Sarah Brightman – Space Traveler for UNESCO

Sarah Brightman, the UNESCO Artist for Peace and world-famous soprano, announced today that she will travel to the International Space Station after her next world tour – and use the opportunity to promote the work of UNESCO. Both the tour and her next album will be called Dreamchaser. “It’s so important for people to follow their dreams,” said Brightman.

“I’ve wanted to travel into space ever since I saw Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon when I was a little girl.”

At a news conference in Moscow, Brightman said she would use the occasion to promote the work of UNESCO, especially girls’ education and the use of science for sustainable development. She is planning a chain of events from space that will give visibility to UNESCO’s work on earth – including music and multimedia as well as the first performance by a professional musician from the International Space Station. Brightman’s goal is to involve as many people as possible, creating dreamchasers from all walks of life who will work together to create a sustainable future for the planet.

“I don’t think of myself as a dreamer. Rather, I am a dream chaser,” said Brightman. “I hope that I can encourage others to take inspiration from my journey both to chase down their own dreams and to help fulfill the important UNESCO mandate to promote peace and sustainable development on earth and from space.”

She sees life on board the Space Station, which requires the shared consumption of resources and a focus on sustainability, as a model for how people might better inhabit earth.

The mission is being organized in partnership with Space Adventures Ltd and the Federal Space Agency of Russia. After she finishes her world tour, Brightman will go through an intense training programme. Then she will blast off in a Soyuz rocket with two fellow space travelers and spend eight days at the International Space Station. The mission will be scheduled for some time in 2014.

Sarah Brightman is the world’s best-known soprano. She has sold more than 30 million records since her 1981 debut in the West End production of Cats. Credited with creating the Classical Crossover genre, she has popularized operatic singing for the general public.