Yanni (born Yiannis Hrysomallis on November 14, 1954 in Kalamata,
Greece) is a self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and composer. Yanni left
his homeland at the age of 18 to attend the University of Minnesota.
After receiving a B.A. in psychology, he would instead seek a life in
music though he had no formal training and could not read a note. After
playing keyboards in local rock bands such as Chameleon, he moved to
California in pursuit of movie soundtrack work. In 1987, he put
together a small band which included long-time bandmate Charlie Adams,
and John Tesh, and began touring to promote his earliest instrumental
albums, Keys to Imagination, Out of Silence, and Chameleon Days. He
later earned Grammy nominations for his 1992 album, Dare to Dream, and
the 1993 follow-up, In My Time. His breakthrough success came with the
release of Yanni Live at the Acropolis, a concert conducted by Iranian
composer Shahrdad Rohani, filmed on September 25, 1993 at the Herod
Atticus Theater in Athens, Greece, deemed to be the second best-selling
music video of all time.[1] A composition from this release,
"Acroyali/Standing in Motion" has been found to have the "Mozart
Effect".[2] Yanni has since performed live in concert before in excess
of two million people in more than 20 countries around the world. His
North American concert tours in 1995, 1998 and 2003-5 each finished in
the Top 10 concert tours of the year. He has accumulated more than 35
platinum and gold albums globally, with sales totaling over 20 million
copies.[1] Considered to be one of the top fundraisers of all time for
public television, he has appeared on several major PBS Pledge TV
Specials such as A Decade Of Excellence, including segments from Live
at the Acropolis, Tribute, and Live at Royal Albert Hall, London.
Yanni's compositions have been included in all Olympic Games television
broadcasts since 1988,[1] and his music has been used extensively in
television and televised sporting events. In 1997, he became one of the
few performers allowed to perform at the Taj Mahal, India. His most
recent live concert film, Yanni Live! The Concert Event, was released
in 2006
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