Yungchen Lhamo
Since her pilgrimage on foot from her beloved
homeland of Tibet, Yungchen Lhamo has emerged as
the world's leading Tibetan vocalist. Her haunting performances
have enchanted audiences in more than 70 countries and
have garnered critical praise worldwide. Her music
has been described as “brilliant” (The New Yorker),
“sublime” (Rolling Stone), and “spine-tingling”
(The Times, London); she has been called “angel-voiced”
(Newsweek) and praised for her “pristine, gliding
vocal lines” (The New York Times).
Having recently returned from another extended pilgrimage,
Yungchen is now back on stage, and audiences can revel
in her music once again. Through her arresting songs--which
explore Buddhist themes of spiritual pilgrimage, soul
searching, and a delight in the natural environment as
well as peace, forgiveness, and finding one's own
beliefs--she hopes to share Tibet’s rich cultural
heritage and the innate grace and goodness of the Tibetan
people with the rest of the world. Following the
1995 release of her breakthrough album, Tibetan Prayer,
which won the ARIA Award (Australia’s equivalent
of the Grammy Award), Yungchen was signed to Peter Gabriel's
prestigious Real World Records label and has since released
three albums: Tibet, Tibet (1996), Coming Home (1998),
and Ama (2006).
While she is best known for her a cappella performances,
Yungchen has also collaborated with luminaries
such as Natalie Merchant, Philip Glass, Annie Lennox,
Michael Stipe, Billy Corgan, Sheryl Crow, Jamshied
Sharifi, Will Calhoun, and Michael Bearden, widely known
as Michael Jackson's musical director for the This
Is It tour. Her songs have been featured on
numerous compilation albums, on the soundtrack to the
film Seven Years in Tibet, and in a handful of
documentaries.
In 2007, Yungchen collaborated with Tony Award-winning
American dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones and French
percussionist Florent Jodelet for a sold-out performance
piece titled 'Walking the Line' at a section of Paris’s
famed Louvre that had never before been used as a stage. Most
recently, in Italy, Yungchen was gifted the city of
Silanus’s esteemed “Funtana Elighe” journalism
award and was recognized by the province of Genoa as
a “Messenger of Peace” as well as given the
title of “Ambassador of Culture.” Yungchen
lives and makes music in America, where she is currently
at work on her much-awaited fourth U.S. album from where
she heads the Yungchen Lhamo Charitable Foundation www.yungchenlhamo.org
which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving
the welfare of Tibetans in need. Yungchen will be on
tour in Ireland in July 2012 and also collaborating
with Donal Lunny during that time.
Considered to be one of the more influential people
in the renaissance of Irish music since the '70's, Donal
Lunny has been involved in Irish music all of his life.
Born in Tullamore, grew up in Newbridge, Co. Kildare,
studied graphic design in the National College of Art
and Design. Was founding member of several important
bands - Planxty, Bothy Band, Moving Hearts - has produced
some of the most important albums of the traditional
music revival since the '70s. Has written music for
many films and theatre productions. Received an
Honorary Doctorate in Music from Trinity College in
'08, and is a member of Aosdána.
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