Draft:Dan Yessian
 | Draft article not currently submitted for review.
This is a draft Articles for creation (AfC) submission. It is not currently pending review. While there are no deadlines, abandoned drafts may be deleted after six months. To edit the draft click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. To be accepted, a draft should:
It is strongly discouraged to write about yourself, your business or employer. If you do so, you must declare it. Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Last edited by Anniebeau (talk | contribs) 3 seconds ago. (Update) |
Dan Yessian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 5, 1944 |
Dan Yessian (/jɛsiːɪn/,Yes-e-in) September 5, 1944) is an award-winning American producer, musician, composer, arranger, woodwind musician, and keyboardist of Armenian ancestry. In 2016 Yessian received a Distinguished Achievement Award at the Detroit Music Awards[1]. In 1971, he founded Yessian Music Inc., in Farmington, Michigan.
Yessian's documentary and musical composition "An Armenian Trilogy" has been featured in numerous media outlets including a documentary on PBS. "An Armenian Trilogy" highlights Yessian's journey exploring his ancestral Armenian roots and his work composing three musical movements, "The Freedom," "The Fear," and "The Faith." His work was performed live by Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia [2].
Yessian Music, an international music production company, has locations in Michigan, New York City, Los Angeles, and Europe. The company produced music and sound design for numerous Fortune 500 companies and employs over 150 full-time and freelance creative artists.
Yessian remains part of his company, focusing on personally meaningful creative projects at Dan Yessian Creative. His sons Brian and Michael Yessian [3] have assumed leadership, operation, and creative roles in Yessian Music.
Career
[edit]A 1967 graduate of Wayne State University Yessian earned a teaching degree and taught speech and English for four years at Detroit's Redford High School. He left education to pursue a music career.
In 1971, Yessian Music opened in a 300-square-foot office, once an old bait shop in Farmington. He called local car dealers hoping to interest them in purchasing a custom jingle to promote their business.
Yessian is credited with personally writing numerous national and regional commercial jingles for companies such as Whirlpool, Dodge, Ford Motors Company, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Chevrolet, Little Caesar's and many more. Yessian's jingle for Detroit-based business "Diitrich Furs" has aired for over 40 years, finding its way into the culture of Detroit and Michigan.
Yessian wrote music for "Sesame Street" with Grammy award-winning animator Ted Petok. His work on 1970s nationally syndicated children show "Hot Fudge" won Yessian a national award for children's programming. Other work for television include the Electric Company and various other local and national programming.
Yessian wrote theme songs for sports organizations including Detroit Pistons, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yessian co-wrote songs with the late Ernie Harwell including "Tiger Tiger, Baseball Team".
In the 1980s, Yessian met songwriter David Barrett (Composer "One Shining Moment") with whom he composed numerous songs including a collaboration on "I See Wings" a song written for Yessian's documentary and symphonic work "An Armenian Trilogy".
Yessian Music
[edit]Yessian composed music for theme parks and museums around the world. Productions include The One World Observatory and Hudson Yards in New York, Trans Studio, Ferrari World, Lotte World, Chimelong, Movie Park, and many others.
Yessian composed music for various types of media from video games, movies, television to sports entertainment events, like the Super Bowl. Yessian's work composes sounds for recognizable companies like Walt Disney Co., and Cadillac [3].
Yessian Music has won Emmys, Clios, Mobius Awards and other television industry awards. The company created music for "Sunday Night Football," "America's Got Talent," and "The Voice", among others. In 2018 Yessian received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the advertising industry when he was inducted to the Adcraft Hall of Fame in Detroit [4].
Michael and Brian Yessian have led Yessian Music since the 1990s. Both men were featured in Crain's Detroit Business "40 under 40" highlighting their leadership roles and accomplishments. The pair spearheaded a project to create music for the $100 million One World Observatory at One World Trade Center, which welcomes up to 4 million guests a year.[3]
An Armenian Trilogy
[edit]Yessian created "An Armenian Trilogy" a documentary and 22-minute symphonic music piece in honor of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, in which 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered.
Yessian worked with arranger and pianist Kurt Schreitmueller, and the pair composed the first iteration of a duet for violin and piano, debuting at the Macomb Center for Performing Arts [2]. Yessian expanded the musical suite to a full symphonic tribute with the help of orchestrator William Wandel.
Yessian worked with producer and mixer Ohad Wilner to coordinate a hundred musicians for a live performance in 2017 by the Armenian National Philharmonic, at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Armenia's capital city of Yerevan.
"When my Armenian church priest Father Garabed Kochakian asked me to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, it proved to be a life changing request," said Yessian. "I discovered the path my ancestors had taken during this dark time and I began to tell their story through music, then ultimately film" [5].
After the performance Yessian worked with film editor Stewart Shevin to review footage of the trip to Armenia and the musical performance in Yerevan to compose the nearly hour long production of "An Armenian Trilogy".
References
[edit]- ^ Hinds, Julie (April 28, 2016). "10 things you need to know about Detroit's Dan Yessian". Detroit Free Press.
- ^ a b Bromley, Susan. "How a Milford man came to compose 'An Armenian Trilogy' on Bacharach's piano". Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
- ^ a b c Shea, Bill (October 2015). "Michael Yessian". Crain's Detroit Business.
- ^ Turner, Grace (July 2018). "Dan Yessian to be Inducted into Detroit's Adcraft Hall of Fame for Advertising Jingles". DBusiness. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ ""An Armenian Trilogy," documentary about music's Dan Yessian, debuts on Amazon". Public Radio of Armenia. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.