Andreas Vollenweider

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".

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.