Yanni was born Yanni Hrisomallis in Kalamata, Greece, in 1954. He came to America eighteen years later and attended the University of Minnesota, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. His focus did not remain on the mind, however, and eventually moved on to the soul. After college, he played the keyboard for a rock band called "Chameleon." He eventually went solo and released his first album, "Optimystique," in 1980. When he released a second album and re-released his first in the mid eighties, he gained world-wide success.
Years later, a fifty-member orchestra, comprised of the best musicians from all over the world, is now in Yanni's employ. He uses the unique skills of these musicians to produce sounds and melodies that touch one's heart in a way that is nearly impossible to describe. Yanni only performs his own music, which he writes and orchestrates himself.
Yanni has performed in many amazing and extraordinary locations, including The Forbidden City in Beijing, China, and the Taj Mahal, where he filmed a music video called "Tribute." He was the first Western artist to perform in the Forbidden City and have the first staged concert in the Taj Mahal.
One of the most amazing facts about his musical skill is that he comes by it naturally. He has never received formal training in any musical instrument and cannot read sheet music. What he can do is understand what emotion he wants to go into a song and what he wants it to say (often without words) to those who hear it. He writes out how the music should sound in a special shorthand that he created to instruct the performing of his music.
His musical genius is a wondrous gift that surpasses the boundaries of the world. People from every corner of the globe can relate to his music, because it is not about creed or wealth or nationality. It is about emotions, feelings, and conscious. With his music, Yanni touches the hearts of thousands of people in every continent and expresses the feelings, ideas, and energies that reside within every man, woman, and child, that cannot be chronicled with words alone.
Although Yanni seems to be taking a break from music, the sounds that he has already created far surpass many of today's greatest musicians. After selling forty million albums, the man has earned a rest. But should he return to the public eye and once again begin composing his special and unique brand of music, he and his songs will be warmly received and it is doubtless that his dynasty will only become greater. For all time, for all people, for all faiths; Yanni's music will long outshine many of his colleagues.
