From Stanton Lanier's 9th and newest release, "Treasures of Peace — The Stanton Lanier Collection," to his 2009 Best Holiday Album "December Peace" (ZMR Music Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma), the words "calming, soothing, and uplifting" have been a universal description for his music by a listening audience spanning 140 countries. His mission to offer "peace and rest in a hurried world" is accomplished through instrumental piano and captivating stories from his life and music. Some of Stanton's favorite concert moments are when he interacts with the audience and involves them in the creation of a new melody right before their eyes (and ears). Stanton's unlikely beginnings as a chemist and then a financial planner beg for a fuller understanding of how he came to create nine albums, with six produced by William Ackerman, Grammy® Award winning Founder of Windham Hill Records. Stanton began piano lessons at age six growing up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Due to a love for sports, he wanted to quit piano in middle school, but his parents didn’t let him. Stanton wrote his first song at age fourteen in Milton, Florida and continued to play and write songs while completing a chemistry degree at Georgia Tech and an MBA at the University of Georgia. While still working as a financial planner, Stanton’s first three self-produced recordings gave rise to a deeper and more urgent calling to completely let go of the practical direction of a fifteen-year business career. "Walk in the Light," "Still Waters" and "Draw Near" were produced between 2000 and 2004 in a modest basement studio. In 2003 two tracks from "Still Waters" were played on The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s," leading to CD orders from thirty states and listener testimonies from homes, businesses and hospitals across the U.S. In 2004 Stanton sent an email to the legendary Will Ackerman, asking him if he would produce his 4th album. Will accepted and brought Stanton to the George Lucas Skywalker Sound Studio in California to record "The Voice." This special relationship between two great artists has spanned ten years and six albums. Ackerman says, "Stanton is among the finest pianists and composers on the contemporary scene . . . his original compositions and brilliant arrangements are filled with soaring inspiration and remarkable peace . . . they add beauty and peace to a world deeply in need of it." Following "The Voice" (2005), the albums "Unveiled" (2007), "December Peace" (2009), "A Thousand Years" (2011), "Open Spaces" (2013) and "Treasures of Peace" (2015) have led to an ever expanding reach of Stanton's music across radio, television and the internet, including Music Choice's "Soundscapes" cable channel, Sirius-XM Radio's "Spa" channel, Les Mills BodyBalance workout DVDs, Lifetime TV's highest rated show "Army Wives," iTunes, Pandora, Spotify and Moody Radio. Stanton founded the non-profit Music to Light the World in 2004, with a vision to offer God's "peace and rest in a hurried world," through Scripture inspired piano™. So far, 65,000 CDs have been donated to cancer patients and families offering hope and healing. Stanton lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children, and enjoys photography and cooking. One of his favorite quotes is "Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." (Wild at Heart by John Eldredge).