When New Age music is mentioned, he is one of the first names that come to mind: Who is Yanni?
He grew up listening to classical music composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Stravinsky, and Debussy at a young age and was influenced by them. In his compositions in his later years, Yanni aimed to achieve what these musicians, who could communicate with people without saying a single word, could do.
Yanni Chrysomallis, one of the names that come to mind when New Age music is mentioned, was born on November 14, 1954, in Greece.
Yanni, who was influenced by classical music composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Stravinsky, and Debussy, whom he grew up listening to at a young age, aimed to achieve in his compositions in his later years what, in his own words, "These musicians who manage to communicate with people without saying a single word in their music" could do.
Yiannis Chryssomallis (born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni, is a Greek composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand that he developed as a child, blending jazz, classical, soft rock, and world music to create predominantly instrumental works.
According to him, the message a word wants to convey can best be revealed through sounds, rhythm, and melody, rather than the meaning derived from the combination of letters.
The development of Yanni's musical career is also quite interesting. After graduating from the Psychology department at the university, Yanni left his job after a day at the company where he started working and turned to music, the field he has been interested in since his childhood. From this period onwards, he has been involved in electronic and rock music for a while, sometimes with the music bands he founded and sometimes with the bands he joined later. Later, in the field of New Age, which he personally focused on, he managed to become a world-renowned and loved musician with the instrumental music he produced over time.
Another interesting and surprising point about Yanni's identity as a musician and composer is that, despite his professional productions, he does not have the knowledge of writing/reading musical notes and solfeggio.
Yanni, who writes down the melodies he produces with his own notation system that he developed in his youth, uses these signs to play his creations through instruments such as keyboard, piano, and synthesizer.