Welcome to the new website

 

June 2009

 

Dear friends,

 

Thank you for visiting my new website. I want to thank my friend, Frederikke Tu, and her husband, Timothy Tu, for building this website. We met each other through the Internet. Frederikke designed a computer animated peace message for Tibet and she wanted to use a piece of my music. Check out her work at Ojolie.com. In return I asked for her help to design my site and now it is here. I am very excited!

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Now that I have the website up, I am able to share my music, projects and tours with you. To start with, I was thrilled that my new band Lhasa Spirits and I were able to perform at Carnegie Hall last February. Michel Tyabji, Kitto Rodrequez, and Bryan Valesco are professional musicians and kind human beings. We are heading to Nevada City in California next month to work on our first album together. We will be working at the For-Site artist residence which is run by Cheryl Haines and her board members. This is a very unique location where some of the world's most renowned artists, including Andy Goldworthy, have done residencies. After this we will be heading to the Buddhist republic of Kalmykia to participate in the "Ocean of Compassion" festival to celebrate its 400th anniversary of joining Russia. We might do a small concert in Moscow too. We are also planning a fall tour in North America, Asia and Europe. Please stay tuned for this tour. 

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By the time you read this news, I should have mixed my long-awaited Tibetan children's music album, Semshae: Songs from the Heart. I am happy to let you know that I was able to raise enough funds to compose, record and master this CD. The album will include children singers from McLeod Ganj (India) TCV day school, popular Tibetan teenage singer Tenzin Kunsel, ex-TIPA artist Sherap Wangmo, and my daughters. The album will be out in the fall.

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Last year I had an extensive tour in Japan, sponsored by Ray-Light-Japan. They have created a wonderful website in support of my music and Tibetan culture. If you find a minute please take a look at the fantastic website they have created at Ray-Light.net

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My Songs Nominated

 

2009 Just Plain Folks music award nominations were announced recently. I wasn't expecting to be nominated because I didn't have my own new album this past year. However, the good news is that I was part of a live recording of an annual TibetFest festival in Connecticut. The recording was later turned into an album titled "Tibet Fest". The album got nominated in the Asian Album Nominees, and two of my songs in the album are also nominated under the A Cappella Performance Nominees and Asian Song Nominees. The award ceremony will take place in Nashville, Tennessee, the Mecca of country music, on August 29th and I am heading to the ceremony with my manager/percussionist Michel Tyabji. Check out the JPfolks website at JPFolks.com. 

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There are several documentary films that have used my music and I am proud to introduce these films:

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Blind Sight

 

Blind Sight is a film about blind children in Tibet who, with the inspiration and support from friends, climb a mountain in Tibet. The film has received countless reviews and awards. The film is now on DVD. Check out their site at BlindSightTheMovie.com.

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Dalai Lama Renaissance

 

The film is about His Holiness the Dalai Lama and some of the world's renowned thinkers, discussing the future of humanity. The film also received some great press and it is now available on DVD. Check out their website DalaiLamaFilm.com.

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Dalai Lama Renaissances Soundtrack Album

 

At the edge of the millennium, the Dalai Lama invited 40 leading thinkers to his residence in Dharamshala, India, to discuss the World's problems and how we can solve them. What happened was surprising and unexpected.

This Soundtrack CD features teachings from the Dalai Lama and narration by Harrison Ford, taken from the film and set to original music from Techung, Roop Verma, and others. Hear it at MySpace.com/dalailamasoundtrack

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Fire Under the Snow

 

This is a film about the Venerable Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan monk and freedom fighter. The Chinese government imprisoned Palden for 33 years and later released him because of international pressure. The film shows a monk's struggle for freedom and his challenging of the Chinese government through prayer and strength. More at FireUnderTheSnow.com

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Lastly I want to thank all of you who have been supporting the human rights and freedom struggle in my country. Please continue with whatever small thing you are doing and most importantly do not give up on our freedom struggle. My band and I feel the same we will be working on a new album followed by a fall world tour. 

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On this occasion of starting my website, my 87-year-old father suggested that July 16 is an auspicious date according to the Tibetan astrology, I would like to give out three DVDs of our concert in Taipei, Taiwan. The DVD would be send as gift to the first, fifteenth, and thirtieth people who join our mailing list. 

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Thu Je Che!

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Thank you,

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Techung