Moved to Atlanta
July 2011
I have moved to Atlanta, Georgia. I will be teaching a Tibetan music ensemble at the Emory University in the fall. The Emory Tibetan Music Ensemble, which started during my Artist-in-Residency program this spring, is an addition to Emory University's existing roster of South Indian, Chinese, and Korean ensembles. Given all the regular studies the students had to undertake, they learned it well and did a nice presentation at the end of the spring semester. I taught them the famous Gorshae Gya Chag Riwo, where they learned to play Dramnyen (long-neck Tibetan lute), singing, and dancing. This kind of inspired professor Tong Soon Lee, the head of the World Music Department, to include the Tibetan Music ensemble as an ongoing project. This is by no means a full-time or official university lecturer post for me, but I am grateful that I get to play a role in enriching the world music in Atlanta.
My eldest daughter Yangchen Lhamo, 19, helped me drive across the country. Summer just started and the drive was not too bad. We drove through Arizona, New Mexico (there the barometer went up to 110 F and our air conditioning didn't work!), Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and then to Atlanta. It is wonderful to be back again in the South. I hope to adapt to the weather and the culture here soon.
I am supposed to release my Nangma and Toshae, classical Tibetan music CD, but because of hectic moving and relocation process, I am unable to finish it. I hope it will be out in the fall. Meanwhile, my next two concerts are in DC on July 6 to celebrate His Holiness' Birthday, and a major Freedom Concert "LONGSHO" in NY on August 20th organized by SFT.
Another new project that is coming up is by a fellow Tibetan filmmaker, Mr. Tashi Wangchuk, who had directed several Tibetan films. Under his Tibet Motion Picture and Arts, he is planning to make a half-hour documentary film about my children's music project. Tashi helped me to come up with a ten-minute Semshae video tour report recently, which inspired him to work on a longer documentary. Please read about the project here.
Tashi is currently raising funds for this documentary film. Please consider making a donation to this project as it will spread the message of Tibetan music and culture preservation to a wider audience. All donations will be processed by the Bay Area Friends of Tibet, which is a non-profit tax-exempt organization based in San Francisco. Please visit their website at Friends-of-Tibet.org. If you have any ideas where Tashi can submit this project, do email us.
Thanks and happy summer to all.
Techung
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