Semshae (Heart Songs) tour

September 2010

I have already started my tour to Europe to promote Semshae - Heart Songs — a non-governmental, non-political project that was established with the immediate goal of creating a new audio recording of children's songs in Tibetan. This is my latest or I should say longest CD project for children. I will be on tour from September 4-October 25. It feels really good to promote this CD for children. I am hopeful that this project will go a long way in helping not only Tibetan children in the west and inside Tibet to learn about our culture, but also non-Tibetan children who are interested in Tibetan culture. For further information about Semshae please visit SemShae.org, and here are some photos from Belgium.

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It has been a while since I visited Europe. I think the last visit was to Switzerland on invitation from Dekyi Entertainment. It was a small gathering but a successful one given the fact that Dekyi Entertainment is an undertaking of a lone woman who is doing all she can to promote Tibetan music and also start a business to sustain Tibetan musicians. I look forward to this tour because along with Semshae CD, I will be playing music from my own CDs — something that I didn't do on my North America Tour in the summer. 

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There aren't that many Tibetans in Europe, but I know that in the past ten years the number has been increasing. It is always a difficult case for Tibetans, as we are not officially recognized as refugees. So most Tibetans have to come to this continent through their own efforts, and I really feel for all those who are working to acquire citizenship of their new country. Many work hard for their families back in India or in Tibet. I think it is our collective karma to be wanderers trying to find some sense of stability. 

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I am quite hopeful to continue the tour to Asia, mainly to India, Nepal and Bhutan. One of the main reasons is that our language inside Tibet is going through a tough time. Also in India, especially in the border regions such as Sikkim, Kalimpong and Darjeeling, and Nepal, Tibetan language is slowly being put on the back burner. I hope that the Semchae CD will help to sustain and promote Tibetan language in these areas. I am a little nervous because in that part of the world, the pop music from Bollywood and Kathmandu is so dominant that it is tough for other forms of music to get the attention they deserve. But I feel this is a good start to have a children's music.

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For those of you who have not purchased Semshae CD, I want to bring to your attention that if you purchase Semshae with two of my CDs, you will also receive a very nice cell phone string. 

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I have been thinking a lot about starting a Tibetan music school, in Nepal or India or possibly in San Francisco. I have never been much in teaching music and performing arts, but lately I felt the need to do it. Many of our elders are passing away and it is important to transmit our knowledge.

Also in the past five years, there seems to be more interest and willingness from our younger generations to learn our cultural heritage, which I think is a perfect timing. A long-term plan to start a school makes sense, but for now what I can do on this tour is to conduct workshops on singing and playing instrument. If you are interested, I will post some information on MySpace.com.

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I mentioned about doing a recording of Thoshae Nangma in one of my earlier news. So far I have recorded about ten Thoshae songs: "Gyeltsen Ri", "Dawai Shonu", "Gampa Lamo", "Ajoe Dhe", "Sharlung Dak" and a few others. But the album is not ready yes, mainly because of financial reasons. I am hopeful that I will generate some funds through online campaigns.

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I am now in Paris. Here are some photos from the recent Tibet Himalaya Festival.

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Enjoy