YANNI.com

INSPIRATO - The Masterpiece Album from Yanni : http://smarturl.it/yanni-inspirato

It took 4 years to complete the album, 30 years to write the music that inspired it.

YANNI’s greatest music performed by the world’s most extraordinary voices: 
Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Rolando Villazón, Katherine Jenkins, Vittorio Grigólo, 
Russell Watson, Micaëla Oeste, Nathan Pacheco, Chloe Lowery, Lauren Jelencovich, 
Plácido Domingo Jr., and Pretty Yende



International singing superstar Sarah Brightman is the world’s biggest-selling soprano. She pioneered the classical crossover movement and is famed for her vocal range of over three octaves. Sarah is the only artist to have simultaneously topped the Billboard dance and classical charts. Her voice has rung out from theatres, arenas, cathedrals, world heritage centres and Olympic stadiums, bringing to life some of the world’s most beautiful music.

Sarah’s work transcends any single genre, synthesizing many influences into a unique sound and vision. She remains among the world’s most prominent performers, with global sales of 30 million units and over 180 gold and platinum awards in more than 40 countries.

Brightman returned to the studio in 2016 to work on her album HYMN with long-time producer Frank Peterson. Released on November 9, 2018, it debuted at #1 on the Classical and Classical Crossover Billboard charts. Sarah continues to tour globally, most recently performing her acclaimed A Starlight Symphony in Japan and Taiwan to rave reviews, and will round off 2025 with her A Winter Symphony tour in Canada and the USA.

A native of the small northeastern Louisiana town of Bastrop, Dylan Scott grew up with a passion for music in general, and country music in particular, and a deep and profound love and respect for the outdoors. More than anything else, those two traits define who Dylan Scott is and what gives him direction and purpose in life. Dylan's father, a former guitar player for country legends Freddy Fender and Freddy Hart, taught Dylan at an early age the basics of singing and playing guitar and thus introduced him to the world of music. 

Growing up, Dylan ran with his buddies, played ball, went hunting and fishing, and in general had a normal rural upbringing... with one exception. While his friends were looking forward to going to college, joining the military, or trying to figure out what they were going to do with their lives, Dylan was focused on only one thing... going to Nashville to become a country music singer. He was constantly honing the skills necessary to be successful by mastering the guitar, learning to play piano, dabbling with songwriting, and working on his vocal skills. While still in school, he performed as a solo act at such prestigious venues as the Louisiana Hayride and also toured the southeast as a member of a teenage gospel trio, performing at small festivals, fairs, and churches. 

At the age of 17 on a trip to Nashville, Dylan met songwriter Charlie Craig and recorded four songs with Craig as producer. One of those tunes, "Between an Old Memory and Me" was written by Craig and had been a huge hit for a singer that Dylan had idolized since childhood, Keith Whitley. Dylan's stellar version of the song soon caught the attention of record company executives and he signed a long term recording contract with Curb Records. With famed producer and music label icon Jim Ed Norman at the helm, Dylan recorded numerous songs, one of which "Making This Boy go Crazy" went on to establish Dylan as an emerging country artist with a bright future. To date, the song has sold in excess of 130,000 units with well over 3 millions views of the accompanying music video. Always being appreciative of music in other genres, Dylan recently recorded a cover of the massive Ed Sheeran pop hit "Thinking Out Loud" and filmed a hip black and white music video which he posted to Face Book. Within the first hour, 29,000 people had viewed the video and the numbers started growing exponentially until reaching well over 1.5 million views in less than two weeks. Curb Records quickly made the song available on I-Tunes and in excess of 20,000 were sold within a short period of time, clearly demonstrating that Dylan has cross over potential to people of other genres of music. Even more impressive was that this was accomplished without the benefit of any radio airplay whatsoever.

With his career in full swing, Dylan is quickly establishing himself as a
force to be reckoned with in country music. His social media stats are
exploding and his live show is proving that Dylan is an exceptional entertainer as well as being a world-class vocalist. Booked by the world
renown William Morris Endeavor,  he is busy traveling the country performing in venues of every type and working hard to establish the fan base that will be necessary to propel him to the next level. 

Dylan is currently in the studio working on new music and just released his single, Crazy Over Me to radio. When not recording, writing, or touring with his band, he normally leaves his home in Nashville and heads back to Louisiana see family and friends and to hit the woods in his four wheeler, go hunting, or doing any number of outdoor activities that he loves so much.

Working with the greatest artists ever since the founding of Columbia Records in 1887.

Yo-Yo Ma, Glenn Gould, Il Volo, Jonas kaufmann, Igor Levit, Alexis Ffrench, Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Khatia Buniatishvili, Joshua Bell, Arthur Rubinstein, Murray Perahia, Bruno Walter, Teodor Currentzis, Vladimir Horowitz, Dirk Maassen, Christian Gerhaher, Leif Ove Andsnes, Arcadi Volodos, Lavinia Meijer...and many more!

#classical #neoclassical

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth (2009) and Yehudi Menuhin Competitions (2008), Ray Chen is among the most compelling young violinists today.   “Ray has proven himself to be a very pure musician with great qualities such as a beautiful youthful tone, vitality and lightness.   He has all the skills of a truly musical interpreter,” said the great Maxim Vengerov.
Ray has released two critically acclaimed albums on Sony: a recital program “Virtuoso” of works by Bach, Tartini, Franck, and Wieniawski, and the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos with Swedish Radio Orchestra and Daniel Harding.   Following the success of these recordings, Ray was profiled by The Strad and Gramophone magazines as “the one to watch”.   “Virtuoso” was distinguished with the prestigious ECHO Klassik award.   He is currently working on his third, all-Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, slated for release later this year.
Ray continues to win the admiration of fans and fellow musicians worldwide.   In 2012, he became the youngest soloist ever to perform in the televised Nobel Prize Concert for the Nobel Laureates and the Swedish Royal Family.   His Carnegie Hall debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Sakari Oramo, as well as his sold-out Musikverein concert with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly were met with standing ovations.   Since the 2012- 13 season, Ray has been invited to join Konzerthaus Dortmund's series “Junge Wilde,” which presents young and groundbreaking artists in Germany.   Later this season, Ray will make his San Francisco recital debut at the SF Jazz Center. He also looks forward to his upcoming recital tour of Australia and his debuts with the Orchestre National de France and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Followed by over 500,000 people on SoundCloud, Ray Chen looks to expand the classical music audience by increasing its appeal to the young generation via all available social media platforms.   He is the first ever classical musician to be invited to write a regular blog about his life as a touring soloist for the largest Italian publishing house, RCS Rizzoli (Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport, Max).   In his unstinting efforts to break down barriers between classical music, fashion and pop culture, he is supported by Giorgio Armani and was recently featured in Vogue magazine.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists.   He plays the 1702 "Lord Newlands" Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

No one could have imagined at that time what to expect - like Xavier de Maistre himself, when he decided to change the face of the harp 16 years ago. Today he plays pieces like "Moldau" by Smetana in breathtaking precision and presents masterful pieces of music that are usually played by an entire orchestra.

Meanwhile, a worldwide audience listens to his virtuosity and enjoys the unprecedented sounds. Pieces, that no harpist played before, or even thought about - like the Haydn piano concertos. Not only that makes him one of the most extraordinary musicians, even masters of this time.

Xavier de Maistre began to study harp with 9 years. Like many other famous musicians, all started with love - but in this case not as expected the love to his harp. It was rather the love for his former teacher, who offered extra harp lessons. Early, it turned out that Xavier has a great talent and no wonder he started with 25 years to play for the Vienna Philharmonic. Before that he played 3 years for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1998 Xavier won the first prize of the "USA International Harp Competition“, the major harp competitions in the world. But since Xavier´s family is not from a traditional harp-playing dynasty they put great importance to a solid education. So Xavier started his study of politics at the „Institut des Sciences Politiques“ in Paris and spent 1 year in London at the „London School of Economics ", when he finally decided to prefer music to the political studies. For a musician, he achieved very early what all harpists dream of – a position in one of the best orchestras in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic.

However Xavier de Maistre was about to go on. To see this point as the highlight of the career, which would definitely be a great honor for most of the harpists, and aslo for Xavier, but it was also a kind of sad moment. He achieved the ultimate goal of a harpist at age 25. Through his countless appearances and his keen ambition he has always wants to refute the long-existing bias of the harp - played in the background by angel-like women. Thanks to his his quick anticipation, intelligence and tremendous skill, he has played many pieces as a soloist with the harp and delighted thousands of listeners. Finally, he succeeds to establish the harp as an independent instrument. During his career, many great conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andre Previn, and Daniele Gatti became curious on him and his passion and asked him to play with them. A long series of concerts follows, convincing the audience that Xavier de Maistre is undoubtedly the master of his instrument. Not for nothing, beside famous conductors, also the most successful singers like Barbara Bonney, Kathleen Battle and Diana Damrau played with him. Likewise, of course, the long list of world-renowned opera houses which he had already visited: Theatre des Champs Elysees Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Tokyo Opera City, Lincoln Center New York, Salzburg Festival, La Scala Milan and many others.

No wonder, Xavier´s enthusiasm and his gift to play will not put an end to this success story. Awarded with the Echo Klassik Award 2009 for his album "Nuit d'Etoiles" as "Instrumentalist of the Year" (Sony Music) he reaps the fruits of his labor.

For more than 9 years Xavier de Maistre is working as a professor at the Musikhochschule Hamburg and now also teaches at the Julliard School in New York, at the Toho University in Tokyo and in London at Trinity College. After 11 years with the Vienna Philharmonic Xavier leaves his position in order to devote himself to his international solo career - a step that no harpist has done before.

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