"A lot of people got emotional during Vande Mataram even though they did not understand the words…That is something I will never forget,” stated 16-year-old Samara Mehta Vyas who represented her school (La Martiniere for Girls), her city (Calcutta) and India when singing with the Choir of Diocese of Calcutta at The Eighth International Sacred Music Festival "Musical Edict” in Nis, Serbia on June 6, 2023. Samara rendered the patriotic song Vande Mataram solo. The Choir sang four other numbers besides Samara’s solo, she told Parsiana on her return.
Samara Mehta Vyas (at mike)
Held biennially since 2009, this year’s Festival hosted 17 choirs from 12 countries — Serbia, Spain, Italy, Germany, Palestine, Romania, Montenegro, Vatican City among others. Nis, then called Naissus, was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity.
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