PArt 2: 1996 to 2025

Behind the Closed Eye was released in 1997 with the assumption that it would not be commercially successful. In fact, the opposite was the case. The album sold 5000 copies in Ireland and went on to be licensed by Philips/Gimell. Inspired by the writing of the Irish poet Francis Ledwidge the album is a pastoral exploration of the Irish landscape with many pieces that went on to become very successful in their own right. The album features The Ulster Orchestra, Northern Ireland’s principal orchestra, led by Lesley Hatfield.

Hot Press wrote of the release “ Behind the Closed Eye is for lovers of nature and gentleness. Experienced re-inventors of Irish traditional music Anúna have joined in a cross-cultural production with the Ulster Orchestra to create a beautifully rounded album which carries the listener through a changing landscape of season, mood, history and lore.”

“While we had begun to perform in Europe, it was pretty evidently on the basis of our association with Riverdance. It was wonderful to visit Poland, Italy, Norway, Germany and Canada over the next few years, but the most memorable concert we gave at this time was in Morocco where we were the first Irish group to participate in the World Sacred Music Festival at Fés. It was such a successful performance that we returned in 2002 and again in 2019 as part of their quarter century celebrations. I will never forget singing under an ancient tree in the Batha Palace garden with the sound of multitudes of birds accompanying the high notes of the women’s voices.”

In 1998 ANÚNA sang at the inauguration of President Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, and recorded two projects with The Chieftains in collaboration with Elvis Costello, Oscar winner Brenda Fricker and Chinese singer Dadawa for The Long Journey Home and Tears of Stone. The group signed an exclusive recording deal with the Gimell/Philips label, home of The Tallis Scholars and in January 1999 recorded a PBS TV special in Norway with Secret Garden, appearing on two of their albums as guests.

“Even in all this excitement, one event stood out above all the others. In August, 1999 we performed at the The Royal Albert Hall in London at the BBC Proms. As a young man I had spent many summers travelling over to see the Proms, sleeping on floors and sitting in the cheapest seats imaginable. For me this remains a very special moment, singing songs in the Irish language to a hugely attentive audience in the Royal Albert Hall. Magic.”

1999 proved to be a busy year with BBC2 TV filming a performance of Behind the Closed Eye at Belfast's Waterfront Hall with the Ulster Orchestra ( a performance repeated in January 2000 at the opening of Celtic Connections at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera). Rather surprisingly ANÚNA’s first release on their new label for Polygram/Gimell Deep Dead Blue was nominated for a Classical Brit Award which resulted in a very special evening for the award ceremony that included a short and awe-struck conversation with Michael’s hero György Ligeti.

Anúna in Glendalough, January 1999. Image Julia Hember

‘While all eyes were on Paul McCartney at the next table to ours, mine were firmly fixed on Ligeti who had long been my musical inspiration. I clumsily stumbled over to him at the end of the evening and blabbered out how much his work meant to me. His minders calmed down somewhat when they realised that I was just a fan and not a lunatic (I hope). He was gracious and kind and funny.

I don’t remember anything else about the evening other than I owe a huge debt to Steve Smith of Gimell Records who was never less than positive in our dealings and a pleasure to interact with at a time that I probably was not so easy going as I thought I was. Polygram was taken over and the writing was on the wall for our relationship with Gimell. The industry was beginning to change radically and we, like so many others, were among the last groups to get the opportunity to experience the old-fashioned Record Company ethos. It was a blast I have to say.

1999 gave rise to album six, Cynara, which was released in November. The disc featured far-less solo vocal performances on it to previous albums and the mood was restless, without a clear view of where it was going even though reviews were excellent. It contained the earliest choral piece written by McGlynn “Incantations” among a rather eclectic selection of songs that included the sensual title track.

“I remember bringing this into our new bosses in London and getting a stony reception. To be honest, Cynara was a very odd disc for many reasons. If I had been in their position I wouldn’t have taken it, and I was somewhat relieved when they passed on it and we were, once again, independent. The title track “Cynara” probably scared them off to be honest, and while there are some beautiful things on the record it was the last album I released that would be so diverse in content.”

Hot Press wrote “Perhaps the best thing about Cynara is that it sets this music in its proper place in the global picture…and it reclaims it from the godawful world of Celtic New Ageism. And in their own quiet way, Anúna are just as radical a band as the likes of At The Drive In and Atari Teenage Riot” while CDNow wrote “…the choir's smooth blend and McGlynn's lovely harmonies combine for a most attractive sound that's captured well in an atmospheric recording. It would not be surprising for McGlynn's work to start showing up in the repertoire of other choirs, such is its quality, but it's hard to imagine any other group singing it better”.

2000 also marked the first solo performance by the group at Dublin's National Concert Hall and the release of the award-winning film The Work of Angels featuring a score by Michael performed by ANÚNA. Another highlight of this time was performing with The Ulster Orchestra to 14,000 people in Belfast as part of the BBC Proms.

Essential ANÚNA was released on Universal Classics in the UK and USA on Koch/E1 in 2003 resulting in a placing at number 6 in the U.K. Classical Charts. This compilation was followed by Christmas Songs in 2004 on Koch International. ANÚNA undertook its first UK Tour that year and visited Chile and Argentina as guests of President Mary McAleese, President of Ireland.

“At this time we paid our first visits to the Netherlands and Japan, two hugely contrasting cultures that have embraced ANÚNA. Both our Dutch agent Peter Boone and our Japanese agent Plankton have carved out unique paths for us and we have been embraced and accepted as part of those cultures, something we will be forever grateful for.

By the time 2006 arrived I think I believed that I had said most of what I wanted to with ANÚNA. I was very wrong. Sensation was unrelated to everything we had done before. Dark, moody and atmospheric, there is nothing uptempo on the record. I had become increasingly aware that my music was being performed all over the world by other choirs and ensembles. Maybe I wrote this record with the intention of stretching the classic sound of the group. Nothing should remain static.”

Guest artists included Breton singer Gilles Servat who took a narration role on the title track “Sensation”. All Music Guide said of the release “McGlynn’s sophistication as a composer accounts for much of the album's appeal. …His “O Maria” is harmonically and texturally complex, but never sounds "difficult," and conveys an otherworldly and enveloping serenity…The other factor in making this album so sensually appealing and rewarding is the extraordinary technical prowess and secure musicianship of the singers. The ease and precision and musicality of their performances of extremely demanding music puts them in the ranks of the very finest chamber choirs. It would be a pleasure to hear them bring their formidable strength to the broader repertoire of exceptional (and exceptionally difficult to perform) choral music that is being written today.”

Anúna, Dublin 2007. Image John McGlynn

The appetite for all things Celtic continued unabated and besides contributing so many of the singers to Riverdance over the years, the advent of the US phenomenon Celtic Woman showed the enormous influence the group had yielded on that genre of music. As of 2019, six ANÚNA singers have appeared in leading roles fronting the show - Tara McNeill, Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, Lynn Hilary, Deirdre Shannon, Orla Fallon and Éabha McMahon.

In the meantime ANÚNA continued to tour the world and were Artists in Residence at Festival 500, Newfoundland in 2007. That same year marked the recording of the hugely successful PBS TV special ANÚNA - Celtic Origins in Cleveland USA for the Elevation Group. The programme was carried by over 220 PBS Channels and the album titled Anúna : Celtic Origins hit number one on Soundscan in the World Music category.

The year ended with a nine-week tour across the USA with special guest classical violinist Linda Lampenius, who subsequently has recorded and performed with the ensemble as recently as 2017. Venues included New York Town Hall, Orchestra Hall Minneapolis and Berklee Performance Centre, Boston.

Recording began in June 2008 on a second Elevation collaboration Christmas Memories with Maryland Public Television for PBS. The programme achieves 80% coverage on PBS Channels, and the CD peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 Album Charts. "Ding Dong Merrily on High" reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Charts. Anúna - Celtic Origins won four Telly Awards.

“This special was probably the most surreal project we ever got involved in, with improvised script and set pieces in costume. We recorded it at MPR Studios in Maryland on a baking hot June week. The album that resulted from it has all the hallmarks of ANÚNA, but not necessarily what our audience at the time expected as this was actually a very joyous and positive experience that reflected in the lightness of the subsequent music. A huge contrast to the moody Sensation. It harkens back to the classic TV Christmas specials. Classic it may not be, but it was a lot of fun to make.”

The Netherlands, December 2010. Image Michael McGlynn

Since 2008 ANÚNA have maintained a busy performance schedule, but the biggest single event of the period was the creation of the ANÚNA Education Programme led by Lucy Champion.

“At the time many ensembles and institutions were seeing the value of running Education programmes. It became a buzz word, a new marketing tool. For myself and Lucy Champion it was different. It helped us define and change the ethos of the group fundamentally, informing us about the uniqueness of what we do and helping us to explain the techniques that we used in performance to others.”

2010 marked the recording of a DVD and CD with Australian group The Wiggles, the most successful children's entertainers in the world.

Anúna with The Wiggles, 2010

Performing at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, 2011

2011 began with an invitation from Clannad to be their special guests for their Dublin performances at Christ Church Cathedral, celebrating forty years in the music industry.

“This was an interesting week. Not only did I get a chance to perform with Clannad, a seminal influence on my own music in the 1980s, but I was astonished that no one in the audience at Dublin’s TradFest had actually heard us before. We processed up the centre aisle of the cathedral and people literally were blown away as their only experience of the group was as a distant memory”

It also marked ANÚNA’s first tour of China where they receive a rapturous welcome. Other performances that year included Tours des Sites in Belgium in front of an audience of 7,000 people. ANÚNA recorded the soundtrack to the video game Diablo III in 2011 representing the voices of Hell. The video game subsequently went on to be massively successful in 2012, selling 3.5 million units on its first day of release and 12 million units in its first year. ANÚNA’s contribution earned them a Game Audio Network Guild nomination. Russell Brower, music co-ordinator and composer of much of the music for the game, was hugely impressed with the contribution of the group saying "Working somewhat against conventional expectations, Hell is a beautiful and seductive sound, provided by Dublin’s uniquely astounding choral group ANÚNA".

The most significant event that year occured when ANÚNA visited Iwake, Fukushima just after the tsunami and gave a workshop 40km from the stricken reactor. The group returned to the area in 2014 to a revitalised and renewed prefecture.

2012 : Image John McGlynn

2011 marked a significant turning point. The first Anúna International Choral Summer School took place with delegates coming from five countries. By 2018 delegates came from 16 countries. That same year Michael paid his first visit to the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Chicago thus opening up an enduring connection with the choral music fraternity in the USA for the first time.

These events began a process that took some years to complete - the creation of definitions for The Anúna Technique of choral performance. This new methodology is based on the unique history and performance practices of Anúna. It continues to develop and expand with each passing year.

The Netherlands, 2013. Image Jasper Van Gheluwe

2012 marked the release of the album Illumination to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Anúna. The disc features the solo voice of Andrew Hozier Byrne on the opening track. Hozier, as he is better known, performed with Anúna first at Christmas 2007.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary Anúna featured in a solo performance at Dublin's National Concert Hall. Repertoire included material spanning the entire catalogue of Anúna including the "Chanson de Mardi Gras" (1991) and a performance of excerpts from the soundtrack of Diablo III. When that video was posted online it crashed the Anúna website.

With Hamamatsu Junior Choir, Japan, December 2014

2013 included the group’s first tour of Canada and an ever expanding series of workshops which culminated in the second Anúna International Summer School. This event held in June had thirteen countries represented among the attendees and facilitators included Charles Bruffy, Artistic Director of the Phoenix and Kansas City Chorales and Dr. Stacie Lee Rossow of Florida Atlantic University. For the first time the majority of members of ANÚNA came from outside of the Republic of Ireland.

2014 marked an important year for Anúna, defining and developing the ensemble. Illumination is withdrawn from sale and reissued as Illuminations, completely remastered with new vocals and remixes. Michael stated that the original release aimed to "hide" a true connection with the singers, while this version puts the performer in the room with the listener and is a much more immediate and vital experience. The album now included the work of Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius on three tracks.

Revelation was completed in early 2015 and marks a watershed for the choir and McGlynn’s writing. It is unsurprising that this release, which came at the start of the music streaming revolution, has proven to be the most successful of ANÚNA’s releases on Spotify. Featuring a coherent musical narrative that connects material as diverse as a semi-improvised setting of a passage from the Book of Revelations and the theme of Japanese classic anime Princess Mononoke, the album ushers in a new era of recording that continues to develop. Now featuring a pool of approximately twenty five singers from eight countries, the choir developed repertoire and techniques to allow for non-amplified performances, and the album reflects the increasing virtuosity of Anúna.

Revelation was reviewed by the Irish Times “…Anúna exists, as Sliabh Luachra does, as much a state of mind as an entity. The group’s membership ebbs and flows, but McGlynn’s steely focus is ever-present. Revelation glories in a rich coalition of original material composed by McGlynn…”

“As a composer I found this to be the most difficult album to create. My father Andrew was very ill at the start of the recording sessions. He died before the album was completed. So consciously and unconsciously all of the material is connected to him and to how I felt at that time.

You could say that it was the way I came to terms with his death, but the album is not about grief. “Na Coille Cumhra” (the Fragrant Wood) is a song about a young man who believes that love can banish even the spectre of death, while “Fáilte don Éan” (welcome to the bird) is about bitter regret and frustration at how powerless we are in the face of fate. “Love’s Old Sweet Song” is a classic of the Irish parlour repertoire and I wanted to reclaim it for today with a setting that reached back and forward simultaneously as it is an elegy on the nature of love. One of the more significant musical tracks is probably “Fill Fill, a Rún” which features an exquisite solo by Éabha McMahon. This was the first time that I had the confidence to take a piece of traditional sean nós singing and arrange it in a way that allowed us to see the song clearer, to frame and magnify it in a way that elevated it beyond the lazy definition that is sometimes used to describe folk music.”

“Revelation” is the defining song on that release, a reflection of the powerlessness of humanity in the face of atrophy and the neglect of our world, with the Archangels representing the power of inspiration and art to save and inspire us from damnation. Although the piece is intensely dramatic, like much of the record I view it as a static image. “One Last Song” and “Elegy” are a pair, and the most personal statement on the release. It was a deeply emotional moment for me when my uncle John came and played harmonica on the latter and I think it has taken me many years to fully appreciate the grief hidden within these songs.

The album features two Japanese language songs, both of which colour the record in different ways. “Mononoke Hime”, written by Joe Hisaishi, is a particular favourite of mine and has a message within it about the destruction of the natural world but it is “Sakura” that most touches me. A simple arrangement it may be, but it is a study of cherry blossom in grey, a deconstruction of the traditional song that welcomes the coming of spring. It acknowledges the beauty of the flower and the passing of all things simultaneously.”

Also in 2015 Anúna gave their first performance in England in a decade as part of the London A Cappella Festival on the invitation of The Swingle Singers and Michael gave a presentation with singers from ANÚNA at ACDA National Conference at Salt Lake City, Utah in March 2015. In August the group performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, China's premiere classical music venue located in Beijing which is a sell-out.

Michael presenting at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference March 2015

London A Cappella Festival, King's Place, January 2015

National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing 2015

In 2017, ANÚNA celebrated 30 years with a series of events to mark the occasion. Highlights included a sell-out performance at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, tours of China, the Netherlands and a welcome return to Sweden to perform with long-time collaborator Linda Lampenius in Gothenburg. The group appeared again at the BBC Proms on direct link from Northern Ireland and sang a number of pieces including Michael’s “Pie Jesu” (soloist here is Andrea Delaney).

The stand-out event, however, was Takahime, a unique collaboration between ANÚNA and a Noh Theatre company in Tokyo's Orchard Hall. Involving a full Noh troupe performing in one of Japan’s most significant venues, Orchard Hall, the presentation was an enormously complex presentation and included a full score created by Michael.

“To create something that involved considerable improvisation and both interaction and sympathetic understanding of one of the highest theatrical art forms on the planet was a massive challenge. I think that this was the “coming of age” event for ANÚNA and it will remain with me as the most significant moment of my artistic career. It is a true fusion of two superficially disconnected cultures, but I think we, along with Keiko and Keita from Plankton, managed to do something truly astonishing without compromising in any way on the basic ideas of Noh or ANÚNA itself.”

ANÚNA recorded four songs written by composer Yasunori Mitsuda for the soundtrack of Xenoblade Chronicles II, one of the best known video game franchises in the world. In November 2017 Anúna released a video, created by Michael McGlynn, of the piece "Shadow of the Lowlands" which was carried on Nintendo’s YouTube channels worldwide. Speaking of his first encounter with Anúna through their album Deep Dead Blue, Mitsuda says "I felt that ANÚNA was a new type of chorus that I’d never heard before. My attention was drawn to the lead singer, Michael McGlynn, and I dreamt about making music with ANÚNA one day. After 20 years, my dream came true through the making of the game Xenoblade Chronicles II".

In February 2018 the group won the Outstanding Ensemble category of the Annual Game Music Awards 2017 for their contributions to the game.

Takahime, Orchard Hall Tokyo 2017

The year ended with the release of three limited edition CD releases, "A Christmas Selection" and "ANÚNA Selected 1987-2017" Volumes I and II. These feature over 60 remastered tracks and a number of new pieces including the monolithic "Look Away...", a 14 minute work that includes improvisation.

In February 2018 ANÚNA travelled to Tokyo to participate in four concerts with Mitsuda celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the release of the legendary video game Xenogears, also contributing new performances of songs to the soundtrack of the album. The Blu-ray of that extraordinary project was released in March 2019 in Japan by SquareEnix.

2018 also marked the first performances and recordings by the new offshoot ensemble of ANÚNA - M’ANAM. Different from ANÚNA in fundamental ways, M’ANAM has already created startling and original music that has a darker, more contemporary tone to its parent.

“When I set up ANÚNA it was to perform my own music in the way I wanted to. It is a bit of a cliché to say that the journey has been long and difficult, but nothing original that is worth anything is achieved easily. M’ANAM signals the beginning of something new, created using a pool of singers from many countries and backgrounds, coming together with different experiences and skills. ANÚNA itself is changing and developing faster now than at any stage in its existence”.

The release of ANÚNA : Collection in Autumn 2019 brought to a close a decade of change and development. The relationship of ANÚNA to choral and beyond remain relevant and powerful, with people still discovering the group for the first time in 2023. While the Covid-19 Virus has brought huge change to the world ANÚNA will persist. In December 2020 when participated in Voces8 Foundation’s “Live from London” series which has brought together the finest ensembles from around the world with a unified voice.