Earth Anthem: Poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar has brought laurels to his native Bihar state as popular Italian opera singer Maria Novella Malfattti lent her voice to Eart Anthem penned by him at Amsterdam on June 7.
It was for the first time when Earth Anthem penned by Mr Kumar was performed in Europe by Italian opera singer and musicians of the Amsterdam Van Conservatorium at the Amsterdam Business Gala Awards. It was conducted by Dimitri Van ZR and Ursula Van ZR, which award good societal and entrepreneurial stewardship.
“The organisations are nominated by the independent jury and are all judged on the societal footprint they leave behind in The Netherlands and beyond. It was therefore more than logical that we premiered the Earth Anthem on our stage for the first time in Europe,” said Dimitri Van ZR speaking on the occasion.
Earth Anthem was penned by Indian poet-diplomat in 2008 in St. Petersburg, Russia after he watched ‘Blue Marble’, an image of the planet taken from the space.
The music for Earth Anthem was composed in 2013 by the musician Sapan Ghimire and was released in New Delhi on the occasion of the World Environment Day. The event was organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Since then, the anthem has been translated into more than 30 languages and has been put to music by Dr. L. Subramaniam and sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy.
It was performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Brasilia in February 2018. Mr. Van ZR translated it into Dutch.
UNESCO has lauded the initiative describing it an inspiring idea that can help bring the world together. It has also received support from Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winning director Shyam Benegal, actress Manisha Koirala and organisations such as Habitat for Humanity and IUCN.
Addressing the gathering through a video message, poet Abhay Kumar said, “From wherever we are, we have our planet in common and we can come together to sing an Earth Anthem”.
Speaking on the occasion, Italian soprano Maria Novella Malfatti said —”It was a huge pleasure to sing the Earth Anthem, for the first time on the stage of Amsterdam RAI together with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. It was one of the most exciting moments of my career and I was very honoured to have been chosen to be part of this historical moment for the Amsterdam Business Awards 2019”.
“As singer, I can say that singing this piece before huge gathering was absolutely inspiring. It is real Anthem of ‘Love and Peace’. I was really impressed about how much the audience was participating, focused and deeply involved in the words of the Anthem.”
