Diane Arkenstone, a multi-faceted artist and a pioneer in the New Age music genre, has garnered worldwide acclaim with her extensive repertoire of recordings within the world, meditative, ambient, Celtic, Native American traditions and Americana.
Her healing music is largely inspired by her experiences overcoming heart health complications, including over 30 major surgeries since childhood.
A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Diane trained as an opera singer, and has enjoyed experimenting with a variety of genres throughout her career.
Diane plays multiple instruments including guitar, keyboard, wood flutes, dulcimer, synthesizers, percussion, metal drum, and kalimbas.
The Billboard-charting Arkenstone is one of the top 10 healing artists in the world, with hundreds of millions of streams globally across music streaming platforms.
Her prolific discography and collaborations have resulted in over 55 albums spanning a variety of genres.[1] Throughout her career, she has also collaborated creatively as part of the duo, Enaid & Einalem, and with like-minded musician, and ex-husband, David Arkenstone,[2] as well as producer Derek Nakamoto, and GRAMMY nominated Trumpet and Flugelhorn player, Jeff Oster.
She's also released numerous projects and collaborations through her pioneering self-owned label, Neo Pacifica Recordings, Including projects under the names Ah Nee Mah and Enaid, and collaborations like Earth Trybe and Marquis Ensemble.
Her extensive discography and creative output has led to numerous artist collaborations and creative projects, as well as major sync and partnership placements - most recently with "Apple's Best of Apps Winner," Aura Health, a mindfulness and meditation App.
Her upcoming album, Aquaria II - Ascension, is set for release in 2024. It reflects humanity's evolution from the Piscean Age of water, to the Aquarian Age of air, and the shift to more awareness and nurturing energy.
About
Diane grew up in California on a working cattle ranch. She wrote her first song at the age of three and started playing guitar at the age of seven.[3]
Since childhood, she has endured a lifetime of medical ailments resulting from complete AV block (atrial ventricular block) in her heart. She has had multiple heart surgeries and over 30 major surgeries total.
In 2004 she was an official spokesperson for the American Heart Association.[4] As a spokesperson, she regularly shared her story with kids who also experienced heart defects from a young age.
She has had 6 pacemaker implants throughout her life, and received her first pacemaker implant at age 20.
Due to the complete AV Block in her heart, doctors told her she would not be able to survive without a pacemaker. Heart monitors indicated that her heart would stop beating for up to a full minute at a time.
Miraculously, after years of surgery, in 2022 her doctor reported that her heart was fully healed, and the pacemaker was turned off.
She found healing through the vibrations of her guitar and her voice, and this started her journey to make healing music to help others.
In 2021, she released The Healing Heart album. The song "Safe in the Angel’s Wing" was written after her recovery from a 3rd pacemaker implant. Minutes after the pacemaker was in, she went into cardiac arrest.
While unconscious, she had a vision of being protected in an Angel's wing during the procedure. The image stayed with her and inspired the song and album.
Diane strongly believes in the power of the voice as an instrument for wellbeing, including chanting, humming, and other vocal tones.
"It’s comforting to hear a human voice, or to imagine it is an Angel watching over you through some extremely dark times" she says. "Hearing another voice makes us feel less alone."[5]
Career
A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Diane trained as an opera singer, and has enjoyed experimenting with a variety of genres throughout her career.[2]
She plays multiple instruments including guitar, keyboard,[6]wood flutes,[7]dulcimer, synthesizers, percussion, metal drum, and kalimbas.
Arkenstone was named one of the top 10 healing artists in the world by Chartmetric, with hundreds of millions of streams globally across music streaming platforms.
She has sold over two million units worldwide via Neo Pacifica Recordings, the independent label she launched in the late 1990s.[8]
Her albums The Healing Heart and Avalon: Between Earth and Sky reached #1 on the Amazon New Age charts for physical product, and her songs are regularly featured on Amazon playlists including "Great New Age Music", "Spa Day", "New Age for Meditation", and many more.[9]
Arkenstone's album Jewel in the Sun debuted at number 16 on Billboard's New Age charts when it was released in 2002, and peaked at number 11.[3]
Her first album, Celtic Nights, sold over 500,000 copies and was released under her Celtic alias, Enaid, which is Diane spelled backwards and means life/soul in old Celtic/Irish.[2]
Her albums have been sold in the majority of National Parks under her Native American band name, Ah Nee Mah.[10]
Her albums have also been sold in museums and resorts across the US such as the Smithsonian, Shed Museum, Hearst Castle, and Disneyland. Her music was also used in the King Tut World Tour and played overhead in Las Vegas on Freemont Street.
Her music has been featured during the Sydney Olympics, and on networks including Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Hallmark, NBC, CBS, and Indie and PBS films, My Child, Mother’s of War, Joan of Arc, and Written on the Landscape: Mysteries Beyond Chaco Canyon.
In 2005, The Best of Diane Arkenstone was ranked No. 1 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 Airplay Chart, out of 2800 recordings reported that year.[11][12]
Diane's voice is featured on the soundtrack for the 2002 game Heroes of Might and Magic IV, including the songs "A Wise Tale" and "Hope" (among many others) of the game's soundtrack. While her name is not in the credits of the game, her influence of classical music is noticeable throughout the soundtrack.
Her prolific discography and collaborations have resulted in over 55 albums spanning a variety of genres.[1]
Throughout her career she has also collaborated creatively as part of the duo, Enaid & Einalem, and with like-minded musician David Arkenstone.[2]
In addition to releasing her own music, she's released numerous projects and collaborations through her label, including projects under the names, Ah Nee Mah and Enaid, and collaborations like Earth Trybe and Marquis Ensemble.
Her most recent recordings include The Healing Heart, released in 2021, Avalon: Between Earth and Sky, with David Arkenstone, released in 2022, and World Calling, released in 2023.[13]
Her upcoming album, Aquaria II - Ascension, is set for release in 2024. It reflects humanity's evolution from the Piscean Age of water, to the Aquarian Age of air, and the shift to more awareness and nurturing energy.
Diane has garnered numerous press accolades throughout her career.
Music Crowns heralded Diane Arkenstone as "a pioneering musical force in the contemporary instrumental genre as well as a singer songwriter with a captivating voice".[14]
Jukebox Time affirmed Diane's "authentic artistic caliber," and her "enigmatic yet scintillating contemporary vibe" on the album, Light Of Varying Energies.[15]
American Songwriter notes on her 2020 vocal track "Ions": "A sultry and slinky come hither, Arkenstone purrs and sighs to a slow, jazzy rhythm, writhing in coquettish charm."[16]
Tour
Headlined with David Arkenstone at Symphony Hall in Utah
The Teatro Metropólitan in Mexico City
National Parks Tour across the US
Chautauqua Theatre in Boulder, CO
Awards and Accolades
2022 One World Music Radio Awards, Best New Age Album + Best New Age Single nominations[17]
2023 One World Music Radio Awards Lifetime Achievement Award Nomination[18]
2005, The Best of Diane Arkenstone was ranked No. 1 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 Airplay Chart, out of 2800 recordings reported that year.[19]
David Arkenstone is an American composer and performer. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. Most of Arkenstone's music falls into new age category; however, he also worked in other genres, including even a heavy metal soundtrack for Emperor: Battle for Dune video game. His music has been described as 'soundtracks for the imagination'. Throughout his career, Arkenstone released over 50 albums and composed music for video games, including World of Warcraft, and for television, including NBC's Kentucky Derby. Arkenstone has been nominated for Grammy Awards five times.
Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana genre in the 1990s. Her music united both country and rock audiences in live performance settings. Her characteristic voice, musical style and songwriting have been acclaimed by critics and fellow recording artists.
Judith Marjorie Collins is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records, for her social activism, and for the clarity of her voice. Her discography consists of 36 studio albums, nine live albums, numerous compilation albums, four holiday albums, and 21 singles.
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her refined and clear soprano vocals. She has sold more than 14 million records worldwide.
Natalie Maria Cole was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut album Inseparable (1975), along with the song "This Will Be ", and the album's title track. Its success led to her receiving the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, for which she became the first African-American recipient as well as the first R&B act to win the award. The singles "Sophisticated Lady" (1976), "I've Got Love on My Mind", and "Our Love" (1977) followed.
Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier to musicians Diane and Bill Chambers. Her older brother is musician and producer Nash Chambers. All four were members of family country-music group Dead Ringer Band in Bowral, New South Wales from 1992 to 1998; Chambers launched her solo career thereafter. Five of her twelve studio albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Barricades & Brickwalls, Wayward Angel, CarnivalRattlin' Bones, and Dragonfly. In November 2018 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and has won an additional 14 ARIA Music Awards with nine for Best Country Album. Her autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me..., co-authored with music journalist Jeff Apter, was released in 2011.
Jennifer Rush is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved initial success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums, including the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which she co-wrote and released in 1984. Her initial greatest success came in Europe. Her successful singles from that period include "If You're Ever Gonna Lose My Love", "Ring Of Ice", "I Come Undone", "Heart Over Mind", and "Come Give Me Your Hand".
Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, Martika, Laura Branigan, Belinda Carlisle, Selena, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Mylène Farmer, Alisha and Madonna. De Lory accompanied Madonna as backing vocalist and dancer on every concert from the Who's That Girl Tour in 1987, up to the Confessions Tour in 2006. Her performance with Madonna at the Live Earth 2007 concert in London was their final professional collaboration to date.
Michael Webb Pierce was an American country music vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country and western performer during the decade.
Diane Joan Schuur, nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country music. Her most successful album is Diane Schuur & the Count Basie Orchestra, which remained number one on the Billboard Jazz Charts for 33 weeks. She won Grammy Awards for best female jazz vocal performance in both 1986 and 1987 and has had three other Grammy nominations.
Lisa Lynne is a Celtic harpist, a composer and new-age recording artist. She is a self-proclaimed multi-instrumentalist who has "spent the last eighteen years pursuing her passion for the Celtic harp."
Talitha MacKenzie is a Scottish-American world music recording artist, and historical dance and music teacher and performer. Initially known as a vocalist in the original duo Mouth Music, she has maintained a solo career. Although most associated with Celtic and Gaelic music, she performs a wide range of early music and dance, as well as her own compositions.
Gary Stadler is an American new-age pianist, composer, songwriter and producer, specializing in contemporary Celtic-influenced themes and atmospheres. Stadler's six albums generally focus on imaginative concepts loosely based in Celtic mythology, especially stories of the realm of Faerie. His music combines melodic elements of rare world instruments, mastery of synthesizer orchestrations and studio techniques. Three of his albums feature collaborations with vocalists Singh Kaur, Stephannie and Wendy Rule.
Diane Renay, born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".
Tiffany "Tiff" Lacey is an English trance and electronic dance music (EDM) vocal singer, songwriter, author, and painter. She is the vocalist on several electronic music singles. Best known for her international singles with German producer André Tanneberger and for her work with British producer Don Jackson, Matt Darey, and Cosmic Gate. Lacey is the performer with the highest number of officially released collaborations within the EDM genres so far.
Mairi Campbell is a Scottish folk singer and musician. Campbell's songs and music range from the everyday to the universal, both in sound and subject matter.
Charlee Brooks is an American vocalist, composer, and audio engineer. Born and raised in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, she began her first works in production as a second engineer on the 2010 World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. That same year she made her first television appearance as a performer during the live broadcast of BlizzCon 2010 on Direct TV. She continued her work in production / creative design through 2012 where she contributed to projects for Crystal Cruises, Dr. Daniel Amen, HGTV, Arbonne International and many others.
Kerani (1968) is a Dutch composer, orchestrator, and producer of Hungarian heritage known for her sophisticated and meticulously crafted music, infused with classical influences. She is recognised for her contributions to various media projects, including documentaries, short films, and trailers. Over the course of her career, Kerani has released eleven albums, each showcasing her unique artistic vision. Notably, Kerani has been honoured in the US with the distinguished ZMR Music Award for Best Neo-Classical New Age Album on three separate occasions, underscoring her significant impact on the genre.
Diane Hildebrand is an American pop singer-songwriter. She wrote for several musicians during the 1960s and 1970s, but is most notable for her work with Screen Gems Music Publishing, penning material for the band the Monkees. In 1969, Hildebrand recorded her debut studio album, Early Morning Blues and Greens. She later released two additional albums under the name Joya Diane Skye.
SEAY is an American award-winning New-age music artist and humanitarian who has gained prominence as both a vocalist and composer. She has released multiple recordings, many of which have received awards and nominations. Her 2016 release In the Garden featuring collaborations with Grammy Award winners Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman charted on the Billboard New Age albums chart for five weeks peaking at #3 and won the Zone Music Reporter best vocal album of the year.
↑ Christmas Healing, Vol. 1 (CD liner). Diane Arkenstone and Misha Segal. Neo Pacifica Recordings/Prima Vista Records. 2006.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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