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Planet Mars has an anthem – and it’s been written by a musician from Mumbai.

Rise to Mars (video above) sung by Mumbai-born opera star Oscar Dom Victor Castellino, accompanied by the Royal Welsh RepCo Sinfonia, had a spectacular premiere in Cardiff, Wales, recently. The premiere performance of the anthem was arranged for orchestra by Cambridge composer James Welland. The composition makes a strong case for “the power of human enterprise” to strive to make the Red Planet a home for the future generations.

Here are some of the lyrics:

Rise to Mars! Men and women
Dare to dream! Dare to strive!
Build a home for our children
Make this desert come alive!
There are challenges before our eyes
That nature never knew
But the power of human enterprise
Shall take us through and through!  

Rise to Mars has been named the new Mars Anthem by The Mars Society. “I would not at all be surprised if it someday became the national anthem of the Free Martian Republic,” said Dr Robert Zubrin, the President of the Mars Society, who co-wrote the song with Castellino. The anthem will also be performed during the Annual International Mars Society Convention in September at the University of California Irvine.

Castellino is an alumnus of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, where he studied physics. “My physics background and curiosity got me in touch with Dr Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and also driving force behind the ‘Mars Direct’ design that NASA adapted for its Mars mission,” he told The Times of India. After studying software engineering, he found his true calling in singing when the Mumbai-born British soprano Patricia Rozario discovered his talent.

Castellino will also be performing Il Matrimonio Segreto, an Italian opera, at the Royal Opera House, Mumbai.