Laurens van Rooyen was born in Utrecht and attended the local academy of music there. He established the successful music theatre group ‘Harlekijn’ , together with his fellow student Herman van Veen. His solo career, rewarded for example by the ‘Golden Harp’, led to performances on many national and international stages. He became well known as a pianist, (film) composer and music educator. He released 45 CDs, many containing work of his own, such as the internationally known ‘Just a Simple Lovesong’ and ‘Imaginary Landscapes’. Laurens also gained his reputation by making music for films such as Rembrandt, Eline Vere, Een vrouw als Eva (A woman like Eva) and, more recently, the international nature film by Hugo van Lawick, Serengeti-Symfonie, released by Walt Disney. . Van Rooyen has always been intrigued by developments in music. He became fascinated by the vitality and rhythm of Dance/Trance music. He knew this music would influence and transform the classical world, as jazz and pop music did long before. During a holiday in Venice the idea of the Dance Opera was conceived, based on the ancient theme of Orfeo. For its realisation Laurens worked together with Geert Huinink, composer and producer of Tiësto. There are also new developments as far as piano music is concerned. At the request of national and international fans a reissue will be released of van Rooyen’s most successful CD, Rêverie, of which 200,000 copies have already been sold worldwide. In European context van Rooyen composed music based on a text of the Slovenian poet Dane Zaje, which was performed in The Hague on the occasion of the European presidency of Slovenia and as part of a cultural exchange in May 2008. Another initiative is musical collaboration with Turkey. In July 2008 Laurens van Rooyen and the famous Turkish sitar player Tahir Aydogu will start working together, in order to launch a joint tour in Turkey and in the Netherlands for a Turkish-Dutch audience.