Yanni facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yanni
Yanni in 2007
Background information
Native name	Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης
Birth name	Yiannis Chryssomallis
Born	(1954-11-14) November 14, 1954 (age 70) Kalamata, Greece
Genres	Contemporary instrumental, instrumental crossover, world, new-age
Instruments	Piano, keyboards
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Private Music/Windham Hill/BMG Virgin/EMI Image Entertainment Yanni Wake/Disney Pearl Series

Yiannis Chryssomallis (born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni, is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. He uses a special musical style he created as a child. It mixes jazz, classical, soft rock, and world music. Most of his songs are instrumental, meaning they don't have words.

Yanni became famous by holding concerts at amazing historical places around the world. These concerts were also shown on public television. His show Live at the Acropolis was a huge success. It became one of the best-selling music concert videos ever! He has also performed at the Taj Mahal in India, China's Forbidden City, the Egyptian pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza, and the Moscow Kremlin in Russia.

Many of Yanni's albums have reached number one on Billboard's "Top New Age Album" list. Two of his albums, Dare to Dream and In My Time, were even nominated for a Grammy Award. Yanni has performed in over 30 countries. By 2015, he had played live for more than 5 million people. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Yanni often helps raise money for public television. His music is also used in TV shows, especially for sports events.

Yanni made it popular to combine electronic music synthesizers with a full symphony orchestra. He works with musicians from many different countries. He also uses unique instruments from around the world. This creates a special mix of sounds. People call him a "true global artist" because his music shares his idea of "one world, one people."

Early Life and Education

Yanni was born on November 14, 1954, in Kalamata, Greece. His father was a banker, and his mother was a homemaker. He showed musical talent very early, playing the piano at age 6. His parents let him learn music his own way. He never had formal music lessons. Yanni still uses his own "musical shorthand" instead of traditional music notes.

When he was 14, Yanni set a Greek national record in a 50-meter swimming race!

In 1972, Yanni moved from Greece to the United States. He studied psychology at the University of Minnesota. He even washed dishes to earn money while in college. He learned English by reading paragraphs many times. This helped him remember things well for tests. He earned his psychology degree in 1976.

While in college, Yanni played in a local rock band. He kept learning piano and other keyboard instruments. After graduating, he spent a year focusing only on music. He realized it made him very happy. That's when he decided music would be his life's work.

Music Career Highlights

In 1977, Yanni joined a rock band called Chameleon. He played with the drummer, Charlie Adams, for many years. Yanni also created music for dance shows in Minneapolis. After touring with Chameleon, he moved to Los Angeles in 1984. He wanted to work on movie music.

Starting Out and Gaining Fame (1980s-early 1990s)

Yanni recorded his first album, Optimystique, in 1980. Later, in 1987, he started his own band and began touring. His early albums included Keys to Imagination and Out of Silence. A concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra helped him become more widely known. Yanni also wrote music for several movies during this time.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis of Athens, where Yanni performed his famous Yanni Live at the Acropolis concert in 1993.

Yanni became more visible after appearing in People magazine and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. His albums Dare to Dream (1992) and In My Time (1993) were both nominated for Grammy Awards. Dare to Dream included the song "Aria," which was used in a famous British Airways TV commercial.

Acropolis and World Concerts (1990s)

Yanni's most famous concert, Live at the Acropolis, was filmed in September 1993. It took place at the 2,000-year-old Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, Greece. This was Yanni's first live album. He performed with his band and a 60-piece orchestra.

Yanni risked $2 million of his own money to make the Acropolis concert happen. He wanted to share his music with more people. The video was shown on PBS and became incredibly popular. It was seen in 65 countries by half a billion people! It sold over 7 million copies worldwide, becoming the second best-selling music concert video ever.

In 1997, Yanni became one of the few Western artists allowed to perform at the Taj Mahal in India. Soon after, he performed at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. He was the first Western artist in modern times to play at this historic site. These concerts were watched by 100 million TV viewers globally. They became part of his live album and video, Tribute.

After these big world tours, Yanni took a break from music. He went back to Greece to rest and travel. He wanted to see how other people lived and get new ideas.

New Music and World Tours (2000s-2010s)

In 2000, Yanni released If I Could Tell You, his first studio album in seven years. It was a calmer album than his live concert shows. In 2003, his album Ethnicity featured music from many different cultures. Yanni said it showed the beauty of a multicultural world. Around this time, he also released his autobiography, Yanni in Words.

In 2009, Yanni released Yanni Voices. For the first time, he featured singers prominently in his music. PBS broadcast a concert from Acapulco, Mexico, before the album came out. In 2010, he released Mexicanisimo, a tribute to Mexico's folk music.

Yanni onstage with his orchestra and vocalists. He plays electronic keyboards and an acoustic piano, and conducts his orchestra.

Yanni's 2011 album, Truth of Touch, returned to his instrumental style. It mixed contemporary, electronic, and world music. In 2012, he released Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico, recorded at a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was his tenth project with PBS.

In 2013, Yanni performed in China at the CCTV New Year's Gala. This huge TV event has 700 million viewers! He played with Chinese zither artist Chang Jing. His tours in the 2010s included new singers, but his shows were still mostly instrumental.

In 2014, Yanni released Inspirato. This album featured famous opera singers performing new versions of his songs, mostly in Italian.

In October 2015, Yanni performed two concerts at the Egyptian pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza. These were his first shows in Egypt. The concerts included fireworks and a video message from an astronaut in space! They were recorded in high definition for PBS.

In December 2015, Yanni created a song called "Seven Billion Dreams" for a NASA video. It celebrated the 15th anniversary of the International Space Station. His album Sensuous Chill came out in 2016, focusing on synthesizers and electronic sounds.

Yanni's single "When Dreams Come True" (2019) was created during a long tour. He improvised parts of it at each show. His song "Ladyhawk" (2019) honors his daughter, Krystalán. In November 2019, he released "Blue," inspired by the ocean.

Yanni's tours in the 2010s took him to over thirty countries on five continents.

Recent Work (2020s)

In August 2020, Yanni released In His Purest Form. This album features him playing solo piano versions of his older songs. It was his first piano solo album since 1993.

Music Style and Influences

Yanni listened to many types of music when he was young. He heard radio stations from North Africa, Arab countries, and Europe. These stations played all kinds of music, not just one style. Yanni's music shows his experiences with cultures from all over the world. It reflects his idea of "one world, one people."

His music includes influences from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, classical music, rock and roll, and electronic music. He loved the new technology and electronic instruments of the 1970s. Yanni listened to classical music like Bach and Beethoven from a young age. He also liked rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

Yanni says that making music for movies influenced him a lot. Most of his music is instrumental, meaning it has no words. He believes this helps his music be popular everywhere. "There are no lyrics in my music for the most part," he explained, "so the whole message is transmitted through the rhythm, melody, and sounds. I think that has to do with crossing all the borders."

Yanni's music is often called contemporary instrumental. It mixes jazz, world music, classical, and soft rock. He once said that "new age" is more about a spiritual feeling than a music style. He wants his music to engage listeners, not just be background noise.

Yanni says he has had perfect pitch since he was a child. This means he can identify any musical note just by hearing it. He still uses his own "musical shorthand" to compose. He hires someone to write down the traditional music notes for his orchestra.

Concerts and Performances

Yanni's concerts are known for their amazing lighting and technical effects. The lights are carefully timed to his music, even with its different rhythms. The lighting also highlights the musicians' solos and special moments in the show.

Yanni's shows are not just about him. He loves to let his band members shine. They often perform long solos, showing off their talents. Yanni also uses many interconnected keyboards. Playing one can make others play notes that sound like different instruments.

In recent years, Yanni has also done "An Evening in Conversation with Yanni" tours. In these shows, the audience asks questions and participates. Yanni plays the piano without his band. He has also had popular live streaming events on Facebook.

Awards and Honors

Yanni has performed at many famous places around the world. These include the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

His music became very popular with the rise of new age music in the 1980s and 1990s. It was played on adult alternative radio and featured in public television specials and commercials. Yanni's music has been used in many TV shows and sports events. This includes the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games.

Yanni's song "Acroyali/Standing in Motion" was found to have a "Mozart effect" by a medical journal. This means it might help with brain activity, similar to some of Mozart's music.

In 2011, Yanni became the first Western artist invited to adopt a giant panda cub in China. This honor is usually given to countries, not people! Yanni named the panda "Santorini," after a Greek island. The Greek word irini means 'peace'.

In 2013, Yanni and Celine Dion were the first non-Chinese artists invited to perform at China's CCTV New Year's Gala.

Billboard has named Yanni one of the top "new age album artists" many times. His albums Dare to Dream and In My Time were nominated for Grammy Awards. His PBS specials Live at the Acropolis and Tribute received Emmy Award nominations for their lighting.

Yanni has had at least sixteen albums reach number one on Billboard's "Top New Age Album" chart. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Minnesota in 2004.

Helping Others

Yanni has worked with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for many years. He has helped them raise over $13 million for their programs. His 2012 concert Yanni Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico was his tenth project with PBS.

Yanni also supports the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). He has helped raise money for their panda adoption program. He has also been a spokesperson for NASA.

Yanni has performed concerts in places that have faced challenges. He played in Tunisia after a terrorist attack and in Egypt to show that the area was safe.

Yanni's Book

Yanni's autobiography, Yanni in Words, was published in 2003. It became a New York Times best seller.

Discography

Studio Albums

Live Albums

• Live at the Acropolis (1994)
• Tribute (1997)
• Yanni Live! The Concert Event (2006)
• Live at El Morro, Puerto Rico (2012)
• The Dream Concert: Live from the Great Pyramids of Egypt (2016)

Images for kids

• Yanni Concert - 2011.jpg

  Yanni performing live in 2011.

See also

In Spanish: Yanni para niños