Playing the music, not the instrument.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

If you think Cafe del Mar provides the best new age & chillout music, then you're very wrong.

Kitaro’s music has long been recognised for its messages of peace and spirituality. It is known as 'the music of the spirit' or 'the light of the spirit'.Kitaro seems to channel music from heaven with every song he plays.

In 1988 his record sales soared to 10 million worldwide.The 2000 Thinking Of You, which allmusic.com calls a “journey to ecstasy” and “one of the most beautiful CDs of all time, won the Grammy for Best New Age Album. Also, he was nominated another three times for a Grammy award and his soundtrack for the movie "Heaven & Earth" won the Golden Globe for best original score.

This year he is nominated for another Grammy, his latest album, Impressions of the West Lake showing that Kitaro is still at his best after so many years of magical and glorious musical landscapes.Impressions Of The West Lake is a modern day opera conceived and directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower), the visionary artist behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The production is highlighted by music composed by the Grammy and Golden Globe Award winning artist Kitaro. This pairing of East-meets-West is a rare combination of two artists at the peak of their creative talents. The opera also marks a reunion for Kitaro and music arranger Randy Miller, the pair's first effort together since the Golden Globe-winning soundtrack to Oliver Stone's 1993 film Heaven and Earth. This opera is another impressive credit for Miller, whose lengthy career as a composer, orchestrator, and conductor for films includes such highlights as Without Limits, First Snow, and The Soong Sisters (Best Original Score, Hong Kong Film Award). Kitaro's various sound collaborations and resonant, multi-textured compositions, with their crescendos of passion and oases of serenity, truly defy the constraints of any genre. His pioneering fusion of cultures, techniques and spheres of consciousness is truly his own. With Impressions Of The West Lake, Kitaro continues to explore new, uncharted terrain with his magnificently expansive vision and ever-questing spirit.

When asked about his music, he said, "I never had education in music, I just learned to trust my ears and my feelings." He credits ‘powers beyond himself’ for his music, saying, "This music is not from my mind. It is from heaven, going through my body and out my fingers through composing. Sometimes I wonder. I never practice. I don't read or write music, but my fingers move. I wonder, 'Whose song is this?' I write my songs, but they are not my songs."