1954-1972
"The
Beginning - Greece"
In
Kalamata, on the shores of the Mediterranean, Yanni was born in 1954 to Sotiri
and Felitsa Chryssomallis. The second of
three children, Yanni has an older brother and a younger sister. Sharing a
deep-rooted love of music, the family spent much of their time playing and
singing together.
Yanni's
parents provided a typical Greek life for the young boy. He grew up fishing,
swimming, and going to school like every other boy in his town, with one
exception. Yanni was born to compose music. He began to play the piano at age
six, but he refused formal piano lessons.
As a child, Yanni heard music in his head and he simply wanted to hear
it come out of the piano too, so he needed to learn how to play to make that
happen. He felt a certain freedom with the keys that might have been crushed
under the weight of structured learning.
Music was
not Yanni's only talent. In 1969, at the
age of 14, Yanni broke the Greek National swimming record for the men's
50-meter freestyle event. Although he
could have pursued this skill, he chose to travel a different path; one which
eventually led him to share his musical gift with the world.
His
childhood in Greece and his love for his native country gave Yanni his
inspiration to compose such songs as "Santorini,"
"Nostalgia," and "Acroyali."
1973-1976
"The
Second Beginning - United States"
In 1972,
with the encouragement of his parents, Yanni left his homeland to attend the
University of Minnesota. Between his studies, he played in local rock and roll
bands and began to develop his personal musical style using both piano and
electronic keyboards to create new sounds.
Despite a
new culture, a new climate, and a new language, Yanni graduated from the
University of Minnesota in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Psychology. After graduation, he decided
to give music 100% of his effort for one year. He needed to better understand
the driving artistic forces that had been such a large part of his childhood
years. It was during this year that he chose to make music his vocation.
1977-1984
"Rock
and Roll - The Chameleon Days"
Yanni
played keyboards for Chameleon, a rock and roll band that became well known in
the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Spurred by their success,
Chameleon began to tour regionally - across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago,
Iowa, and the Dakotas. They also produced 2 albums independently during this
time.
By now
Yanni knew his future would be in music, and he used his experience with
electronic keyboards to begin creating his own compositions.
"Optimystique," his first solo album, was independently released in
1980.
1985-1990
"Yanni
- On His Own"
Yanni
single-mindedly continued to pursue his passion for creating music. He explored
the worlds of electronic music, new sounds and instruments, and
composition. This was a very productive
and busy time for Yanni. He released 2 albums and worked on a third before
moving to Hollywood, the film industry capital, where he recorded 4 film scores
and released 3 more albums. He also re-released "Optimystique."
In 1990,
the Dallas Symphony Orchestra accompanied Yanni in concert, adding a new
dimension to his unique style and a prelude of things to come.
1991-1993
"L.A.
Times"
Yanni was
constantly experimenting and composing - giving his growing number of fans new
music every year. The album "In Celebration of Life," was released in
1991, "Dare to Dream" in 1992, and "In My Time" in 1993.
And, as if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, Yanni went on tour each of
these three years. He received Grammy nominations for "Dare to Dream"
and "In My Time" in which the collection of serene piano-focused
pieces went on to sell more than a million copies. Each year brought a more
extensive tour, larger venues, and greater numbers of fans. Yanni hand-picked
the band members who would accompany him on his tours, and eventually added an
entire symphony orchestra.
1993-1995
"Full
Circle - Yanni Live at the Acropolis"
Yanni
toured internationally for the first time, presenting his music live in some
world famous venues such as the Toji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, Royal Albert Hall
in London, and at the Acropolis in his homeland of Greece.
Yanni, Live
at the Acropolis was filmed on September 23, 1993 at the 2000 year old Herod
Atticus Theater in Athens and marked a triumphant return to his homeland. The
concert was subsequently broadcast in the United States on PBS, where Yanni has
since become one of the top all-time fundraisers, and around the world, where
it was seen in 65 countries by half a billion viewers. The album has sold more than 7 million
copies, while the video has sold 1 million copies, making it one of the
best-selling videos of all time. Yanni has continued to provide a great deal of
support for PBS and has also appeared on several PBS Pledge Specials such as A
Decade of Excellence, which included segments from Yanni Live at the
Acropolis, Yanni Live at Royal Albert
Hall and Tribute videos.
1996-1998
"A
Global Journey - Tribute World Tour"
Yanni
pursued the biggest challenge of his career - to become the first western
artist to perform at both the Taj Mahal in India and the Forbidden City in
China. Both venues presented unique and
difficult obstacles, but once again, Yanni's persistence and patience paid off
through the highly successful concerts. The "Tribute" album was released
in the Fall of 1997, and much of the music was written with these two locations
in mind. Yanni's third long format music video, also titled Tribute, was filmed
during these two momentous events. The
result was an outstanding combination of extraordinary musicians, inspiring
sights, and an unchallenged movement of world peace and harmony, all brought
together by a single artist's vision. The special was seen by a collective
television audience of some 250 million people. In conjunction with his
performance Yanni donated the proceeds from the show to help preserve the Taj
Mahal.
In tandem
with the release of "Tribute," Yanni embarked on his record-breaking
9-month, 100+ city tour. Beginning in
Mexico City, Yanni became the first foreign artist to sell out five consecutive
shows at the Auditorio Nacionale. The
momentum continued from there as Yanni moved on to play 10 consecutive sold out
shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York; the first time this had happened
since 1993. The "Tribute" tour
was the top selling tour during the first half of 1998, and was ranked #2 for
the entire year.
1998-2000
"If I
Could Tell You"
His first
studio album in 7 years, "If I Could Tell You," followed in 2000
after a two year sabbatical. It was a
deeply personal and introspective work that stripped away some of the grandiose
elements found on his previous albums.
The change in direction was no less inspiring, but it did reflect
changes in his personal life as well as a move to the East coast and a glimpse
into Yanni's heart.
2000-2005
"Ethnicity"
In
February, 2003, Yanni released Ethnicity, his 13th album. The album signaled another creative shift in
direction and proved a harbinger of things to come. Yanni once again explored the powerful
symphonic sounds that marked some of his earlier works but also incorporated
more exotic textures. The album featured
an array of different instruments, from an Australian didgeridoo, a Celtic
violin, and an Armenian duduk to an Indian tabla, as well as a variety of human
voices in the form of solo arias, group chants and even lyrics, a rare
departure for the instrumentalist. The
same year also saw the publication of his Miramax Books autobiography,
"Yanni in Words," a New York Times best seller. It's a reflective look at the challenges,
lessons, dreams and obstacles in Yanni's life.
Soon after
the release of his book, Yanni undertook an unprecedented North American Tour
in November, 2004. The tour kicked off
at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas, NV. The commanding performance was recorded and
filmed for what was to be Yanni's first live CD since Tribute, 2006's Yanni Live! The Concert Event. The mammoth tour included nearly 150 shows,
with total attendance of more than 1 million fans, making it, according to
Billboard magazine, among the largest grossing for three years running.
2006-2009
"Yanni
Voices"
After a
reflectve time, Yanni experimented with another direction. Yanni explains,
"I will always do instrumental music, but now I'm just trying to expand my
horizons and open the doors to some incredible talent that can give voice and
lyrics to my work."
The
multi-Grammy nominated performer is talking about Yanni-Wake Entertainment, his
newly formed venture with fellow Grammy and Oscar winning producer/songwriter,
Ric Wake. This exciting enterprise will not only continue to create superb
music, but it will also develop talented new artists, compose music for films
and be involved in movie and television production. Yanni Wake Entertainment has signed Nathan
Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas and Leslie Mills.
His more
recent tour, Yanni Voices: Live in Concert, in 2009 was a big success. Touring
all over North America with sold out shows including Radio City Music Hall and
full houses throughout Mexico. The tour was nominated for the prestigious Lunas
del Auditorio award and was in support of Yanni's Mexican chart topping release:
Yanni Voces (CD) and Yanni Voices (CD).
Yanni Voces
reached #1 on the Mexican Pop Charts and #2 on the over all Mexican Music
Charts. A recent DVD release of Yanni Voices: Live in Concert reached Amazon's
number one best seller list within the first week of sales and was a
fundraising success for PBS.
• 1987 Piano Two
• 1992 Romantic Moments
• 1997 Devotion (The Best of Yanni)
• 1997 Port of Mystery
• 1997 In The Mirror
• 1997 Nightbird
• 1999 Someday
• 1998 Forbidden Dreams: Encore
Collection, Vol.2”
• 1999 The Private Years
• 1999 [[Love Songs
• 1997 Pure Moods
• 1999 John Tesh and Friends
• 2007 The Essential Music
• 2010 The inspiring journey