Andreas Vollenweider was born on October 4, 1953 in Zurich. His father, Hans Vollenweider, was one of Europe's leading organists. Andreas grew up in a creatively diverse and inspiring environment. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, he searched for 'his' instrument. In 1975, he discovered the harp and developed his own style, tailoring the instrument according to his needs. Thus, he created a new instrument for himself: the electro-acoustic harp. Vollenweider composes for film, theater and TV productions.
The year 1979 marked his Swiss debut album, Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen, which is considered the cradle of the Vollenweider sound. Two years later, in 1981, Andreas Vollenweider & Friends performed their first show at the world-renowned Montreux Jazz Festival. The following autumn saw the release of the album Behind The Gardens, Behind The Wall, Under The Tree.... This proved to be a success with both critics and the audience, putting Vollenweider's distinct sound on the map.
In 1983, he emphasised his commitment to the environmental and peace movements with the single Pace Verde ("Green Peace") and its much-talked about video. In the same year, he received an Edison Award in Amsterdam for his innovative sound. One year later, his 1983 album White Winds broke through in no less than three US charts: pop, classical and jazz. His first US tour was hugely successful.
He played for sold-out venues on his 1985 US tour, conquering New York's Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
In 1987, Vollenweider's album Down To The Moon received a Grammy Award, and was followed by tours in Canada and the US, as well as 13 European countries, Japan and Australia.
The dynamic album Dancing With The Lion was created in 1988 and 1989. For the first time, Vollenweider opened his project to numerous guests from a wide range of musical genres. He directed and produced two award-winning videos, for which he also contributes to the storyline, the choreography and the set and costume designs.
The compilation album Trilogy was released in 1990, comprised of the three albums Behind The Gardens, Caverna Magica and White Winds, as well as the Pace Verde single and selections from Art Suite. This was followed in 1991 by the album Book of Roses, on which Vollenweider included symphonic orchestral elements for the first time. In 1992, he participated in a benefit show for Chernobyl's children on Moscow's Red Square, and he received the World Music Award in Monaco.
For the first time, Vollenweider produced an album with lyrics -- 1993-1994 Eolian Minstrel, with contributions from American singers Carly Simon and Eliza Gilkyson. Its release was followed by worldwide tours. (Previous albums had featured wordless vocals, both solo and chorus.)
In 1994, he performed at the Pavarotti and Friends event in Modena (Italy), where he played duets with Luciano Pavarotti and rock balladeer Bryan Adams. Prior to 1997, he played a series of shows in remarkable locations: a tour of Polish castles, a show with Italian singer/songwriter Zucchero at the 2500-meter-high location (at -8 Celsius) of Brunico in the Southern Alps, and in a giant volcanic cave at Lanzarote's Festival Musica Visual. After doing tours and open air shows in Europe and the US, he played for the first time in Latin America in 1995.
In 1998, he started to record Kryptos, a work for symphonic orchestras and guest virtuosi from all over the world. Parts of Kryptos were performed with the RAI orchestra at Italy's San Remo festival. Vollenweider initiated a live symphonic project called Wolkenstein in 1998. The release of these recordings is currently being prepared.
In 1999, Vollenweider returned to free improvisation and intimate musical dialogues with his album Cosmopoly. He invited friends from all over the globe to create world music in the true sense of the word: the American vocal acrobat Bobby McFerrin, the Brazilian cult poet and singer Milton Nascimento, the South-African ethno-jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the 74-year old Armenian duduk legend Djivan Gasparyan, the Galician bag-pipe and whistle virtuoso Carlos Nuñez, the American songwriter and legend Carly Simon, and American blues-trombone-master Ray Anderson, among others.
Visit Andreas on his official website at www.vollenweider.com
