I have to say my husband and I are Yanni neophytes. We certainly know of Yanni and his new age instrumental compositions but can't recognize a Yanni song. Lucky for us, One2One Networks provided us with the opportunity to see the Yanni Voices concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City last night.
We walked into the Sprint Center with an open mind...not really knowing what to expect. It was obvious to us from the first note, that this concert was a hand-crafted Yanni experience composed of talented artists. The best musicians, vocalists, composers, and producers were on stage in front of us. And like a fine art piece, the composition speaks more about the creator than anything else.
The orchestra was beyond phenomenal. The instrumental, virtuoso solos, including a unique Paraguayan harp by Victor Espinola pictured above and dueling violinists Anne Marie Calhoun and Samvel Yervinyan seen below) brought the house to a roar.
Yanni has assembled an amazing group of young vocal soloist. These artists are multi-talented and passionate performers. All are in their early twenties! Youth and Yanni, I know, you wouldn't put the two together but the well-known composer naturally melds with the young artists accentuating their strengths. Each artist has taken at least one of Yanni's instrumental compositions and created their own lyrics highlighted below.
Leslie Mills (@Leslie_Mills) has confident, gentle rain voice that is a sweet Colbie Caillat and Carly Simons blend. Leslie performed her amazing Before The Night Ends with Yanni's composition.
Nathan Pacheco is a powerful, operadic tenor whose voice aligns with the legendary Pavarotti in Viv il Tuo Sogno. This was a "Susan Boyle moment" for me in that I was blown away by this "unknown" young man's range and power. We'll be hearing a lot more of Nathan's rock solid vocals, hopefully in the operatic pop vein. And the dude hails from DC, ya got to love that!
Chloe Lowery, has a presence that took over the stage and amazingly an even stronger voice. She powerhoused Change (her poetic lyrics) with Yanni. She is truly a seasoned artist performing on stage since she was three.
Ender Thomas has a passion for entertaining with his voice as you can see with Ritual de Amor. He commands the salsa-style lyrics with rigor...and his eyes hold you in the palm of his hands. I've heard him likened to Fabio but this boy has one heck of a set of pipes so ya know, Fabio doesn't hold a candle to Ender in my book.
The orchestra and the singers have an incredible energy that kept the audience going. You could tell each performer was enjoying living in the moment. It was definitely a magical moment that we were thrilled to be a part of.
We left the Sprint Center blown away by the Yanni Voices experience. And we're craving more orchestra-style music because of it.
Photo credits: Anirudh Koul, taildragger46 and Yanni's Gallery.
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