This is a list of U.S. state flowers:

State	Common name	Scientific name	Image	Year
Alabama	Camellia (state flower)	Camellia japonica		1959 (clarified 1999)[1]
	Oak-leaf hydrangea (state wildflower)	Hydrangea quercifolia		1999[2]
Alaska	Forget-me-not	Myosotis alpestris		2004 [3]
Arizona	Saguaro cactus blossom	Carnegiea gigantea		1931[4]
Arkansas	Apple blossom	Malus		1901[5]
California	California poppy	Eschscholzia californica		1903[6]
Colorado	Rocky Mountain Columbine	Aquilegia caerulea		1899[7]
Connecticut	Mountain laurel	Kalmia latifolia		1907[8]
Delaware	Peach blossom	Prunus persica		1953[9]
Florida	Orange blossom	Citrus sinensis		1909[10]
	Tickseed (state wildflower)	Coreopsis spp.		1991
Georgia	Cherokee Rose (state floral emblem)	Rosa laevigata		1916
	Azalea (state wildflower)	Rhododendron
Hawaii	Hawaiian hibiscus (maʻo hau hele)	Hibiscus brackenridgei
Idaho	Syringa, Mock Orange	Philadelphus lewisii		1931
Illinois	Violet	Viola		1907[11]
Indiana	Peony	Paeonia
Iowa	Wild Prairie Rose	Rosa arkansana
Kansas	Sunflower	Helianthus annuus
Kentucky	Goldenrod	Solidago gigantea		1926[12]
Louisiana	Magnolia (state flower)	Magnolia
	Louisiana Iris (state wildflower)	Iris giganticaerulea
Maine	White pine cone and tassel	Pinus strobus		1895
Maryland	Black-eyed susan	Rudbeckia hirta		1918[13]
Massachusetts	Mayflower	Epigaea repens		1918
Michigan	Apple blossom (state flower)	Malus		1897 [14]
	Dwarf Lake Iris (state wildflower)	Iris lacustris		1998
Minnesota	Pink and white lady's slipper	Cypripedium reginae
Mississippi	Magnolia (state flower)	Magnolia
	Tickseed (state wildflower)	Coreopsis
Missouri	Hawthorn	Crataegus
Montana	Bitterroot	Lewisia rediviva		1895
Nebraska	Goldenrod	Solidago gigantea
Nevada	Sagebrush	Artemisia tridentata
New Hampshire	Purple lilac	Syringa vulgaris		1919
New Jersey	Violet	Viola sororia
New Mexico	Yucca flower	Yucca		1927
New York	Rose	Rosa
North Carolina	Flowering Dogwood	Cornus florida		1941[15]
North Dakota	Wild Prairie Rose	Rosa blanda or arkansana
Ohio	Scarlet Carnation (state flower)	Dianthus caryophyllus
	Large white trillium (state wild flower)	Trillium grandiflorum
Oklahoma	Oklahoma Rose (state flower)	Rosa
	Mistletoe (state floral emblem)	Phoradendron serotinum
	Indian Blanket (state wildflower)	Gaillardia pulchella
Oregon	Oregon grape	Berberis aquifolium
Pennsylvania	Mountain Laurel (state flower)	Kalmia latifolia		1933[16]
	Penngift Crown Vetch (beautification and conservation plant)	Coronilla varia		1982[16]
Rhode Island	Violet	Viola		1968
South Carolina	Yellow Jessamine	Gelsemium sempervirens		1924[17]
	Goldenrod (state wildflower)	Solidago altissima		2003[18]
South Dakota	Pasque flower	Pulsatilla hirsutissima
Tennessee	Iris (state cultivated flower)	Iris		1933
	Purple Passionflower (state wildflower)	Passiflora incarnata		1919
Texas	Bluebonnet sp.	Lupinus sp.		1901 (clarified 1971)
Utah	Sego lily	Calochortus nuttallii		1911[19]
Vermont	Red Clover	Trifolium pratense		1894
Virginia	American Dogwood	Cornus florida
Washington	Coast Rhododendron	Rhododendron macrophyllum		1892 (officially 1959)[20]
West Virginia	Rhododendron	Rhododendron maximum
Wisconsin	Wood Violet	Viola papilionacea		1909[21]
Wyoming	Indian Paintbrush	Castilleja linariifolia		1917.[22][23]

See also[link]

• List of U.S. state trees
• Lists of U.S. state insignia

References[link]

André Rieu
Rieu in Atlantic City, NJ, in 2007
Background information
Birth name	André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu
Born	(1949-10-01) 1 October 1949 (age 62)
Origin	Maastricht, Netherlands
Genres	Waltz
Occupations	Conductor, violinist
Instruments	Violin
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Denon Records , Philips
Website	www.andrerieu.com
Notable instruments
Stradivarius violin (1667)[1]

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (born 1 October 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.

Early life and studies[link]

The name Rieu is of French Huguenot origin.^[1] He began studying violin at the age of five. His father, of the same name, was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra. From a very young age he developed a fascination with orchestra. He studied violin at the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and at the Conservatorium Maastricht, (1968–1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977, he attended the Music Academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler, getting his degree "Premier Prix" from the Brussels Royal Conservatory.^[2]

Career[link]

At University he performed the Gold And Silver Waltz by Franz Lehár. Encouraged by the audience reaction he decided to pursue the waltz form. Rieu formed the Maastricht Salon Orchestra and performed as a violinist with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, he created the Johann Strauss Orchestra and his own production company. Since then, his melodramatic stage performances and rock-star demeanor have for some been associated with a revival of the waltz music category. André Rieu plays a 1667 Stradivarius violin.^[1]

In April 2009 (Dublin)/June 2009 (UK), he made a cameo appearance as himself on "Ramsay Street" in the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours.^[3]

Johann Strauss Orchestra[link]

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The Orchestra began in 1998 with 21 members but now performs with between 80 and 150 musicians. At the time the Orchestra first toured Europe, there emerged a renewed interest in waltz music. The revival began in the Netherlands and was ignited by their recording of the Second Waltz from Shostakovich's Jazz Suites. As a result, Rieu became known as the waltz King.

Rieu and his orchestra have performed throughout Europe, in North America, and Japan. Winning a number of awards including two World Music Awards, their recordings have gone gold and platinum in many countries, including 8-times Platinum in the Netherlands. In September 2007 Rieu performed in Australia for the first time solo, without his Orchestra at the Eastland shopping centre in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood playing "My Way" and "Waltzing Matilda"—and the next day appeared at Sydney's Arena Cove, Warringah Mashopping with the same set. Rieu and orchestra returned to Australia in November as part of his world tour. Rieu and his orchestra played 3 concerts at Melbourne's Telstra Dome from 13–15 November and continued their tour throughout Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, through to December 2008. The concert theme is 'A Romantic Vienna Night' and the set comprises a life-size reproduction of the Viennese imperial Schönbrunn Palace, complete with 2 ice-skating rinks, 2 Fountains, and a ballroom dance floor situated above and behind the Orchestra. Rieu's largest concert attendance to date in Australia was 38,000 on Saturday 15 November in Melbourne. The Perth concert did not feature the replica of the Viennese Palace as it was stated in the press because it would not fit into the front doors of Subiaco Oval.

He records both DVD and CD repertoire at his own recording studios in Maastricht in a wide range of classical music as well as popular and folk music plus music from well-known soundtracks and musical theatre. His lively orchestral presentations, in tandem with incessant marketing, have attracted worldwide audiences to this subgenre of classical music.

Some of his orchestra's performances have been broadcast in the United Kingdom and the United States on the PBS television network^[4] such as the 2003 airing of Andre Rieu Live in Dublin, filmed in Dublin, Ireland, and 2005's André Rieu Live in Tuscany filmed in the Piazza Della Repubblica in the village of Cortona in Tuscany.

Reception[link]

Eamon Kelly writing in The Australian newspaper, in an article that discusses the controversy that Rieu engenders, said: "He depicts his critics as members of a stuffy musical elite with narrow aesthetic tastes, yet regularly demeans in interviews music that is not to his taste and classical musicians who choose not to perform in his manner."^[5]

Of Rieu's popularity and the debate in the media over criticism of him, Eamon Kelly says: "It is disappointing to see professional journalists indulging in cheap, inaccurate stereotypes to dismiss criticism of Rieu."^[5] But he goes on to add: "Equally misguided are those who cursorily dismiss Rieu. Rieu's live and recorded performances have brought joy to millions of people. Few in his audiences are regular classical music attendees and it could be seen as promising that, via Rieu, they are listening to standards of the classical canon. The fact that Rieu's focus is on highly accessible, enjoyable repertoire is not an argument against his musical credentials."^[5]

Eamon Kelly further adds, after hearing the orchestra perform, that there is "no cause" for Rieu's boast his orchestra was "superior to the many other orchestras that specialise in ... Viennese and popular classical repertoire." Additionally, he found that in musical terms "the performance did not surpass playing standards in Australia's major symphony orchestras". He did add that the "oboist, Arthur Cordewener, provided the most impressive musical performance with a sublime introduction to an otherwise unremarkable performance of [Ravel's] Boléro."^[5]

David Templeton, writing in the magazine All Things Strings says:

Ironically, it is Rieu’s own success that has earned him a horse-drawn carriage full of criticism, a pot-shot laden backlash aimed chiefly at the calculated emotionalism and theatrical flourishes of his performances, which, according to many, only cheapen the classical-music experience. Classical radio stations avoid his music as they might avoid a leper in the mall, though—let’s just say it plain and clear—Rieu is a superb violinist.^[6]

Chris Boyd, a critic writing for Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper, finds that he could not give a general criticism of the playing of Rieu, as, except for "a clean and lyrical solo in Waltzing Matilda", his main stage function was apparently "blarney and delegation". However, Boyd also comments that the quality of the artists that Rieu works with is "extraordinary". Boyd assesses the low points of the concert as the "Three Tenors-style" rendition of "Nessun dorma" which he finds was an "abomination", while saying the concert's highlights included "a sugar-shock sweet rendition" of "O mio babbino caro" as well as Strauss's Emperor Waltz and Blue Danube, Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary and the Boléro.^[7]

Personal life[link]

He is married to Marjorie, who works with him full-time as production manager, and has two sons, Marc and Pierre. He speaks (in order of fluency) Dutch, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

Honours[link]

• Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands, 2002)
• Honorary Medal of the Province of Limburg (Netherlands, 2009)
• Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 2009)

Selected discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• André Rieu (official website)
• Official André Rieu Facebook page
• André Rieu on Twitter
• Official André Rieu YouTube Channel
• André Rieu's Official Australian website
• André Rieu (C Music TV Biography)
• André Rieu at Allmusic
• The Magic of Andre Rieu

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T G Venkatesh (Telugu: టి జి వెంకటేష్ ) hails from the illustrious T.G.L. Family of Adoni which is one of the leading business and industrialist families of the Rayalaseema region. His family had the distinction of having two legislative members in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. One of his family members was awarded with the national award, Krishi Pandit.

Success in Business[link]

After having successfully started a caustic soda factory in the name of Sree Ralayaseem alkalies and chemicals has diversified into manufacturing Hi strength Hypo, power projects, wind power, manufacturing animal vaccines, large scale salt producing units, movie theatres and star hotels, spread over Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

During his stint as the chairman of the state trading corporation (an A.P.State Government undertaking), he turned it into a profit making company. He is an ex-director of erstwhile Vysya Bank Ltd. In the field of sports he has served as the president of the state football association and working president of the Andhra Pradesh ball badminton association. He and his companies have won several national and state awards.

Political career[link]

He has also constructed number of indoor stadiums and auditoriums, and provided a supply of free water to the drought stricken areas of Kurnool city, for many years.

He served as a M.L.A. in the A.P.State legislative assembly from 1999 to 2004 and from 2009. He has the distinction to become Minister for Minor Irrigation in the present Sri Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet.

He introduced in his establishments, for those who do not smoke and do not take alcohol, a monthly non-drinking and non-smoking allotment to his staff and factory workers. A sum of Rs. 1100-00 per month, is paid directly to the wife of the employee. This scheme may be the first of its kind in this part of the world and, perhaps, in the entire world.

Rayalaseema Hakkula Ikya Vedika[link]

He is the founder and president of Rayalaseema Hakkula Ikya Vedik, a Rayalaseema organization indebted to fight for Rayalaseema rights.

Married Life[link]

He is happily married to Smt. T.G. Rajyalakshmi of Vijayawada and has one son, Shri T. G. Bharath, and two daughters. Smt. Mourya Raviraj and Smt. Jyotsna Sunil.

References[link]

(1) *[1] (2) *[2] (3) *[3] (1) *[4]