BMI BRINGS MUSIC TO THE MOUNTAINS AT 2006 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
4th Annual Songwriters Snowball to Feature Performances by Michael Penn, Van Hunt, Josh Rouse and Cary Brothers

BMI, the U.S. performing rights organization representing more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, will host its fourth annual Songwriters Snowball showcase on Wednesday, January 25 from 6pm to 8:30pm. The acoustic, singer/songwriter showcase, featuring Michael Penn, Van Hunt, Josh Rouse and Cary Brothers, will be held at the Sundance House at the Kimball Art Center (638 Park Avenue). The Snowball is an official 2006 Sundance Film Festival event and is open to festival badge holders, press passes and invited guests only; tickets will not be sold.

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 19-28 in Park City, Utah. BMI has supported the Festival's film music program for more than 15 years, and plays an active role in the Sundance Composers Lab held each summer at the Sundance Institute. For more information on BMI events at Sundance as well as on-site coverage of the Festival, please visit bmi.com/sundance.

As part of BMI's goal to focus attention on the role of music in film, this year's Songwriters Snowball will feature four unique artists whose voices and vision complement that of the filmmakers showcased at the Festival. Performers include Southern California singer/songwriter Cary Brothers (Garden State soundtrack) at 6pm, Bedroom Classics/Nettwerk Music Group recording artist Josh Rouse at 6:30pm, Grammy nominee and Capitol Records artist Van Hunt at 7pm, and Mimeograph recording artist Michael Penn at 7:30pm.

The Sundance Film Festival is the premier showcase for U.S. and international independent film. Held each January in and around Park City, Utah, the Festival is a core program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit cultural organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Presenting 120 dramatic and documentary feature-length films in seven distinct categories, and 80 short films each year, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced American audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades, including American Splendor, Clerks, Hustle and Flow, Maria Full of Grace, Napoleon Dynamite, sex, lies and videotape, Smoke Signals, and Super Size Me. Beyond the streets of Park City, the official Website of the Sundance Film Festival, http://www.sundance.org, shares the Festival experience with a global audience through the streaming of short films, filmmaker interviews, and current news and box office information.

Now marking its 65th year in business, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. With a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world, the non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.