Andreas Vollenweider (born 4 October 1953) is a Swiss harpist. He is generally categorised as a new-age musician and uses a modified electroacoustic harp of his own design. He has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Luciano Pavarotti and in 1987 received a Grammy Award for the album Down to the Moon. Vollenweider's style has been described by The New York Times as "swirling atmospheric music, which evokes nature, magic and fairy tales". Biography Early life Vollenweider was born in Zürich, Switzerland, and is the son of Hans Vollenweider (1918–1993), an organist and composer, while his mother was a painter. In 1971, he married Beata, a kindergarten teacher, with whom he has two sons (Jonathan and Sebastian) and a daughter, Noëmi. In 1975, Vollenweider discovered the harp and, finding its traditional versions too limited for his own musical ideas, developed his own style, tailoring the instrument according to his needs. He created the electro-acoustic harp. He formed the trio Poesie und Musik together with Rene Bardet (bass) and Orlando Valentini (guitar), recording interpretations of the poetry of François Villon and Heinrich Heine, but left in 1978. During this period, Vollenweider also wrote music for film, mainly nature documentaries. Career 1980s In 1979, he released his solo debut, Eine Art Suite in XIII Teilen in Switzerland. He subsequently began forming his ensemble “Andreas Vollenweider and Friends”, which included Walter Keiser (drums), Pedro Haldemann (percussion), Bobby Reveron (percussion), and Jon Otis (percussion). This five-piece debuted on July 11, 1981, at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Vollenweider was discovered by the German record-producer and manager Vera Brandes, who oversaw the release of Behind the Gardens - Behind the Wall - Under the Tree.... through her VeraBra Records. The album was distributed through CBS Records International and reached 32 in the German album charts in March 1982. The follow-up Caverna Magica was recorded in the period May–November 1982 while Vollenweider and his band performed around Europe. Released in January 1983, the album managed to reach 11 in the German album chart. In 1983, he underlined his commitment to environmental issues with the EP "Pace Verde" in support for Greenpeace, which was accompanied by a video that Vollenweider directed and produced himself. In October of that year he was awarded a Dutch Edison Award in the Instrumental category for Caverna Magica. In 1984, the album White Winds entered the American billboard chart. Released through CBS Masterworks