British musical/pop singer Sarah Brightman
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday designated British crossover style performer Sarah Brightman as the "Artist for Peace."
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova presented the certificate of the "Artist for Peace" for 2012-2014 to Brightman "in recognition of her commitment to humanitarian causes, her contribution throughout her artistic career to the promotion of cultural dialogue and her dedication to the ideas of our organization."
At the nomination ceremony held in the organization's Paris-based headquarters, Bokova highly commented the achievements made by this global record artist, whose music inspired people and strengthened "the ties between all of us."
The UNESCO chief noted that Brightman was the only singer who had been invited twice to perform at Olympic Games, first in 1992 in Barcelona where she sang "Amigos Para Siempre" with Spanish tenor Jose Carreras, and 16 years later at Beijing Olympic Games where she was joined by Chinese singer Liu Huan for the Games' theme song "You and Me."
"You (Brightman) have brought the power of music to audiences all over the world, creating new bridge of understanding and respect among the people," Bokova added.
Brightman said the designation opened for her a whole new world of possibilities.
She said she would use what she had learned from her professional life to help achieve UNESCO ideas and aims, by dedicating herself to the protection of the existing world heritage, reinforcing cultural diversity through the engagement of musicians performances around the world, fighting for the equal rights for women and cultural minorities as well as promoting literacy.
"These are among the areas which excite me and I want to help make difference," the British singer said.
Born in 1960 in England, Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She has developed her own crossover style, combining different musical genres and traditions in albums such as Timeless, Eden, La Luna, and Harem.
Her musical talent has won her more than 180 gold and platinum awards in more than 40 countries.
As one of the world's few artists to top both pop and classical music charts, Brightman has millions of fans around the world, and has become more popular in China in recent year following her performance at the Beijing Olympic Games.
"I would like to visit China. I love it. I always want to say thank you so much for being so wonderful to me in China. I enjoy my work and everybody is very kind to me and helpful. It is a fascinating country and so diverse," Brighman told Xinhua at the end of the ceremony.
