• Comment: Subject may be notable, but draft needs to be improved before being accepted into mainspace. The general promotional tone is unacceptable. A number of biographical details (e.g. name of wife, place of residence) lack citations to reliable sources, which is also unacceptable according to WP:BLP. CurryTime7-24 (talk) 22:40, 13 November 2024 (UTC)


Dan Yessian
Born (1944-09-05) September 5, 1944 (age 80)

Dan Yessian (/jɛsɪn/,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" was featured in numerous media outlets including a documentary on PBS. "An Armenian Trilogy" documents 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 the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia [2].

Michael, Dan and Brian Yessian in Armenia during the LIVE performance of original music featured in Dan Yessian's documentary, "An Armenian Trilogy".

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 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 wrote 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.

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.

 
Musician Dan Yessian and Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell.

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's music is featured in various types of media from video games, movies, television to sports entertainment events, like the Super Bowl. His work includes sound production 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].

References

edit
  1. ^ Hinds, Julie (April 28, 2016). "10 things you need to know about Detroit's Dan Yessian". Detroit Free Press.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b c Shea, Bill (October 2015). "Michael Yessian". Crain's Detroit Business.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ ""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.