Tenzin Choegyal

Last updated

Tenzin Choegyal
Tenzin Choegyal.jpg
Tenzin Choegyal
Born
Tibet
NationalityTibetan-Australian
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Musical career
Website tenzinchoegyal.com

Tenzin Choegyal is a musician from Tibet.

Biography

As a child, he listened to his mother's songs in the style of Tibetan nomads, and he attributes much of his passion to his mother. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

In 1997, he moved to Australia where he made his debut in the world of Australian music. Choegyal has worked with many prominent musicians, including Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Michael Askill, Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra, Shen Flindell, Spiros Rantos, Ash Grunwald, Paul Coppen, Stringmansassy, Oscar and Marigold, Riley Lee, James Coats, Tsering Dorjee Bawa, Baatar Sukh, Katherine Philp, Cathedral Band, and Marcello Milani, to name a few. [4] Choegyal has also performed to packed audiences in Carnegie Hall as well as the Sydney Opera House [5]

He has also performed with Tibetan monks in exile, whom he supports financially through his tours, as well as the Tibetan Children's Villages, the school for Tibetan refugee children which he attended as a child.

In 2020, Choegyal's album 'Songs from The Bardo' was nominated at the 63rd Grammy Awards. Along with his two collaborators Laurie Anderson and Jesse Paris Smith the album was nominated for the Best New Age Album. [6] [7]

The album is inspired by the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' that is a guide to embrace death and transition the consciousness to another life through rebirth. [8]

In August 2024, Choegyal released an album titled 'Whispering Sky'. The album is a product of a slow, experimental recording process across Australia, Japan, Canada and the UK, which blends the voices of international collaborators with Choegyal's nomadic Tibetan roots. [9]

Awards

Queensland Music Awards

The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006. [10]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
2008 [11] "Crane Song"World / Folk Song of the YearWon

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurie Anderson</span> American artist and musician (born 1947)

Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting, Anderson pursued a variety of performance art projects in New York City during the 1970s, focusing particularly on language, technology, and visual imagery. She achieved unexpected commercial success when her song "O Superman" reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1981.

k.d. lang Canadian musician (born 1961)

Kathryn Dawn Lang, known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances. Her hits include the songs "Constant Craving" and "Miss Chatelaine".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Sheik</span> American singer-songwriter and composer (born 1969)

Duncan Sheik is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed music for motion pictures and Broadway musicals, winning the 2007 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations for his work on the musical Spring Awakening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodford Folk Festival</span> Annual Australian folk music festival held near Woodford, Queensland

The Woodford Folk Festival is an annual music and cultural festival held near the semi-rural town of Woodford, 72 km (45 mi) north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the biggest annual cultural events of its type in Australia. Every year approximately 125,000 patrons attend the festival. Approximately 2000 performers and 438 events are programmed featuring local, national and international guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Urban</span> Australian-American country musician (born 1967)

Keith Lionel Urban is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, 13 CMA Awards, and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.

<i>Kundun</i> 1997 film directed by Martin Scorsese

Kundun is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grandnephew of the Dalai Lama, stars as the adult Dalai Lama, while Tencho Gyalpo, a niece of the Dalai Lama, appears as the Dalai Lama's mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anoushka Shankar</span> British-American musician (born 1981)

Anoushka Hemangini Shankar is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic. In addition to releasing seven solo studio albums beginning with Anoushka (1998), she has also worked alongside a wide variety of musicians, including Karsh Kale on the full-length collaboration Breathing Under Water (2007) and her father Ravi Shankar. She has received eleven Grammy Awards nominations and was the first musician of Indian origin to perform live and to serve as a presenter at the ceremony. She was the youngest and first woman to receive a British House of Commons Shield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Fanning</span> Australian singer-songwriter (born 1969)

Bernard Joseph Fanning is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nawang Khechog</span> Musical artist

Nawang Khechog is a Tibetan flute player and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Barton (musician)</span> Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo player

William Barton is an Aboriginal Australian composer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his and didgeridoo (yidaki) playing, particularly with classical orchestras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenzin Tsundue</span> Poet, writer and Tibetan refugee and activist

Tenzin Tsundue is a poet, writer and Tibetan refugee and activist. As of 2019 he has been taken into preventive custody, arrested or jailed 16 times for short durations for his activism by Indian authorities, as India does not allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China activities in India. When he was 22, he travelled to Tibet. However, he was arrested and sent back to India, "They told me I was born in India and so I did not belong to Tibet."

The Khamtrul tulku lineage is part of the Dongyud Palden section of the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

<i>Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace</i> 2008 compilation album by Various artists

Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace is a music album with contributions from a number of musicians from throughout the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa. The artists include Sting, Garbage, Rush, Suzanne Vega, Jonatha Brooke, and Alanis Morissette. The album is an initiative to support Tibet, the promotion of peace, basic fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech and religion and the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Songs for Tibet is a project from the Art of Peace Foundation in Washington, D.C. The executive director of the Art of Peace Foundation, Michael Wohl, is executive producer of the album. Producer Rupert Hine oversaw the musical direction of the project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14th Dalai Lama</span> Spiritual leader of Tibet since 1940

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, also known as Tenzin Gyatso; né Lhamo Thondup; is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. Before 1959, he served as both the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, and subsequently established and led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India. The adherents of Tibetan Buddhism consider the Dalai Lama a living Bodhisattva, specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, a belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the institution of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, whose name means Ocean of Wisdom, is known to Tibetans as Gyalwa Rinpoche, The Precious Jewel-like Buddha-Master, Kundun, The Presence, and Yizhin Norbu, The Wish-Fulfilling Gem. His devotees, as well as much of the Western world, often call him His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the style employed on his website. He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Willsteed</span> Australian musician and sound designer

John Willsteed is an Australian musician and sound designer. As a musician, he is best known as a member of the Brisbane band The Go-Betweens, in which he played bass guitar from 1987 to 1989, most notably on the album 16 Lovers Lane. As a sound designer he won Australian Film Institute awards for his work on The Beat Manifesto (1996), Vietnam Nurses and Rare Chicken Rescue (2008). He is an adjunct senior lecturer in Music at Queensland University of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Kej</span> Indian composer (born 1981)

Ram Gyan "Ricky" Kej is an Indian music composer and environmentalist and a three-time Grammy Award winner. Kej has been nominated a fourth time at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards for his album 'Break of Dawn'. He has performed at venues in over 35 countries including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva. In October 2023, Kej was announced as a UN "Goodwill Ambassador" (UNCCD) at the United Nations General Assembly by then President, Csaba Körösi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DZ Deathrays</span> Australian band

DZ Deathrays are an Australian dance-punk trio from Brisbane, Queensland. Composed of Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar), Lachlan Ewbank and Simon Ridley (drums), they put out two EPs before releasing their debut album, Bloodstreams, in April 2012. The album won the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2012. To date they have released six studio albums: Bloodstreams, Black Rat, Bloody Lovely, Positive Rising: Part 1, Positive Rising: Part 2 and R.I.F.F

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibet House US</span> Tibetan culture nonprofit in New York City

Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural institution to build awareness of Tibetan culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra</span> Musical artist

Matt Hsu is a Taiwanese-Australian musician and composer. In 2020, he established a live ensemble consisting of Brisbane indie musicians, hip-hop artists, classically-trained musicians, and multi-disciplinary artists, dubbed Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra.

Tsewang Choegyal Tethong was a Tibetan academic and politician. He was a representative of the Offices of Tibet in New Delhi and a minister within the Central Tibetan Administration.

References

  1. "Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal ready to 'enchant' audiences in Merimbula". Bega District News. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  2. "Tenzin Choegyal: "Music is life, no matter where I am"". 13 June 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  3. "Tenzin Choegyal". Tibet House US | NYC - Official Website. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  4. "Camerata with Tenzin Choegyal | Chamber Landscapes - Adelaide Festival". www.adelaidefestival.com.au. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  5. "Whispering Sky: a new music album by Tenzin Choegyal". Phayul. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  6. "Music Genre: New Age | GRAMMY.com". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  7. Winick, Stephen (3 May 2023). "Homegrown Plus: Tenzin Choegyal's Tibetan Music from Australia | Folklife Today". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  8. "This Brisbane musician and Tibetan refugee could be about to win a Grammy". SBS News. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  9. "Herbie Hancock on keys & Tenzin Choegyal on the roof of the world". ABC listen. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  10. "About the Queensland Music Awards". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  11. "Past Winners 2008". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 25 March 2021.