Ricky Kej's new anthem version breaks records with 14,000 tribal children and renowned musicians

Ricky Kej

Three-time Grammy award-winning musician and environmentalist Ricky Kej has created another rendition of the national anthem, this time in collaboration with legendary instrumentalists and 14,000 tribal children.

Ricky's project aims to foster an ecosystem of music appreciators. He said, "Legendary musicians performed the melody for this project. This is something I wanted to do after last year's orchestra version."

LARGEST SINGING LESSON WITH 14,000 KIDS

This marks the fourth version of the National Anthem that Ricky has produced. "Last year, I created an anthem with the British Symphony. This year, I decided to build on that by recording an anthem with legendary instrumentalists and a choir of 14,000 children from tribal communities in Bhubaneswar, using the orchestra as the base," he explained. The choir was recorded by Ricky in collaboration with educationist Achyuta Samanta, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Ricky conducted a brief music lesson with all the children, teaching them Sa Re Ga Ma, rhythm, and scale, setting a new Guinness World Record for the 'Largest Singing Lesson.' He emphasized, "When the tribal students sang along with me, it was a powerful moment."

Ricky highlighted the significance of creating informed music appreciators. "What's more important is that they become better music appreciators. If we have an entire ecosystem of music appreciators who know a bit about music and are interested in it, musicians won't feel the need to constantly dumb down their work, thinking no one will understand it. When you have informed music appreciators, the art form is elevated. That's what I hope happens with these 14,000 kids," he stated.

RICKY'S FOUR VERSIONS OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

All versions of Ricky's national anthem have been released on Independence Day:

1.The first one was in 2014 for the Paris Climate Change Conference.

2.In 2022, another version was sung by refugees living in India from Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.

3.Last year's version was in collaboration with the British Philharmonic Orchestra.

4.This year's version features legendary musicians and a choir of 14,000 tribal students.

Ricky's collaborators for this project include bansuri maestros Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Rakesh Chaurasia, sarod maestros Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, santoor maestro Rahul Sharma, veena maestro Jayanthi Kumaresh, virtuoso Carnatic percussionist Giridhar Udupa, and nadaswaram maestros Sheik Mahaboob Subhani and Kaleeshabi Mahaboob.

This ambitious project stands as a testament to the power of music to unite and inspire, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of India.