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First Christmas CD from the Muslim World Scheduled for Inter-continental Media Tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
wwwShawnRae.com

South Florida, USA (December 2009) -- Shawn Rae will depart Dec.13 for a unique over a month-long international media tour in connection with the just pre-released CD, A World Christmas, Love Knows No Borders.

It is a rarity for an artist from the Muslim world to record a collection of Christmas classics. And even more so to personally introduce the CD in England, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and other counties and cities to be announced.

This odyssey will take Shawn from Miami to London, the Vatican, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Riyadh and Dubai; then to Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in Pakistan and others.

As the climate and geography change, through the season of Hanukkah, Christmas and the dawn of 2010, Shawn also will reunite some elements of his own rich cultural heritage: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and Chinese.

Shawn was born in a valley of the Himalayas, and chose to live in the United States as a young man. Educated both in the West and the East, he has been a U.S. citizen for more than 20 years. This trans-hemispheric consciousness drives all of his endeavors:

“I am living proof that, despite outward appearances, superficial disparities and even core differences, the majority of human beings share a common bond that overrides race, caste or creed.”

The impetus for A World Christmas, Love knows No Borders was an international incident of no small portent, when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Pope Benedict XVI met face-to-face at the Vatican two years ago for a "Dialogue". Over 460 world organizations, since then, have endorsed this unprecedented exchange, of the possibility that Islam and Christianity were acknowledging common ground.

Shawn, being born and raised in the Muslim world, was asked to record the holiday album, and to do it with a truly global team. The result was that Christians, Jews and Muslims worked side-by-side to create A World Christmas, Love Knows No Borders. The 2010 Christmas CD was pre-released in November. It is available on iTunes, at Amazon.com, and at www.ShawnRae.com.

Shawn Rae
A World Christmas
“Love Knows No Borders”
CD Review
By Stephanie Murphy

Hopeful hearts everywhere paused in awe near the winter solstice two years ago when the Pope welcomed the King of Saudi Arabia to the Vatican.

Had two mountains moved, just to show a weary world they could?

The portent of that promising summit spurred Shawn Rae toward a musical gesture of gratitude.

A holiday album from the Muslim world may seem an unlikely overture. Born near the Himalayas, with Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Chinese forebears, Shawn Rae chose to live in America in the 1970s.

Gathering a cross-cultural team of musicians, writers, technicians, vocalists -- and celebrated music arranger Charles Calello -- Shawn aimed for a musical treasure for listeners of any faith.

His engaging baritone conjures the sunny-snowy-starry moods of Yule settings everywhere: cherished families, lovers and friends, giddy romance, heady dreams, longing, anticipation, joy and hope.

Calello’s genius shines in lush strings, whimsical flutes, bold horns, playful bells and tinkling chimes. Swinging ballads and nostalgic rhythms prance their way into the happy mix.

My Grown-Up Christmas List conveys a hopeful ideal dear to Shawn: “No more lives torn apart … wars that never start … right would always win … and love would never end.”

He sings light-hearted Feliz Navidad in English and Spanish, as background voices echo the merry message in Hebrew, Arabic, French, Greek, Iraqi, Urdu, Italian, and Chinese.

Listen to A World Christmas (www.ShawnRae.com), and you just might hear yourself.

About the Reviewer:

Stephanie Murphy has over two decades of experience as a columnist, reporter and editor with major newspapers and magazines. She has interviewed numerous entertainers, actors, authors, comedians, business leaders and politicians. Some of her interview subjects include: Sophia Loren, Henry Mancini, Bill Gates, Donna Summer, Jack Nicklaus, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dr. Benjamin Spock, William F. Buckley Jr., Art Buchwald, F. Lee Bailey, President Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Dr. Jean Houston, psychologist, author of “Life-Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of Self”, Arthur Laffer, the infamous “Laffer Curve” supply-side economist.