Anúna's Warm and Inspiring
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Proudly sponsored by: Additional Support provided by: ANÚNA’S WARM AND INSPIRING ‘CHRISTMAS MEMORIES’ TO HIGHLIGHT 2008 HOLIDAY SEASON Ground-Breaking Celtic Vocal Group ® Teams for a Second Year with Public Television, Borders (NEW YORK, NY October 20, 2008) -- The warmth, wonder, serenity and joy of the Christmas season comes alive in the unique music of Ireland’s ANÚNA, as the groundbreaking Celtic-crossover vocal ensemble releases “Christmas Memories.” This excitingly creative and contemporary, yet timeless, program of holiday classics will appear this fall on compact disc, on DVD, and in a beautifully-mounted live broadcast set to air on hundreds of public television stations across the United States -- marking the second consecutive year that ANÚNA has starred in a national Public Television special. Once again, ANÚNA, the Elevation Group, and Maryland Public Television have teamed with Borders for the exclusive retail distribution of the “Christmas Memories” CD and DVD. The CD will be available in Borders and Waldenbooks stores as well as on Borders.com beginning Oct. 21, and the DVD on Oct. 28. In addition, Borders will welcome Anúna in more than 21 stores coast to coast between Thanksgiving and Christmas for special live, in-store performances. New sponsorship this year comes from Tourism Ireland – Marketing the island of Ireland overseas. “Anúna has achieved an extraordinary and very worthy success over the past year in America, thanks in large measure to public television exposure,” said Steven J. Schupak, Maryland Public Television Senior Vice President, Television Programming. “In collaboration with the Elevation Group, we are proud and delighted now to introduce Anúna’s beautiful Christmas repertoire to the national public television audience.” “We’re thrilled to be the exclusive retailer for Anúna’s “Christmas Memories” CD and DVD, and to host this fabulous group in our stores for special performances,” said Linda Jones, senior vice president of Merchandising for Borders Group. “Anúna’s last album, ‘Celtic Origins,’ was the number one selling CD in our stores for several weeks. We have high expectations for “Christmas Memories” and believe it will be a popular holiday favorite among our customers.” The “Christmas Memories” television show and DVD were recorded in June, 2008 at Maryland Public Television’s studios in Baltimore, Maryland, as a co-production of MPT and the Elevation Group. As with the 2007 ANÚNA – Celtic Origins project, MPT is once again the national presenting PBS station. The CD was recorded in Dublin, Ireland at the famed Windmill Lane Studios. The DVD and CD feature the perennial holiday standards “White Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” along with four beautiful originals written by ANÚNA founder and album producer Michael McGlynn; traditional carols arranged by McGlynn, including “Ding Dong Merrily on High,” “Jingle Bells,” “O Holy Night,” and “The First Noel,” and more Christmas classics of Irish, French, German and Finnish origin. John McGlynn, Michael’s twin brother and co-director of Anúna, provides a beautiful and moving arrangement of “O Come All Ye Faithful” for the program. Michael recently described “Christmas Memories” to ANÚNA’s worldwide online following as “utterly different to everything we have ever done,” signaling one more artistic advance for a performing group whose 21-year career has been keynoted by successive creative and commercial breakthroughs. ANÚNA was formed in 1987, and has been credited in the past as the originator of the massively popular “Celtic Soprano” style of singing. ANÚNA was one of the key elements that triggered the phenomenal global renaissance of interest in Irish culture, spending 18 weeks at number one in the Irish charts in 1994 as the artists of the original single “Riverdance,” and touring the world with the stage show of the same name. They have appeared on three Grammy Award-winning albums (twice with The Chieftains) and also performed on record and stage with Sting, Secret Garden, Elvis Costello and many others. Since 1996, ANÚNA has visited twenty-three countries including Japan, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Chile, Canada, Argentina, Italy and Belgium. They are Classical Brit Award nominees, and National Entertainment Award winners in Ireland. In 2007, ANÚNA made a 39-city tour of the U.S., in support of the breakthrough project ANÚNA – Celtic Origins, seen on over 250 PBS stations across the country. The CD was a No. 1 World Music album, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The “Christmas Memories” concept was created by Philip Marshall with John and Michael McGlynn. The album was produced by Michael McGlynn and Brian Masterson. The program features extensive choreography by Sammy Bayes. Executive producer was Denny Young of the Elevation Group and co- producers were Rory Johnston and John McGlynn. ABOUT Elevation Group of Companies The Elevation Group is one of the nation’s leading Sports & Music marketing and event production firms. Founded in 2002 by industry veterans and former senior executives at IMG – Denny Young and Steve Lindecke – Elevation been named three times (2006, 2007 & 2008) one of the top event production companies in the United States by Event Marketer magazine. Elevation works alongside some of the world’s most recognizable corporate brands and personalities in the following areas: Concert & Event Production, Television & Video Production, Digital Engagement Marketing, Sponsorship Planning and Sponsorship Marketing. Elevation offices are located in Cleveland, Charlotte, Detroit and Los Angeles. For more information, log onto www.elevationgrp.com. ABOUT Maryland Public Television Maryland Public Television (MPT) is a leading producer and distributor of national public television programming in the United States. As a major content supplier to the 350 member stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), MPT boasts a 36-year legacy of groundbreaking and innovative contributions to national PBS and public television schedules nationwide. MPT’s Emmy award-winning catalog of news, public affairs, documentary, performance and lifestyle programming includes Anuna: Celtic Origins; In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great with Michael Woods, The Morgan Choir: A Joyous Celebration, Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen, National Geographic Bee, Mini Dragons, Wall $treet Week, MotorWeek, and Cooking with Master Chefs with Julia Child among others. In addition to national programming, MPT is one of the most prolific producers of regional programming in the U.S. public television system, serving a six-state area in the Mid-Atlantic region. Beyond broadcast, MPT creates instructional videos, develops training, and builds Internet sites that serve tens of thousands of students, teachers, and child-care providers annually. MPT outreach activities, especially relating to arts, culture, and history further fulfill MPT's mission to engage, enlighten, and entertain. ABOUT Borders Group, Inc. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading retailer of books, music and movies with more than 28,000 employees. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates more than 1,100 stores worldwide primarily under the Borders® and Waldenbooks® brand names and recently launched Borders.com for online shopping. For more information, visit www.borders.com/aboutus. Anúna – Borders Christmas Memories In-Store Appearances, Winter 2008 Borders Braintree #196 | Saturday, November 29th 2:00 PM| 255 Grossman Drive Braintree, MA 02184 Borders Burlington #202 | Saturday, November 29th 7:00 PM| 1212 S. Washington St. North Attleboro, MA 02760 Borders Cranston #039 | Sunday, November 30th 1:00 PM|190 Hillside Rd Cranston, RI 02920 Borders Danbury #214 | Sunday, November 30th 7:00 PM| 110 Federal Road Danbury, CT 06811 Borders Park Ave. #200 | Tuesday, December 2nd 1:00 PM461 Park Ave. New York, NY 10022 Borders Columbus Circle #592 | Tuesday, December 2nd 7:00 PM| 10 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10019 Borders Flemington #573 | Wednesday, December 3rd 7:00 PM| 325 Highway 202 Flemington, NJ 08822 Borders Wilmington #080 | Thursday, December 4th 7:00 PM| 101 Geoffrey Drive Newark, DE 19713 Borders Baltimore #043 | Friday, December 5th 7:00 PM| 170 W. Ridgely Rd., Suite 220 Lutherville, MD 21093 Borders Rockville #010 | Sunday, December 7th 2:00 PM| 11301 Rockville Pike Kensington, MD 20895 Borders Fairfax #112 | Sunday, December 7th 7:00 PM| 11054 Lee Hwy Fairfax, VA 22030 Borders Westlake #062 | Tuesday, December 9th 7:00 PM| 30121 Detroit Road Westlake, OH 44145 Borders Ann Arbor #421 | Wednesday, December 10th 7:00 PM| 3140 Lohr Rd, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Borders Oak Brook #020 | Thursday, December 11th 7:00 PM| 1500 16th Street, Suite D Oak Brook, IL 60523 Borders Dallas #032 | Saturday, December 13th 2:00 PM| 10720 Preston Road, Suite 1018 Dallas, TX 75230 Borders Fort Worth #414 | Saturday, December 13th 6:00 PM| 4601 W. Freeway Fort Worth, TX 76107 Borders San Antonio #186 | Sunday, December 14th 2:00 PM| 255 E. Basse Rd., Ste. 350 San Antonio, TX 78209 Borders Thousand Oaks #118 | Tuesday, December 16th 7:00 PM| 125 W Thousand Oaks Blvd Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Borders Union Square #057 | Wednesday, December 17th 7:00 PM| 400 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Borders Beaverton #152 | Thursday, December 18th 7:00 PM| 2605 SW Cedar Hills Blvd Beaverton, OR 97005 Borders Seattle #066| Friday, December 19th 1:00 PM |1501 Fourth Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Patti Conte Mary Davis Plan A Media, LLC Borders Group, Inc. 212-337-1406, x16 734-477-1374 [email protected] [email protected] Amanda Charney Plan A Media, LLC 212-337-1406, ext 15 [email protected] .