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Yani Vozos

Yani Vozos

Arts Education Artist
  • Music; Dance

    Bio

    Yani Vozos is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, charango, and sitar) from the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Raised on motown, blues, rock and country folk and bluegrass styles, Yani fell in love with jazz music during his time living in Pittsburgh and NYC and later Latin music during his years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, Central America. His music is upbeat with writing that tends to focus on positivity and universal spiritual connections with the earth that everyone can relate to.

    He currently leads the group Appalatin who blends folk music from Kentucky with folk music from Latin America, creating original music with lyrics in Spanish and English. Yani plays mandolin and guitar in the nouveau old-time music group CornMaiz. He also plays guitar in the funky jazz groove quartet Voodoo Fuel (www.facebook.com/1Voo2doo3fuel4/).

    In addition to his performing career, he regularly teaches workshops in schools around the state of Kentucky. He is also to teaching guitar classes in his South Louisville neighborhood focusing on giving increased access to the arts for underserved populations through a grant from the Fund for the Arts. He is also the Assistant Director of the Cornbread & Tortillas project. Cornbread &Tortillas is a collaboration with Appalatin, Zoe Speaks and other Kentucky artists. The project seeks to highlight cultural connections between Kentucky and Latin America, through performances and workshops, and to create community through music, culture, and food.

    Potential Residency Project

    ​Rhythm and Dance:
    "If you can walk, you can dance." -Afican proverb
    This segment teaches rhythm by relating it first to marching to a slow beat in line and hand in hand. We continue slowly integrating claps and stomps to create more complex rhythms like the Queen "We will rock you" beat.

    Eventually we work our way up to the merengue two-step march, integrating hips and feet movement. Then working our way up to three-step dances like cumbia music and salsa. For those interested we can try hand in hand, community dance styles in the traditional Greek and Andean formats.

    This is a flexible format that can be used at many age levels culminating in a performance of different dances.

    Songwriting Basics:
    This activity will vary widely depending on the age group.

    Song structure ( i.e. Verse /Chorus/ Bridge etc.) will be taught at all levels. I will play examples of popular songs and original songs to provide a guide.

    Younger students will be guided as one group in the songwriting process where students brainstorm themes, ideas, and words in order to create a song together.

    Middle and high school students will be broken into smaller groups (and also individuals in some classes) and guided through the song writing process.

    I will accompany students on guitar in the songwriting process. Where possible, I am also able to offer a GarageBand song composition/production residency utilizing the software provided on standard iPads and MacBooks.

    Materials will be sent to prepare teachers and students for the upcoming sessions.

    Beginning Guitar Classes:
    Beginning guitar instruction classes that focus on chords, melodies, strumming, finger picking.

    Students will learn a rock song, a classical song, and a Motown song.

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