Yanni has touched down in Saudi Arabia ahead of his concert in Al Ula this weekend, and has been giving his fans a tour of the Unesco World Heritage site.
Describing the desert oasis as a “home away from home”, the veteran Greek-American composer said he could not believe how much development the area had seen in just a year.
“Look at this, this is pretty stunning,” he said in an Instagram video posted on Tuesday morning. “This is an amazing way to wake up in the morning. Wow. It’s really nice to be back, this is our home away from home.”
Yanni will perform on Friday, February 7 as part of the Winter at Tantora concert series at the stunning mirrored Maraya concert hall. It is not the first time he has performed in the kingdom, as he played the same venue during last year's Winter at Tantora festival.
However, Yanni told his 2.7 million followers there had been an “explosion” of improvement a year on.
“Coming in last night, of course they light the structures, and I cannot believe the changes that have happened in Al Ula in one year. It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “What they are doing, all the improvements - it’s an explosion. It makes me very happy because we were here last year, this is a very important place for me, this is a place of healing for me.”
He also posted a second video from Al Ula, showing the reflection of the Unesco-listed Maraya site in the mirrored concert hall. “Your imagination is unleashed, when you are exposed to the beauty of the magnificent images generated by the mirrored ‘Maraya’ Concert Hall of Al Ula,” he captioned the artistically shot clip.
Still to perform at this year’s Winter at Tantora concert series are Enrique Iglesias on Friday, February 21, and Lionel Richie and Craig David on Friday, February 29.
