Yanni

I replenish myself through time alone. By freeing my mind of all other distractions, I can concentrate on getting to the place where creativity dwells. Creativity really exists in the void. It is in silence where music lies. -- Yanni

Your imagination is much more powerful than anything technology has created. When I conceive a piece of music in my mind, it is always perfect. The instruments are always perfectly in tune, no one is ahead of the beat, and there are no problems acoustically. -- Yanni

Instrumental music, when used correctly, is very direct and extremely accurate in describing even the most subtle human emotions. Since there are no lyrics to be interpreted, the listener can personalize it in a far more precise way. Instrumentally, you have a much better way of communicating across borders - the borders of music and place. I'm not interested in writing songs, but in describing emotion and experience -- Yanni

My music heals me. That it has a similar impact on the listener is very rewarding. -- Yanni

'Dare to Dream' comes from a realization that not only don't people go after their dreams, but they are often afraid to dream at all. Every person has the inherent power and creativity to change their life any time of the year. We shape our destiny by dreaming and it's the only way to make life exciting without being paralyzed by fear. -- Yanni

Music, is an incredibly direct language. It bypasses language and logic, and speaks directly to your soul. -- Yanni

Relationships should be a freeing experience rather than an enslavement. They should be an energy giver rather than an energy drainer. It should be that the person you're with enriches you and you enrich him/her. You don't approach relationships from lack and need. If you are looking at your partner to fulfill you as a human being, you're in trouble. -- Yanni

Greek composer and keyboard player, Yanni Chisomallis (1954- ), better known simply as Yanni, was born in Kalamata, Greece in 1954 and grew up in his native country before attending college in the United States. After graduation Yanni began playing keyboards for the Minneapolis rock group Chameleon, he later went on to an incredible solo career.

Yanni was born 14 November 1954, in Kalamata, Greece, where he spent his early years. As a teenager he was a member of the Greek National Swimming Team. Aged only 14, he broke the national freestyle record.

Yanni left his native Greece to attend college in the US, where he now lives as a US citizen. He graduated in psychology.

After graduation, Yanni returned to his first love, music. He took up the keyboards and joined a Minneapolis-based rock band called Chameleon. Later he was to take up his solo career.

It is difficult to believe, but Yanni is a self-taught musician. As Yanni once explained:

When I was growing up in Greece, my parents really enjoyed classical music, so I listened to a lot of it. I have a lot of musical influences: all the classics, like Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Stravinsky, Debussy... These people had the ability to communicate without one word. That just appealed to me. I'm doing this for the same reason - for music, not words. Words operate in a different area of the brain. The entire message is in the sounds and rhythm and melody.

His parents were musically-inclined as well:

My mother sings beautifully. My dad played the guitar and sang ... They were both in the arts. We didn't have a turntable in our house ... Instead of listening to the music, we made it ourselves.

The highlight of Yanni's career is undoubtedly the two live albums, Live at the Acropolis and Tribute, and the concert Live at Royal Albert Hall, recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall, interspersed with footage of Yanni's home in Greece.

Live at the Acropolis, performed in the 2000-year-old Herod Atticus Theatre at the Acropolis in Athens, 25 September 1993, was Yanni's first concert in his native Greece. The concert, broadcast on PBS in the US, raised $13 million for the network, worldwide, 65 countries, half a billion people. The album has sold over 7 million copies worldwide, the video has became the second best-selling music video of all time. Also available as DVD.

Ever since I left Greece more than two decades ago, it has been my dream to return and perfom at the Acropolis ...

Tribute was recorded live at the Taj Mahal in India and in the Forbidden City in China, March through May 1997. The three concerts at India's Taj Mahal, was the first performance by a Western artist. Prior to the Forbidden City concerts, Yanni undertook a tour of China with six concerts in three major cities. Yanni's special concert performances on 30 and 31 May 1997, at the Forbidden City, was broadcast to an estimated 250 million Chinese viewers. Later, with the Taj Mahal footage, it was broadcast as a 90-minute national PBS special in the US on 2 December 1997. The Taj Mahal concerts formed part of India's 50th anniversary independence celebrations. Also available as DVD.

Yanni has assembled an impressive line-up of musicians. It is probably unfair to select out any particular one, but Karen Briggs, the black lady in the red dress, stands out as an exceptional virtuoso violinist.