Yanni Voices

Extraordinary Voices

April 5, 2009 By Danielle Leave a Comment

“The human voice is the most expressive instrument known to man…it can evoke an enormous amount of emotion.” Yanni

I have to agree. I have been known to cry merely listening to people sing. And by ‘sing’, I mean move me, shake me to my core, give me chills. This was how I felt listening to Yanni Voices.

Until a few months ago, I was mainly unfamiliar with Yanni’s music. I was aware that he was a musician, but couldn’t have shared anything of worth with you about the scope of his talent.

I know. Some of you are reading and thinking, Yanni? The Yanni my mom used to listen to? Yes – the very same Yanni – but reinvented. His music takes on a new feeling when combined with the Voices of 4 previously unknown talents: Nathan, Leslie, Chloe and Ender.

yannivoices I met Nathan and Ender in person. I listened to them sing live. They are as kind face to face as I hoped. And they are as truly talented as Yanni Voices suggests.

I have listened to the CD as I worked, and felt completely at peace. There is something so soothing about the Voices. It makes you want to hear more.

If I had to pick a favorite song, it would be Never Leave the Sun, sung by Leslie Mills.

FYI – Amazonstill has CD’s available, but Target lists Yanni Voices as a popular seller and says they are out of stock:)

Filed Under: Checking this out Tagged With: Music, New Age, Yanni Voices

Yanni Voices Live – Sing your heart out!

March 1, 2009 By Danielle Leave a Comment

I am a sucker for an amazing voice. This is because I was a rock star in my former life - and miss the talent so much, I can’t help but be mesmerized by this quality in others.

(If you have experienced the pain of my singing, you, too would know that the only explanation for my true lack of pitch, and tone, and well, anything remotely related to passable vocal talent is that I used to be fantastic!)

I digress. Back to my awe of people with pipes of gold.

It was only a few weeks ago, at the fabulous Blissdom Conference, that I was first introduced to a new Disney Project. You guessed it, singing is involved. And so is Yanni.

Yanni? Yes, Yanni. I know, you likely haven’t heard his name in years. But, I can assure you, you haven’t heard his music like this before.

If you are familiar with Yanni, you may know that his music has always been purely instrumental. That changes with the introduction of Yanni, Voices Live. Four stellar singers take the stage, putting words to Yanni’s classic compositions.

At Blissdom, we were treated to a preview of this project. Here is your preview:

I know, I know….the Voices, the intrepretation of the music – it is beautiful! So, right now, you are itching for just a little bit more. We were too. As a group of mainly women, we were particularly taken by Nathan and Ender. And then, they walked in. Yes. They walked in to this room of adult women and rapidly turned us into a group of cheering teenagers.

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Are they ever sweet???!!??

Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see the whole thing on PBS tomorrow night, Monday, March 2nd.

I know you don’t want to miss it. Here’s the local listings.

Enjoy. When you watch – come on back and tell me what you thought.

Filed Under: Can we talk? Tagged With: Blissdom, Nathan and Ender, Singing, Yanni Voices

Blissful Learning and Laughing

February 13, 2009 By Danielle 24 Comments

You know what I did this past weekend? I learned a lot. I laughed a lot. It was Bliss.

Pun intended. It has taken me the better part of the past few days to process. Which is why I am late to the ‘Blissdom Wrap Up’ game.

I was in Nashville at the Blissdom Conference….put on by Ali – MrsFussypants and Barbara Jones of One2One Network.

If you read my site last week, you know I was nervous. Nervous in that wow-I’m-about-to-walk-into-a-room-full-of-women-and-what-if-I’m-transported-to-an-episode-of-Mean-Girls kind of nervous. You know what I mean, right? I hoped it wouldn’t be bad. I mean, how could it be? I was going to be surrounded by people who ‘get me’, right? Most are moms, we’re all close in age, and we do the same thing – blog. Some more ‘successfully’ than others, but some aren’t blogging to be successful in a monetary way, but in a peaceful, centered way.

My goal, as a relative new kid on the block, was to sop up the information I expected to be falling from bloggers mouths like a mouse on a cheese hunt. I also hoped to make some friends. Both missions accomplished.

I met and learned from some of the best and some of my personal favorites: Velveteen Mind, MomAdvice, SecretAgentMama, Rocks in my Dryer.

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But I also made amazing new friends: JustPureLovely is just that: Just. Pure. Lovely. We arrived within seconds of each other, and she made sure I was never lonely.

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SugarJones made me laugh non-stop. Amber told me a beautiful story I will never forget. Josh and Rebecca from MomFaves felt like family. And Carissa and Jyl from MomItForward reminded me what it is like to ‘be on the same page’ as someone else.

It would be impossible for me to recount for you every wonderful person I met, every amazing opportunity to ‘share my voice’ I have discovered, or everything I learned.

But, for me, the mom who spends the better part of her waking hours surrounded by small people (and by small, I mean 3 feet and under) who love me unconditionally, yet, don’t quite ‘get me’, it was truly pure heaven to be in the midst of strong, intelligent, hard working and KIND women. (And men – thanks to Josh from MomFaves and John from WalMart – he is an expert: working with the ElevenMoms)

bunnyslippers As a final thought, I must address the KINDNESS I felt. Seriously…I have not had that many people be so truly NICE to me since I was pregnant. I must have appeared vulnerable. Was it the bunny slippers? Was it my dancing to MamaMia ? That’s it, isn’t it? You felt sorry for me and my lack of dancing abilities. At least I didn’t make you listen to me karaoke. That alone may have brought the elevators to a standstill.

I’m including a few of my favorite pictures/memories below. They include Chris Mann (seriously – his voice could make a girl melt), the darling Ender and Nathan from Yanni Voices and the Fabulous and hilarious Jen Lancaster. (Yes!! That is a picture of Jen and I!) If you haven’t read her books, get there. And, of course, some fabulous Bloggers. (I Should be Folding Laundry, A Southern Fairy Tale, Real Life Sarah, Cool Mom Guide, Bargain Briana, ClassyMommy, Katja, and Pensieve Robin are in some of these pictures, but there were so many more!) Thank you, new friends, for making my first serious venture into the bloggy world so very memorable and smile-filled.