October 29-November 16, 2004
Tibetan Singer/Songwriter Techung and Chemey Youdon will tour Japan with Japanese Tibetan Musician Toshi Kuga from October 29-November 16th, 2004. The concerts will feature traditional and light classical Tibetan music in temples and concert halls.
“Sergi Metok” (Golden Flower) concert is produced by Mr. Toshi Kuga who lives in New York City. Mr. Kuga is an avid Tibetan singer. He studied Tibetan music from various graduates of Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and especially with Sampho Rinpoche, who not only taught him importance of knowing how to play the dranyen but what all the lyrics of the songs meant as well. Mr. Kuga is a familiar face among Tibetans in New York and New Jersey. The concert in Japan is Mr. Kuga’s gift to Japanese music lovers to explore the Tibetan classical and traditional songs.
Techung and Chemey Youdon are former artists of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India. They studied Tibetan performing arts and later taught at the Institute and abroad. They have toured internationally with TIPA, Chaksampa and regularly as solo artists. They have also recorded several albums both as solo artists, or with others. Techung was the highlight of the biggest Tibetan music concert ever held last year, in Bylakuppee, a Tibetan settlement in South India, where over sixteen thousand gathered. Techung recently opened for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s public talk in Miami Florida and Costa Rica.
Concert Schedule:
Oct. 29, 2004 Joushin Temple, Nagoya
Nov. 1 Tenzin Yume Hall, Fukuoka
Nov. 6 Jouen Temple, Tokyo (organized by the Dalai Lama’s Office in Japan)
Nov. 7 Kampo Museum, Kyoto
Nov. 8 Kampo Hall, Kyoto
Nov. 13 Bunkagakuin, Tokyo
For further information about the tour, contact: “Toshi Kuga”
An intimate interview with Musician/Promoter Toshi Kuga
1. Tell me when and how did you get hooked to Tibetan music?
I have been hooked to Tibetan music for six years now.
I was inspired by an old photograph of a Tibetan man holding a damnyen(Tibetan lute). I was instantly drawn to the instrument, which I had never seen before. I wondered what it sounded like and what notes could be played. Now, I have learned and continue to learn how to play this wonderful instrument.
2. Why do you like Tibetan music?
I like Tibetan music because I feel connected to it somehow. In particular, I am interested in traditional Tibetan music because of what the different songs entail about the past.
3. Why and how did you come about initiating this tour?
When I was in Japan, I visited the Dalai Lama’s office. There, I showed a video of some of the Tibetan concerts I participated in. The office then suggested me to have a concert in Japan. I agreed, seeing that it would be a great opportunity for more people to learn about Tibet and its culture.
4. Tell me what do you want to accomplish from this tour?
I want to make a bridge between Japan and Tibet. I want more Japanese people to acknowledge Tibet and its current situation under China.
5. What do you think of the future of Tibetan music?
Unfortunately, I am afraid that there will be a gradual disintegration of traditional Tibetan music. Even today, I see most of the young Tibetan generation already listening solely to Western music. This is, I feel, not the fault of anyone, but the common response to American pop culture. In time, however, I hope that the importance of traditional Tibetan music will be acknowledged and, therefore, preserved.
Tashi Delek
