An Evening of Traditional Tibetan Music

Event • Music By Robert K. Foster

On Saturday, June 16, 2007 I attended a concert of sorts showcasing the singing and playing abilities of Pasang Dolma and another musician from Japan, Toshi Kuga. For those not familiar with Tibetan and Japanese names, Pasang is female and Kuga is male.

From the Event listing at Schuler Books:

A Performance by Traditional Tibetan Singer Passang Dolma
Saturday, June 16th at 8:00p.m
Passang Dolma is an award-winning vocalist from Dharamshala who specializes in classical Tibetan songs. She won the first ever Tibetan musical award for Best Female Singer and has performed for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join us by the fireplace for a special performance at Schuler on June 16th.

The reason I say that it was “a concert of sorts” is that I felt that it wasn’t really the best venue for a performance of this type. A small theater in the round like they have on campus at Michigan State University would have been better suited but I certainly like to support Schuler Books. And otherwise I would not have seen the performance at all.

One other area of concern with the performance was the unavoidable language barrier between the audience and the performers. Don’t get me wrong, the Japanese musician Toshi Kuga and a very fluent translator both made every effort to explain in full the song meanings, style, and origins. The problem I am referring to is that I myself don’t understand Tibetan, and I’m sure most of the other people attending didn’t either.

It is like the old debate over Classical Opera performed in the language of the composer which is usually Italian or German or some other language than English. In both these situations one who does not understand the language can not get the full meaning from the music. When you are listening to a very foreign musical style like traditional Tibetan music I think it is often hard for the general public to get engaged in the music for this reason.

At any rate, Pasang Dolma showed a high degree of technical skill in both singing and playing the traditional stringed instruments of Tibet. Even without knowing Tibetan it was also clear that she had a high level of emotional depth to her singing. Perhaps it was because I was sitting so close but she had a very powerful voice and had no need for a microphone. Toshi Kuga also showed great skill with playing in accompaniment. For me it was a great introduction to the traditional music of Tibet.

You can find more information about Pasang Dolma on the web through Google. Here are some links:

A 2006 tour of Japan
http://musictibet.com/news/2006/20061107-pasang_dolma_tours_japan.html

The Tibetan Music Awards in 2003
http://musictibet.com/awards/2003/

Tibet Link
http://www.tibetlink.com/

Pasang Dolma on Tibet Link
http://www.tibetlink.com/index.php?option=com_artistavenue&task=singleArtist&id=31&Itemid=81

Posted: Sunday, June 17, 2007
Source: http://www.thewindjammer.com/print/an_evening_of_traditional_tibetan_music/