The Nippon Foundation has released a music video with more than 40 artists with disabilities from 15 countries and regions, bringing messages of hope, positivity, and inclusivity, says an article published on their website.
Artists with disabilities
The Nippon Foundation released a music video in which 46 artists with disabilities from 15 countries and regions perform an updated rendition of “Stand By Me,” the classic Ben E. King hit.
The video may be the first to feature such an international line-up of artists with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How and where was it filmed?
The 4-minute video was filmed collaboratively but remotely in each artist’s home. It is a message of hope, positivity, and inclusivity from the artists to the global community of people with disabilities.
It is an event of the True Colors Festival, created by the Foundation in its commitment to building a more inclusive and caring global society.
The geographically diverse line-up of performers spans many styles and genres, from a cappella to rap, jazz to classical, and ballet to breakdancing.
About the participants
Few participants are listed below:
- Rapper Signmark (Finland), the first Deaf artist in the world to be signed to a major record label,
- Warner Music;
- Sparsh Shah (United States), 17-year-old child prodigy, performer, speaker, and social media sensation;
- Caliph Buskers (Malaysia), an award-winning pop band of visually impaired vocalists and instrumentalists;
- members of Drake Music Scotland, the world’s first disabled youth orchestra that makes music with digital instruments;
- members of world renowned street dance crew, ILL-ABILITIES™ (represented by members from Canada and Holland);
- rapper, composer and music producer Wheelsmith (Singapore), who performed in Singapore’s 2019 National Day Parade;
- singer Aliènette Coldfire (Philippines), who placed third in the 2016 edition of France’s Got Talent; and Yusuke Anazawa (Japan), a blind virtuoso jazz violinist.
The video also features Amber Galloway Gallego (United States), who provides the sign language interpretation of the song, and specializes in interpreting concerts and music festivals into sign language.
Bring people together
Founder of ILL-ABILITIES™, Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli says:
“We are currently all in a similar situation globally, we face lots of struggle and uncertainty about what the future will hold. By participating in a project like this, we hope to bring people together and inspire us all to stand by one another, no matter what obstacle comes our way.”
Rapper Sparsh Shah
“I absolutely love the fact that I get to work on this project with more than 40 other specially-abled musicians worldwide! This project is, for me, proof of the extraordinary power that technology has to bring us humans together, regardless of who and where we are in the world. I could not be more blessed to live at this point of history to be able to do such work!”
Dr. Sydney Tan
Dr. Sydney Tan, Creative Producer & Director of the music video says, “It has been a wonderful privilege to work with these artists, who jumped in and gave their time and talent at short notice. Even coming from different geographical regions, cultures, languages and genres, the performances exhibit a unity of purpose and conviction in communicating the message of commitment to stand by one another.”
Stand with people with disabilities
According to the United Nations, more than 1 billion people – 15% of the world’s population – have some form of disability. Even without the global pandemic, people with disabilities face discrimination in terms of having access to education, employment, information, and communication.
Self-isolation is impossible
At the time of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the difficulties they faced intensified. For some, having compromised immune systems makes them much more vulnerable to infection. For others, self-isolation is an impossibility. Stay-home orders means that home support, along with basic services, may become unavailable.
Calming routines and daily interactions with the outside world are gone, leading to disorientation and stress. There are also instances where frontline medical personnel deprioritize treating people with certain disabilities.
Disability-inclusive recovery and response
At the May 6, 2020, launch of a policy brief calling for a disability-inclusive recovery and response to the COVID-19 crisis, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to place people with disabilities at the core of COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, and to work toward creating more inclusive and accessible societies.
The “Stand By Me” music video aims to serve as a catalyst to raise awareness about this situation, while presenting a gathering of talented artists performing a well-loved song in a music video that will connect people everywhere.
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Source: Nippon Foundation
