in North America, his records remained on catalogue, clocking up to six-figure sales. Vollenweider embarked on his first American tour in November of that year, making his debut at the Beacon Theatre, New York. It was presented by Carly Simon who had come across his music a year earlier. She explained that "I knew I had discovered something that was going to change me in a wonderful way, I became so obsessed with his music that anyone who came to my house was introduced to it within the first 10 or 15 minutes". Through CBS she got in contact with the artist and arranged for his American debut. As his instrumental tracks were generally deemed unsuitable for radio, he largely relied on word-of-mouth in gathering an international following. Vollenweider spent much of 1985 on tour, promoting the White Winds album with his five-piece band. The shows were described as a new age experience that combined the use of lights and dry ice while Vollenweider appeared as a "white-clad figure who's poised to drive the audience wild with a harp". In 1987, Down To The Moon, which had been originally recorded and released in 1984, received a Grammy Award. This was followed by tours in Canada, the United States, thirteen European countries, Japan, and Australia. When he composed the music of, and recorded, the dynamic album Dancing With The Lion in 1988 and 1989, Vollenweider opened his project, for the first time in his career, to numerous guests from a wide range of musical genres. He directed and produced two award-winning videos, one of which was for the title selection; for both videos, he contributed to the storyline, the choreography, and set/costume designs. 1990s Vollenweider's double album The Trilogy (1990), consisted of a selection of the first three albums (Behind The Gardens, Caverna Magica, and White Winds) and previously unreleased material. In 1991, he followed up with Book of Roses, which 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. The same year, he won the World Music Award in Monaco. In 1993-94, he produced his first album including vocals. The 1993–94 album Eolian Minstrel featured contributions from American singers Carly Simon and Eliza Gilkyson. The release was followed by worldwide tours. In 1994, he performed at the Pavarotti and Friends event in Modena, Italy, where he