by Jackie Cameron
Tenor singer-songwriter Andrea Bocelli is taking time out of his world tour to attend this year’s World Economic Forum gathering in Switzerland. After concerts in Latvia and Lithuania, and just before he heads off to Finland and then the US, Bocelli is popping into Davos to collect an award for his contribution to humanity. He will also perform at a Special Concert Performance on Tuesday 20 January.
Davos delegates are in for a treat. Bocelli is among the world’s most popular music artists, selling more than 80m albums worldwide. He has sung Werther, La Bohème, L’amico Fritz, Madame Butterfly, the Verdi Requiem and Tosca live and has, controversially, included pop albums.
He is not afraid of criticism that his pop ballads compromise his reputation as a classical music specialist. The performer told classicfm.com: “Not everybody can do this, just as not everybody can speak two languages. When I’m singing an opera recording I sing for
the people who are furthest from the stage, 30 or 40 metres away from me. When I sing a song, I pretend I am singing into the ear of a child.”
Bocelli, visually impaired from birth and blind since the age of 12, is a recipient of the World Economic Forum’s prestigious Crystal Award, which honours artists who use their talents and energy for a social cause. His Andrea Bocelli Foundation, established in 2010, has been involved in anti-poverty campaigns, including in Haiti where it has helped supply clean water and cover schools’ running costs. It is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a device that will enable blind and low-vision people to move more freely.
Love is Bocelli’s primary motivation in his philanthropic endeavours. He says: “I strongly believe that love does justice. And it is for this simple reason that we are all responsible for building a better world. The amazing lives we have been gifted, offer us the privilege, opportunity and responsibility to give the less fortunate a better future and opportunities.”
In conjunction with BrightRock, we have taken to sharing the stories from our recently published World Economic Forum starter pack PDF, ‘A Veterans Guide to Surviving Davos’ with you – Follow the link to download the full document.
