Canadian singer/composer Loreena McKennitt is self-managed, self-produced, and the head of her own internaionally successful record label, Quinlan Road. In a recording career spanning nearly two decades, McKennitt's "eclectic" music has won critical acclaim and multiple sales awards in North and South America, Europe and Australasia.

Born in the province of Manitoba, Canada, Loreena moved to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1981, where she still resides. She has acted and sung in, and composed music for Stratford Festival of Canada productions ranging from The Tempest (1982) to The Merchant of Venice (2001).

Her recording career began in 1985 with the album Elemental. In the fledgling years of her label Quinlan Road, Loreena ran its operations from her kitchen table, selling recording by mail order and producing her own concert tours across the country. Quinlan Road's catalogue is currently distributed around the world by Warner Music (US), Universal Music (Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain) and a number of independents including Keltia Music (France) and SPV (Germany).

Loreena continues to manage her career from her Stratford base. An active member of her community, she has founded and oversees important charitable undertakings in the fields of water safety and family/childhood support services.

Record Sales

- 13 million albums sold worldwide, to date, over a catalogue spanning seven studio recordings and one double live CD.
- Canadian sales awards include one five-times platinum certification for sales of over 500,000 copies (The Visit), two four-times platinum certifications for sales over 400,000 copies (The Mask And Mirror, The Book Of Secrets), and four gold certifications for sales of over 50,000 copies (Elemental, To Dirve The Cold Winter Away, Parallel Dreams, A Winter Garden: Five Songs For The Season).
- US sales awards include one double-platinum certification for sales of over two million copies for The Book Of Secrets, whose success was led by the radio-driven Top 20 Billboard success of hit single "The Mummer's Dance", which would go on to meet similar success worldwide. US sales awards also include two platinum certifications for sales of over one million copies (The Mask And Mirror, The Visit).
- Gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in Australia, New Zealand, Brazill, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey.

Composition And Music Use For Theatre And Film

- Original music for the Merchant of Venice, The Stratford Festival of Canada, 2001.
- Original music für the National Film Board of Canada Studio D documentary series Women And Spirituality, 1985 - 1989.
- Film soundtrack contributions include Hollywood productions Highlander III and The Santa Clause, Jean-Claude Lauzon's feature film Léolo and the Canadian/Venezuelan feature film Una Casa Con Vista Al Mar.
- Television soundtrack use includes TNT's epic miniseries The Mists Of Avalon (2001), Due South Northern Exposure.

Awards And Honours

- Juno Award, Best Roots/Traditional Album 1992, for The Visit.
- Juno Award, Best Roots/Traditional Album 1994, for The Mask And The Mirror.
- Billboard International Archievment Award, 1997.
- Headline performer for HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Province of Manitoba, 2002.
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2002.
- Order of Manitoba, July 2003.
- Member of the Order of Canada, July 2004.

Charitable Enterprises

- Founded The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety in 1998 and helmed a fundraising drive that has to date raised nearly $4,000,000 Canadian for the Fund's initiatives in the fields of water safety education, research and support for water search and recovery units acorss the country. A major portion of the money raised for the CRMF came from sales of the Loreena McKennitt recording, Live In Paris And Toronto.
- Donated monies raised by sales of Live In Paris And Toronto in Turkey and Greece to the Red Crescent Turkey (Earthquake Relief Fund) and the Hellenic Red Cross (Earthquake Relief and Peparedness Fund) respectively.
- Purchased the Falstaff School in Stratford in 2000 and, in 2002, founded the Falstaff Family Centre, which houses and offers facilities to a number of volunteer and not-for-profit community anf family groups.
- Founder of the Three Oaks Foundation, a charitable body which gives money to cultural, environmental, historical and social groups.
- Major donor to multipurpose arts facility The Discover Centre in Stratford, Ontario, and named a floor there in honour of First Nations poet E. Pauline Johnson.

Diskography

Elemental (1985),
To Drive The Cold Winter Away (1987), Parallel Dreams (1989),
The Visit (1991),
The Mask And The Mirror (1994),
A Winter Garden: Five Songs For The Season (1995),
The Book Of Secrets (1997),
Live in Paris And Toronto (1999).

For more information please contact:

Quinlan Road, PO Box 933, Stratford, Ontario, Canada N5A 7M3
press@quinlanroad.com
http://www.quinlanroad.com