NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - 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 PM, 461 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
Contact Information: FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Patti Conte
212-337-1406, x16
patticonte@nyc.rr.com
Amanda Charney
212-337-1406, ext 15
amandacharney@planamedia.com
Plan A Media, LLC
Mary Davis
Borders Group, Inc.
734-477-1374
mdavis4@bordersgroupinc.com