to a friend's birthday party. Here we see her injured finger in a bandage. In September 2024 she was able to play the violin in the orchestra again, during the first tour after the holiday, in Chile.

October 25th, 2024. Annabelle created a video on Instagram, giving information what had happened to her finger and why she could not play during the last four months. Hey everyone, I’ve been getting a few questions about my injury recently so I thought I’d just upload this video to explain it all for those who were wondering. I ended up having to have a second surgery on the same finger which was a huge bummer but all good now and ready to get back at it! Lots of love ❤️

December 6, 2024. This (podcast) interview was found by Diana D. Le. Thank you Diana! Sharing an interviewing podcast with Annabelle Traves by Clinton Maynard at 2GB Sydney and 4BC, Australia's overnight programs, on December 5, 2024. Annabelle Traves shines in André Rieu’s dazzling Christmas spectacular Clinton is joined by Annabelle Traves, one of Australia’s top concert violinists. At just 27, the Brisbane-born musician has performed with stars like Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bublé, and Delta Goodrem. In December 2022, Annabelle joined André Rieu’s world-famous Johann Strauss Orchestra and has toured with them ever since. Now, she’s featured in Rieu’s latest Christmas concert, "Gold and Silver", filmed in his picturesque hometown of Maastricht. This magical holiday performance hits over 180 cinemas across Australia for a limited season from December 7, 2024. Set in a winter wonderland with 150 chandeliers, 50 Venetian candelabras, and even an ice rink, Gold and Silver brings the warmth, joy, and sparkle of Christmas to life. Audiences will be treated to a dazzling mix of festive carols, waltzes, and timeless classics, all with the breathtaking sound quality of the big screen. Click on link below to listen to the podcast. Language: English. Duration: 13:04. From the podcast, we learn that Annabelle Traves just signed another year of touring in 2025 with André Rieu!

August 15, 2023. Sharing an interesting (podcast) interview of André Rieu's new violinist Annabelle Traves on August 15, 2023, by Paulien Roessink from SBS Netherlands. For those who can listen to the podcast, please enjoy. Audio Language: English. Duration: 15:03 Diana D. Le put the spoken text into writing. Thank you Diana. Annabelle Traves: "I think everybody in the classical world should actually be grateful to André for exposing it to so many people worldwide" 26-year-old Annabelle Traves from Brisbane is a very talented violinist. After studying at the Sydney Conservatory, she moved to Germany in 2019 to study the Masters in Solo Violin Performance in Munich. However, during her studies, the pandemic struck and during lockdown she started to doubt her future as a solo violinist. She then decided to send a video message to waltz king André Rieu. Annabelle was invited to audition and did so successfully. Last month she played for the first time with the Johann Strauss Orchestra at the Vrijthof in Maastricht. Annabelle, why did your five-year old you choose to play the violin and not the flute, the trumpet, or the percussion? “Yes, that is a very good question. Actually, I have to attribute that to a little bit of sibling rivalry with my brother who is a few years older than me. One day, he just came home with a violin, which was allocated to him from a compulsory string education, an orchestra program for the class at school. He started practicing it and playing it, and I just became very jealous that he could do all these cool tricks and I couldn't do it. So I demanded that I could be able to play it. It was myself that kind of making my mom take me to lessons and everything”. The start would have sounded horrible. “Yes, my poor neighbors could also attest to that, but it was heavy going for the first two months, that's for sure. Then, I like to think that I improved quickly”. I checked your resume. It's just jaw-dropping! At the age of thirteen, you got a call and you went from Brisbane to Sydney. “I did, yes. That was quite difficult at the time because obviously there was a big debate. The teacher at the time wanted me to start proper schooling and go into home schooling and do intensive violin school, like music school under her tutelage, in Sydney. There was a big discussion around the family table, obviously. My parents really wanted me to have a full education, kind of like a normal school but was not centered on just music. So, I decided to keep doing that actually at my school in Brisbane but then I had to commute every week to Sydney to take these lessons and kind of trying to juggle both. So, it was a very busy time”. What did you really like about the violin? Because, I remember from my childhood that it was very hard to practice, and if you want to reach the level that you are at then you have to play a lot. So, what was it that you really enjoyed? “I think the part that still to this day is kind of my driving motivation is the performing itself. I think being on stage and you put so many hours into this performance and there is that moment, the climax of it all, and you get to kind of put out all of the work that you put in. You know whatever happens in that moment, you cannot take it back. There is so much adrenaline and so much going on. I think that rush is what I have come to obsess with. It's a feeling like no other. So, I would say that is the motivation for me”. So, it was totally your own choice. No pressure from parents. Did they ever play an instrument? “Yes, my mom played the violin when she was young girl going to school. She didn't do it professionally but she was a professional ballet dancer for a while. She danced for the San Francisco Ballet when she was very young. She got the arts, for sure, inside her. There were a lot of times as a child, I don't think the thing you want to be doing naturally is practicing a few hours a day, but she helped me stay in line. Because she knew the violin, what is right, what is wrong, she was extremely crucial as a practicing companion. Where I would not know if it were right or not, she was there, kind of like my secondary teacher, just taught through it all and helping me a lot. So, I do have to thank my mom a lot these days”. You did you bachelor's degree here in Sydney, and then you decided to go to Europe, to do a master's degree. “I did. Australia music scene is a amazing but I do think what we do as musicians, as artists, is worldwide. It's international. I really believe Europe is the hub for classical music. All throughout history, it has been that. I thought it would be amazing to come here to the epic center of it all. There were a lot of incredible violin professors in Germany at the time, so I just set my sight on Germany and went to a lot of auditions there actually. Got in and ended up there”. What did you learn more or extra in Munich, the city where you were based, comparing to Sydney? “It was a very interesting time, because as soon as I moved to Germany, COVID hit. So, obviously the whole structure of performance ... I was doing my master's in violin solo performance. Suddenly got no performances and the university was trying to prohibit you from seeing your professors face-to-face. So, when I was allowed to, when the restrictions were a little bit lighter, I was having face-to-face lessons with my professor. I would say that I learned so much from him, his name is Linus Roth, based in Munich. He is a soloist, an incredible violinist. Just in general: learning right from the leading violinists of today who is traveling the world as a soloist and the kind of advise that he could pass down from first-hand experience is so invaluable. So, I would say that in general, everything about the instrument and about performing. Obviously, going into depth technically with a few things. There is so much”. Is that your dream, touring as a soloist? “It really was. It was absolutely how I was trained. I had an incredible teacher in Sydney, late professor Alice Waten, and she had studied in Moscow with some of the greats like David Oistrakh, who still to this day in history, one of the best violinists who had ever lived. She was very strict and the most incredible pedagogue. The way she taught her students was very eyes-on-the-prize. We were all trained to be soloists and that was the main goal, and I had my sight set on that very strongly. COVID was a very standstill period for that and I started questioning my career goals and my career dreams. There was nothing going on. I was not sure how I was going to bounce back after those years of stillness. That was actually when I decided to write to André Rieu. I was feeling a bit lost, unsure of what my music career was looking like, as a soloist. I don't know what made me do it but I just thought of André Rieu and thought why not just trying to reach out to find out what happens”. Sometimes when people talk about André Rieu, you can say little things about him, but he is a very clever businessman, maybe. So, the real musical lovers, like in the classical music, they think "ha ha", they look a bit down on him. It's not for everyone. “So, I have heard that but I could not disagree more. I think that I love the classical music world like the strictly classical, but I think that it's biggest downfall is that sort of exclusivity and the idea of it being superior and only accessible to a group of people who know everything about it or able to understand it on a very technical level. I think that is not at all what music is about. That as a message, it's naturally exclusive is a bit toxic. So, what André Rieu has done and why we are always his biggest advocate because he has taken the classical music ... We play some Strauss, some Tchaikovsky, which is a very serious work, very serious composition ... and he turned it into something that is accessible and can be enjoyed by everybody, without this feeling of "not being expert on classical music and therefore I should not go to the concert or people are going to laugh at me if I don't understand it". It's not about that. It's actually about everyone coming together and universally enjoying this concert and universally enjoying this beautiful classical music. I think everybody in the classical world should actually be grateful to André for exposing it to so many people worldwide. Year after year when we tour, in every show we play in front of tens of thousands of people. It's like he is doing the classical world a favor. He is amazing.” He is one of the biggest export products of the Netherlands. “Exactly. He absolutely is. I can't remember the exact figure but the whole show we just done in Maastricht, I think alone for the city he brings in millions in revenue because of how many people flocking to that city. For any city in the world, it takes 3 weeks to make that many millions of dollars is unheard of, and he managed to do that with 12 concerts”. You did write him a letter and fast forward and now you are part of the Johann Strauss Orchestra. How did that go? Did you have to do audition? “I did. It was one of those things that I never thought it would happen. I actually made a video of myself one day sitting in my kitchen with my violin, trying to say "Hi, André. My name is Annabelle. I absolutely love what you do and I would love so much to audition for you if you would ever like me to play." I submitted it to his fan page because I had no way of contacting him and then forgot about it. About two weeks later, I get this email actually from him saying "Hi, Annabelle. I just actually saw video. Come play for me tomorrow in the Netherlands. I was in Munich at the time, and obviously after freaking out calling my family and asked what do I do, what do I say. Of course, I jetted off to the Netherlands and did my audition for him and he signed me that day and gave me a contract”. Wow! What a story! “That's another thing about André and why his business is so successful. He always knows what he wants. He will just make sure that happens. It was very fast on how it all came about”. It was last year. Now you just experienced the Vrijthof concerts in July. How was that? When I see footage of the audience, it's young and old. It's every layer of society. People are enjoying it so much. The only thing that can be a bit burden is the weather. “It's true. I was very impressed. Outdoor concerts. Maastricht, Netherlands. Let's see how it goes. I think there was only one night where it showered a little bit during the show but everybody was prepared for the rain ponchos. They just popped them on and sat there and enjoyed the rest of the concert”. How is it to be a part of that orchestra? I read that you also played with the "Boss", Bruce Springsteen, and Michael Bublé. The audience of André Rieu is actually at the same level of intense, I reckon. “It actually is, especially for the Vrijthof concerts. It is just buzzing with energy. I never have really been part of anything like that and nothing can prepare you for it. No one really told me exactly what it would be like. I heard the concerts were beautiful and amazing. First, we step outside onto the steps of the Theatre, which is behind the venue. Nobody told me but hundreds of people were there waiting, yelling, and taking photos. Security was there holding them back. I felt like a pop star but obviously they were not looking at me. They were looking at André. I just happened to be at a prime place. It's electric! The format is that a lot of people were also at the sides of the concert venue. They could enjoy a drink on the terrace, have dinner at the same time, and could still enjoy the concert. It's the best vibe. It's so inclusive and so joyful. Everyone is just so happy to be there. I had not any experience like it”. You now enjoying a couple of weeks of holiday and then you are off to America. “Yes, we are. And a little surprise from the announcement a little while now. We get to perform at the Dutch Grand Prix Formula 1 Race at the end of this month. That will be in two weeks to see us off. Then, we go to Malta quickly before going to the States and Canada. It is all happening”. Do you have a favorite piece that you are playing? “There are so many. I have to say probably two at the moment. There is this incredible soloist. She was the guest for the Vrijthof concerts and now will be touring with us and André. She is incredible. Her name is Emma Kok and she is fifteen years old. She came out as a guest. She got a very serious health problem, a stomach paralysis, a kind of disease. What she has been through and overcome is just incredible. She gets up and sings this song in French called "Voilà". It's about "no matter what happens to me, here I am. Accept me as I am. I am still strong." She is still only fifteen years old. Her voice is a power house belting out the song. The first time I heard her, I started crying, really emotional. I would say playing that and "Amazing Grace" during the encore. I don't know why that piece gets me every single time”. I wish you all the best and a lot of fun. Thank you so much for your time. “Thank you so much, Paulien. Thank you for having me”.