1 June 2008, London, England – A significant development at Avie Records sees Barry McCann, former Managing Director of EMI Classics UK, join forces with Avie’s founder Simon Foster, becoming co-Director of the successful and innovative UK-based independent classical label. McCann brings decades of record company experience to the Avie table. He will oversee the label’s marketing, press, promotion, and international sales, forging a high-powered partnership with Foster, whose A & R credentials are justly celebrated. Avie Records was founded in 2002 by Foster and Melanne Mueller who last year was appointed Senior Vice President of Universal Music Classical in New York.

At the heart of Avie’s unique business model is artist ownership, whereby artists retain and control the copyright in their recordings. Working in partnership with musicians, the label constantly strives for the highest quality across every aspect – performances, production values and presentation. In six years, Avie’s catalogue has grown to over 150 recordings with repertoire ranging from the 9^th century to the present day, encompassing solo, chamber, opera and vocal, orchestral and the occasional offbeat. The label, which is distributed in over 35 countries, has garnered world-wide critical acclaim, dozens of international awards, and an enthusiastic consumer following.

Simon Foster says: "I am most fortunate that Barry has agreed to throw in his lot with me at Avie. He’s a truly exceptional veteran of the UK music business. His vast repertoire knowledge and broad view of the market have combined to create a track record that is second to none."

Foster has been a driving force in the classical world for over 30 years. In both A & R and marketing roles, his major label positions have included General Manager at EMI Classics UK, Managing Director of Virgin Classics which he founded under Richard Branson, and Director of BMG Classics UK where he was executive producer of Lesley Garrett’s A Soprano Inspired. He is best known for signing Nigel Kennedy to EMI and the production of Elgar’s Violin Concerto and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which was subsequently marketed by Barry McCann and became one of the biggest-selling classical albums of all time.

Barry McCann says: "I am delighted to be working with Simon once more. From the golden days at Classics for Pleasure where we collaborated on many wonderful recordings with Tod Handley and the LPO through to the phenomenal successes with Nigel Kennedy at EMI, we enjoyed the magical mix of art, business and fun".

Barry McCann has worked in the music business for over 30 years. Starting as a recording engineer with Classics for Pleasure in 1975, he was shortly appointed the label’s record producer. Barry worked with many artists, including Norman Del Mar and Vernon Handley in a series of Elgar recordings, before becoming Marketing Director in EMI’s Strategic Marketing Division with responsibility for the "Now That’s What I Call Music" series which celebrates it’s 25^th anniversary this year. Thereafter he was appointed Managing Director of EMI Classics UK and more recently served as Co-Chairman of the Classical Brit Awards between 2005 and 2007.

Highlights of Avie Records’ 2008 release schedule include:

• Former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord’s Durham Concerto, played by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with violinist and Classical BRIT winner Ruth Palmer, cellist Matthew Barley (Academy Director of BBC TV’s "Classical Star"), Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian pipes, and Lord playing Hammond organ

• Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano by Antonio Meneses and Menahem Pressler, two-thirds of the celebrated Beaux Arts Trio

• Pianist Charles Owen performing Faure’s Complete Nocturnes, the latest in Avie’s ongoing and influential young artists series

• Violinist and director Thomas Zehetmair continuing the Northern Sinfonia’s acclaimed series from the spectacular Sage Gateshead with a recording pairing Sibelius and Stravinsky

• And an archival recording from Boston, Massachusetts-based Emmanuel Music of Handel and Bach by the late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, whose recording of Handel Arias with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Harry Bicket is the best-selling recording in Avie’s catalogue.

* * * * *

For more information contact: