Jan Walravens

Born in deepest Africa to a German mother and a Belgian father, Jan Walravens (artist name: Ian Raven) spent his childhood in Germany in a family that had dedicated itself to music for several generations. His grandfather was a conductor whilst his mother was a concert pianist and piano teacher for his entire life. Jan and his two brothers therefore all ended up following musical careers: Jan is a successful pianist and composer; Karel Walravens is a violinist who plays in several orchestras and various contemporary classical music formations in Germany and is currently director of the Bonn music school; and Werner Walravens worked first as a sound engineer for public radio and television in Düsseldorf and is now an independent producer in Bavaria and an amateur jazz guitarist. Jan started piano lessons at the tender age of six, before starting to write his own compositions as a teenager. In parallel to his studies at the Philosophy and Literature Faculty of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, He made the first recordings of his personal compositions in the early 1980s in Brussels as [a3094282]. He also adopted his artist name of Ian Raven when he released his first albums in France in 1983. During his career, Jan has put his name to over 200 original works and it is a safe bet that he will not leave it at that! “Mélodies” is Jan Walravens' third American album completed essentially in Florida since his move to Miami in 2004.