"Trinity Mass received its world premiere before an overflow crowd ... culminating in the rapt invocation, "My entire soul is a cry," ... the final minutes built around the exalted ascent of the "Dona Nobis Pacem"—a cerebral feast of words and music."
-- Boston Globe

"Stormy and rhapsodic... a gorgeous main melody of melting tenderness... Yannatos' blending of quartet writing with the orchestra is masterful... This is attractive, wonderfully effective music."
-- Gramaphone

"... [Trinity Mass] is a powerful piece worth your time and money. The juxtapositions can be stunning. One incredible progression takes us from the Lamentations of Jeremiah (a nice bass solo), to a gorgeous 'Pie Jesu' for soprano and chorus, to the memories of Hiroshima survivors sung movingly by the mezzo. The Agnus Dei moves from St. Paul to Einstein, without missing a musical or spiritual beat."
-- American Record Guide

"Yannatos expresses himself musically, with skill ... the music had a basic strength and character that kept the movement and the interplay of ideas on a high level."
-- The New York Times

"Yannatos has composed a striking musical memorial to the tragic events that took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989. His Symphony No. 4: Tiananamen Square is an uninterrupted six movement arc, both narrative and contemplative as it depicts the gathering of crowds, the idealism, the crushing response, the mourning, the summing up. Yannatos writes brilliantly for orchestra ... a compelling sincerity is the ultimate effect of this work."
-- Boston Globe

"Composer Yannatos conducted a splendidly coordinated and spirited performance. To From a More Perfect Union was a triumph."
-- The Virginia Gazette

"Yannatos' Sounds of Desolation and Joy is a brilliant "monodrama" for soprano, using a peculiar assortment of texts, from Dante to Robinson, arrayed in such a way as to trace the eternal human conflict between fear and hope .. the power of his message perfectly delineated through an extraordinary mixture of song and speech—a "tour de force."
-- Washingon Post

"Yannatos' Cycles, commissioned by Collage ... is at once witty and disturbing ... a piece that achieves both satire and seriousness."
-- The Jewish Advocate

"The Yannatos String Quartet Concerto quotes a theme from Beethoven's Opus 135, and the quartet briefly played this theme, which opens the second movement, as a set-up for the concerto... The opening of the Yannatos—with its marvelous full color, tension and vibrancy—is not at all similar to Beethoven's haunting theme. Yet the two share a spiritual or emotional quality, almost as if the Yannatos was developing a hidden idea in the Beethoven... I just loved this decade-old concerto. It sounds nothing at all like Copland's Appalachian Spring, but it nevertheless has the same spirit of openness, of joy, of something new beginning. That spirit is restrained in the first movement, but fully blossoms in the third. In between, in the second movement, the string quartet soloists are given searching, stirring passages to play—the musical equivalent of a passionate love letter."
-- Peoria Jounal Star

"Trinity Mass is possibly a masterpiece worthy to stand comparison with such other 20th-century milestones as Birtten's War Requiem, Tippet's A Child of Our Time and The Mask of Time, Penderecki's St. Luke's Passion, or Nono's Promoeteo."
-- Fanfare

"The appearance of James Yannatos to conduct the premiere of Concerto for Piano and Orchestra added excitement to the event .. held the audience spellbound with the novelty of the concept and its rich innovative blend ..."
-- Sarasota Herald-Tribune

"Trio, as played by pianist Sally Pinkas, violinist James Buswell, and cellist Carol Ou, was a joyous, gleaming geyser of a piece with a tight, impulsive, formal structure."
-- Boston Globe

"The Yannatos String Quartet immediately gripped the audience both for the melodic writing and the arresting harmonic style. The piece glowed with originality. Soundly constructed, the work excited listeners to admiring applause for the composer."
-- Syracuse Herald-Tribune

"Yannatos' Sonata for Solo Cello connects to the tradition of musical exoticism; it is colorful, bold, gestural, entertaining music."
-- Boston Globe

"Yannatos' Duo seems to carry the Grecian essence of beauty and deeply felt emotions. It is a significant piece. Listening to this original work, one feels that the composer has experienced life with its drama, sadness, humor and its lyrical mysticism. The composition was given unstinted recognition by the audience."
-- Dayton Daily News

"The heartiness of Yannatos' personality seemed most present in his sets of short lyrical utterance, especially, the Suite for Six (1969), six mini-movements of airy attractiveness, some fun-and-games tricks (rhythmic foot shuffling) and a genial ambling forward motion, which suggests the composer himself walking with energetic but calm purposefulness through Harvard Yard."
-- Boston Globe

"I like this expansive, celebratory and brightly ochestrated Symphony [No. 5]. Multicultural, using national anthems and tunes from around the world, Yannatos integrates the melodies into the ongoing musical discourse and the effect is that of a radiant outpouting of uplifting, we-should-all-live-in-pieace-and-harmony joy. It's got my support - especially when presented with this much assurance and elan."
-- American Record Guide

"The concert concluded with a performance of and abstract, striking and unpretentious work scored entirely for solo horn, performed by the superb Eric Ruske."
-- Boston Globe

"During intermission, three groups drawn from Harvard's many choral ensembles sang some of Yannatos' whimsical Silly and Serious Songs, all set to nonsense lines of children—and the music gave the 'sillies' to those singing it and hearing it."
-- Boston Globe

"Yannatos conducted the San Antonio Symphony in his own work, a fresh attractive piece based on dance themes. It is a decidedly remarkable composition."
-- San Antonio Express

"Haiku for solo flute contained hypnotic tones and musical imagination."
-- Boston Globe