by Author Name Withheld 7

Created on: July 07, 2008

Kitaro and Yanni are both huge figures in the New Age music industry. However, the fact that they are both grouped under the same genre does not mean that these two men have similar sounds and styles whatsoever. For one thing, they hail from two different countries Kitaro is Japanese, while Yanni is Grecian. In order to convey a better understanding of both artists, I have separated their traits into individual categories. Enjoy!

1)Early Life:

Kitaro was born February 4, 1953, and was inspired by classic AMerican R and B artists and rock and roll. He is a self-taught musician, and learned guitar, bass, and drums while in high school, moving on to the more unique instruments you can hear in his music now as time went on. Although his parents did not support their son's chosen career, Kitaro nonetheless held several part-time jobs and composed his music in his free time. In 1977, he started his solo career, and recorded two albums (Ten Kai and From the Full Moon Story) before becoming internationally famous for his soundtrack to Silk Road.

Yanni was born on November 14, 1954, and left his native country to obtain a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Two years before graduation, he decided to become a musician, even though he no formal training whatsoever (He did, however, have a highly skilled ear for music, and taught himself to play the piano in his younger years). He moved to California soon after and formed a band in 1987 with John Tesh and Charlie Adams to promote his earliest works, Keys to Imagination, Chameleon Days, and Out of Silence. His breakthrough came with the filming of Yanni Live at the Acropolis in September of 1993, which became the second best-selling music video of all time.

2)Awards and Nominations:

Kitaro has had 7 Grammy nominations in his career, was the Grammy winner for Best New Age Album in 2000 for his CD Thinking of You, and a Golden Globe Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1994 for his work on the score of Oliver's Stone's Heaven and Earth. As a composer and multi-instrumentalist, Kitaro has sold over 10 million albums worldwide.

Yanni has sold over 20 million albums, and has over 35 gold and platinum awards. He has been nominated for two Grammy's, and has been given the prestigious degree of Doctor Of Human Letters by the University of Minnesota.

3)Instrumentation:

Kitaro claims to be heavily inspired by nature, so much so that he gives a yearly concert on Mount Fuji from dusk until dawn. He favors

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