Lead Vocalist Annie Haslam diagnosed with serious spine injury

Philadelphia, PA – September 27

Annie Haslam, the lead singer of renowned progressive rock pioneers Renaissance, has been diagnosed with a serious vertebral compression fracture and is required to wear a Jewett Back Brace for two to three months. Her doctors have prescribed a minimum two to three week abstention from all travel. As a result, Renaissance will be forced to postpone the first nine dates of the first leg of their upcoming 2012-2013 Concert Tour.

The dates affected are:

Wednesday October 3 – Howard Theatre Washington DC
Thursday October 4 – Variety Playhouse Atlanta GA
Friday October 5 – The Plaza Live Orlando FL
Saturday October 6 – Capitol Theater Clearwater FL
Sunday October 7 – Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for Performing Arts Fort Lauderdale FL
Thursday October 11 – Le Gesu Centre Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, October 12 – Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry, NH
Saturday October 13 – Showcase Live Foxborough, MA
Sunday October 14 – Center For The Performing Arts – The Egg Albany, NY

Ms. Haslam’s specialist has advised that she may begin performing live again starting with the group’s scheduled Friday, October 19th performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield,CT. The group plans on rescheduling the cancelled shows and adding more dates in 2013.

“I am very upset about having to postpone these shows,” commented Ms. Haslam. “We’ve all been so excited about bringing our classics to the fans as well as previewing material from the new studio album Grandine il Vento.”

Renaissance recently completed mixing their first new studio album in twelve years, which is expected to be released in early 2013. The 2012 dates the band will be performing are:

**Friday October 19 – Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
**Saturday October 20 – The Concert Hall at Ethical Culture New York, NY
**Thursday, October 25 – Victoria Theater – New Jersey Performing Arts Center Newark, NJ
**Friday October 26 – Keswick Theater Glenside, PA
*Saturday, October 27 – Scottish Rite Auditorium Collingswood, NJ
*Sunday, October 28 – Strand Center for the Arts Lakewood, NJ

* Program comprising Turn Of The Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories
** Program comprising Novella in its’ entirety plus a treasure trove of favorites and debuting selections from the
new album Grandine il Vento

Thank you for your continuing support and positive energy. This has been a summer of intense focus on the composing and recording of our new album, Grandine il Vento. We’ve barely had time to come up for air, let alone enjoy the summer. That said, the journey has been magnificent and we’re now in the final stages of production; weaving in a couple of fantastic guest appearances before starting the process of mixing. To say we’re multi-tasking is an understatement!

With this said, completion of Grandine il Vento is taking longer than we had originally anticipated. In order to keep you and your ears in the loop, here is a sampler of several songs from the album. The songs in the sampler are:

Symphony of Light
Waterfall
Grandine il Vento
Cry to the World

For those of you that missed the deadline for our Kickstarter pre-purchase album campaign earlier this year, you can visit our web store and review some of the few packages that we are making available.

We are looking forward to seeing you on tour. If you haven’t purchased tickets please do so and be sure to let your friends know.

For those fans in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area, the Scottish Rite Auditorium is sold-out, but there are good seats still left for the Keswick Theater.

Once again, many thanks for your loyalty.

Love,

Annie, Michael, Rave, David, Jason, and Frank

Ray Shasho talked to the enchanting songstress of Renaissance

Renaissance is currently working on a brand new studio album entitled, Grandine II Vento. Annie Haslam charmingly performed a live excerpt from the album over the phone for me. She performed a piece from a track they wrote in tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci. The piece was powerful, poetic, beautiful, inspiring, and almost reduced me to tears (good thing Annie stopped singing when she did). The early preview convinced me that the new album will be awe-inspiring. Watch for a release date of sometime in January.

http://www.keysandchords.com/interview-annie-haslam.html

Hey everyone Michael here,

Some of you may remember that I am involved in a musical theatre project and have been for some time.

Scheherazade is a romantic thriller and an original story based very loosely on the 1001 nights as Renaissanc’ did with The Song Of Scheherazade.

My partners are Shaun McKenna who has written the book and lyrics and has had many credits for shows in the West End/TV etc.and co-composer Richard Brown who was the musical director of the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) in London and has hundreds of productions under his belt.

August 2012
Examiner.com
Ray Shasho

Renaissance is currently working on a brand new studio album entitled, Grandine II Vento. Annie Haslam charmingly performed a live excerpt from the album over the phone for me. She performed a piece from a track they wrote in tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci. The piece was powerful, poetic, beautiful, inspiring, and almost reduced me to tears (good thing Annie stopped singing when she did). The early preview convinced me that the new album will be awe-inspiring. Watch for a release date sometime in January.

Here’s my interview with legendary Renaissance songstress, songwriter, artist, fashion designer, and cancer survivor … ANNIE HASLAM.

Read complete interview at Examiner.com

August 2012
69 Faces of Rock
Mark Kadzielawa

This is truly a lavish release! Not only do you get the DVD of the show, but the soundtrack is also represented on two CDs. And let’s not forget the state of the art packaging, very informative booklet, and what not. A dream come true for a Renaissance fan, and a beautiful souvenir for everyone who attended the 2010/2011 run.

Read complete review at 69 Faces of Rock

Our Philadelphia friend and concert promoter Bill Rogers, who promoted our sold-out filmed/recorded September 23, 2011 ‘Turn Of The Cards’… ‘Scheherazade & Other Stories’ show at the Keswick Theater, has asked us to reprise the same show this October 27th at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood, New Jersey for fans that couldn’t get tickets for that performance.

There will be a ticket pre-sale available for fans this coming Monday March 5 and general availability will begin on Tuesday March 6.

Pre-sale link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0200486291D58669 – password is ‘BRE’

Stay tuned for updates about the new studio album, the tour and other goodies!

Renaissance is proud to  headline the final NEARfest on June 23 2012

Hi Everyone

My goodness, what a day Friday, September 23rd was! We arrived at the Keswick Theatre 2 hours later than scheduled due to a tire blow-out in the middle of a torrential rain storm as we made our way up from Virginia. Notwithstanding that unexpected mess, I had a lot of fun driving everyone batty as I tried out my new IPHONE 4 and video taped our soundcheck. I guess there was no better spot to shoot from than right there on stage!

Anyway, the sound check was very exciting since we (professionals, not me) were filming it and the show; lots of action in all areas!
The show was very special as were our warm very appreciative (and loud) audience.

We are releasing a special limited edition DVD/Double CD package in November, available through our website only. Oh my oh my… just in time to tuck us under your Christmas tree. We’ll keep you posted with all the details. Time for me to get back to working on the artwork, booklet and editing. Bye for now…

Love,

Annie

Good day to all.

Band, crew and equipment are neatly packed up and ready to head north today as the Turn Of The Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories tour kicks off in Vermont Saturday. Annie, Michael, Rave, Dave, Frank, and Jason are all in fine form and spirits after a very intense schedule of rehearsals.

Everyone is looking forward to this run of shows and re-connecting with longtime friends and fans. Annie and Michael commented, “We wish that we could be playing for all our fans around the world, but we’ll be feeling their love every time we take to the stage. We’ve decided to record and film the shows so we can share the evening with everyone and will look forward many more shows in 2012”.

Ticket sales have been great, and there are a still a few of the special VIP packages left.

Photo: Richard Barnes