Music stars from around the world performed the UAE national anthem, ‘Ishy Balady’ to mark the 48th anniversary of the country’s formation.
Put together by the team behind Expo 2020 Dubai, the two-minute video begins with the strains of oud music in the UAE before criss-crossing the globe to bring together a diverse array of musicians including Chinese pianist and producer Corsak, Indian slide guitarist Niki Mukhi, British trumpeter Paul Spong and Saudi multi-instrumentalist Hatoon Idrees, alongside individual artists from the Norwegian State Orchestra, Russia’s Minski Theatre and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. A choir of schoolchildren from Raffles World Academy provide the vocal accompaniment to the track.
Locations featured in the video include the Dubai desert, the Taj Mahal in India, the fjords of Norway, Rizal Park in Manila, as well as major world metropolises such as London and Shanghai.
Led by Oscar-shortlisted Emirati director Nahla Al Fahad, the film reflects Expo 2020 Dubai’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and how the The World’s Greatest Show — the first World Expo in the region — will bring together 192 nations when it opens on October 20, 2020.
Last year, the same team created ‘Orchestra of the World’ video, which connected musicians from 190 countries for a desert performance of the UAE national anthem.
Musicians featured in this video are:
— UAE: Raffles World Academy Choir
— UAE: Salah Al Yaseri
— Trinidad & Tobago: Justin Javier Moreno
— China: Corsak
— Norway: Ingrid Mæland
— India: Niki Muhki
— Russia: Denis Sergeevich
— UK: Toby Coles
— Saudi Arabia: Hatoon Idrees
— Saudi Arabia: Rami Mozain
— Philippines: Madeline Jane Banta
— Nigeria: Michael Akinbove
