HBO Family and the Cobb County School District's Music Education Department to Host the Georgia Premiere of 'THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL' on Friday, May 18

HBO Family and the Cobb County School District's Music Education Department to Host the Georgia Premiere of 'THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL' on Friday, May 18

12-Year Old Marietta Resident Featured in Film to Attend Screening

Exclusive Presentation Showcasing the Profound Ways Music Can Affect Kids Is the Second in a Series from HBO Family

ATLANTA, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- HBO Family has partnered with the Cobb County School District's Music Education Department to host the invitation- only Georgia premiere of THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL on Friday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the J. Alton Keith Performing Arts Center at McEachern High School in Powder Springs. Eduardo Castrejon, a 12-year old student at Floyd Middle School, is a mariachi singer and guitarist who is featured in the film. He will be present on May 18 along with the film's executive producer, Leslie Stifelman -- currently music director for "Chicago" on Broadway. The screening will be immediately followed by special musical performances featuring Eduardo and other music students from the Cobb County School District.

Music enriches us all, and the seeds for appreciating it are planted in childhood. THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL, which debuts on HBO on June 16 at 7:15 p.m. (ET/PT), profiles young musicians around the country from different musical and cultural traditions -- including Eduardo who lives in Marietta, Georgia. The second installment in a three-part series, the show provides a fresh look at the many ways music can have a vital, profound impact on young lives.

HBO decided to partner with the Cobb County School District on the May 18 premiere because of the District's commitment to providing music programs as part of their curriculum. The Cobb County School District was recently named among the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education in America" in a survey sponsored by The NAMM Foundation and its American Music Conference division.

THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL vividly conveys the passion each child feels for music, whether playing at a family celebration or before an audience. Ranging in ages from nine to 12 at the time of filming, the seven featured musicians began playing early and never stopped. The seven children featured in the special are:

Neidin, age 11, from Pearl River, NY - a tin whistle player who learned to play from her mother and sisters. Neidin plays in a traditional Irish band with other kids her age. She says, "When I'm playing Irish music it makes me think of my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandfather. And I'm like, God, I wish I was in Ireland now."

Tony, 10, Pembroke Pines, FL - a talented jazz pianist who makes a guest appearance on a local radio station. On his love of jazz, Tony says, "To me, jazz is like vital. If you need medicine to live, jazz is my medicine."

Maddie, 11, Murfreesboro, TN - a fiddle player who carries on the musical tradition of her grandfather, a guitarist and fiddler. Maddie travels to Idaho for the national fiddle contest and festival, where she makes it past the first round to face her stiffest competition -- the 12-year-old champion from the previous year.

Eduardo, 10, Marietta, GA - a mariachi singer and guitarist. Eduardo, who is called "the littlest mariachi", learns songs from his godmother and says, "I want to keep Mexican music in my heart and in my singing."

Roy, 11, Brooklyn, NY - a classical composer who performs an original piece he wrote for the ukulele and cello with 11-year-old cellist, John. Roy says, "I want my music to make people feel like they've been on a journey. Like they went somewhere."

Ashley and Julia, ages 12 and 9, two cancer survivors who play piano at Target House, a long-term family residence of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Julia, diagnosed at age 7, finds therapy in music, saying "Playing the piano with my sister, it makes me forget the pain and feeling sick." And Ashley, who first got cancer at age 2 and again at 10, says, "It's nice if you can find something good like playing the piano. Because then you can feel like you can be strong enough to deal with the cancer."

Other specials in the series include, "The Leopards Take Manhattan: The Little Band That Roared," and "The Music in Me: Children's Recitals from Classical to Latin, Jazz to Zydeco" which was recently named one of 35 recipients of the prestigious Peabody Award of 2007.

THE MUSIC IN ME: A FAMILY SPECIAL is produced by Diane Kolyer; executive producer, Leslie Stifelman; co-producer, Beth Aala; editor, Andrew Morreale. For HBO: Production Executive: Susan Benaroya; Supervising Producer: Dolores Morris; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins. Producer Diane Kolyer's HBO credits include the Emmy(r)-winning "Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me," the Emmy(r)-nominated "Rosie O'Donnell's Kids Are Punny" and the interstitial series "My Favorite Book." Executive producer Leslie Stifelman is music director of the Tony- and Grammy-winning Broadway musical "Chicago," as well as the creative force behind Symfunny Toons, Inc., a company dedicated to the development of television and interactive products for children to learn about music. Co-producer Beth Aala's HBO credits include the recent Emmy(r) winner "I Have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me."

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Source: HBO

CONTACT: Valerie Harris, +1-404-966-2445, for HBO

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