ANUNA

World / Classical / Experimental

Dublin, Ireland

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About

Michael McGlynn founded Anuna in late 1987 in his native Ireland, and having been brought up on the Sex Pistols and Debussy from an early age, didn't really understand that choirs were supposed to behave and sing in a certain way. Thus the Anuna story began. Today Anuna is still run by Michael and his twin brother John McGlynn.

Anuna remain one of the most unusual musical voices around today. Not classical, not folk, not world, not Celtic... Anuna was formed also as a response to the rising clamour for change in their native Ireland, and the need to find a voice that fell between the two stools of Irish music, Traditional and Rock.

Anuna are known by name in Ireland, as they spent 18 weeks at number one in the Irish charts in 1994 with the single "Riverdance", and entered the U.K. top 10 the same year.

Much of the music is exotic and unusual, spanning over 1000 years of history and their uniquely beautiful vocal sound has resulted in multiple collaborations with artists such as Secret Garden, The Chieftains, Sinead O Connor and Elvis Costello, to name but a very few. They have also won an Irish National Entertainment Award for Classical music in their own country, and been nominated for a Classical Brit Award in the UK. Their own albums have charted in the Irish charts and in UK and US Specialist charts over the last 10 years. They have appeared on three Grammy Award winning albums, twice with the Chieftains.

The choir have had around 150 members in total since 1987, and tour with between 11 and 14 singers. Their shows are very different to any other show that a choral group would attempt to do. The group are costumed in cloaks and long gothic-style dresses for the women, and sub-star trek uniforms for the men. They use the entire venue when performing, and the atmosphere is electric. The albums, of which there are around 10, are hugely varied and in 2006 Anuna released SENSATION, their first original album since 2000. This has been described as "a major leap forward" [Hot Press] and "an agile leap into the unknown" by The Irish Times. In Autumn 2007 Anuna undertook a two month tour of the USA, and their programme "Anuna - Celtic Origins" continues to be broadcast nationwide there on PBS. Due later in 2008 is a spiritual record entitled "Sanctus", a DVD entitled "Invocations" and in the USA the release of a CD/DVD and PBS Christmas Special entitled "Christmas Memories".

There is a site at www.anuna.ie.