The official video of the Olympic song Olympic Dream has been released.
Shot in Romania, it is performed by Croatian pianist Maksim and is the lead track on Harmony, the official classical album for the 2004 Athens Games.
The music is intended to capture the spirit of the Olympic Games shared by people all over the world. Maksim, whose surname is Mrvica (pron: 'Marrravitsa') was born in 1975 in the Croatian town of Sibenik on the Adriatic coast.
He gave his first public performance at the age of nine. When war broke out in 1990, Maksim continued his musical studies and entered and won his first major competition in Zagreb in 1993.
He is acclaimed in his native country for making classical music accessible to young people. When he played the 2,000-seat Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, half of the audience was under 30.
The Harmony album is one of three official albums being produced by EMI Music to support the Olympic Games in Athens. There is also an official pop album, entitled UnityM and a Greek album, PHOS. The Harmony compilation also features classical artists Vanessa Mae, Nigel Kennedy, Placido Domingo and Maria Callas.
The Olympic Dreams track will also be included on Maksim's new album, entitled Variations, due for release n September 27.