>> Stephen Winick:
Welcome, I'm Stephen Winick
of the American Folk Like Center
of the Library of Congress.
For many years, we've presented
the Homegrown Concert Series
featuring the best in folk music
and dance from around the world.
In the year 2020, because
of the global pandemic,
we shifted to producing an
online video concert series,
which we call Homegrown at Home.
So, in 2021, we had
our second year
of Homegrown at Home concerts.
It's now early 2022, and
we're recording interviews
with the artists who
were in that series.
We were very happy to have
a very accomplished Tibetan
artist, Tenzin Choegyal,
playing in our series this year,
and this is the second
part of Tenzin's interview
since the first part
was interrupted
by technical difficulties.
So, one challenge that I have
in doing these interviews is
pronouncing the names of people
from wide variety of cultures.
So, to be sure that we have
someone pronouncing your name
correctly, may I ask you,
Tenzin, to introduce yourself,
by telling our viewers
your name?
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Okay,
Stephen, many greetings to you,
and so good to see you.
I'm Tenzin Choegyal, a Tibetan
name that was given to me
by His Holiness the XIV
Dalai Lama, most of the time,
Tibetans, they get their
names from their root teacher.
So for me, his Holiness, the
Dalai Lama is my root guru.
So, I thought maybe, yeah, like
in the West, most of the time,
you guys get names
from your parents.
But we have a tradition
of getting our names
from our root teacher.
So, my name Tenzin means
"the holder of phenomenon"
and Choegyal means
"the victorious one."
So, it's a huge name to uphold.
>> Stephen Winick: Yes, you
have to live up to your name
and to your teacher, and I
think you're doing a great job,
so far, in all the
work that you do.
So, welcome.
It's great to see you
again, and I'll just mention
that when we talk to you the
last time, you were actually
in quarantine in a hotel,
because you been traveling.
And so, I guess the question
is, how are you and yours doing
in the pandemic recovery?
>> Stephen Winick: I think
Australia is doing fairly well.
The omicron virus has
kind of taken over.
So, I think the artists
are fairly hurt by that,
because a lot of the festivals
and music, the art world,
is either canceling
or postponing,
but my family is
doing really well.
Actually, in a way,
the last two years,
I have had more family
time than ever, in a way,
which has been the positive side
of it, because I'm not traveling
as much, but then my
family members and friends
in India are doing quite badly.
You know, like the access
to health and access
to any protection,
it's a bit harder.
Like over here, we have
the luxury of going
to the GP in any moment.
You just pick up your
phone and call them
and make an appointment, but
over in India and Nepal and also
in Tibet, probably, it's
not as easy as that.
So, I'm actually feeling like
living in Australia in the West,
I see that luxury of
having healthcare and, yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, it's
very different for people
in different parts of the world,
for sure, and just to fill
in for the audience, of course,
many Tibetan people are
living outside of Tibet,
and many of them are in India.
It's one of the population
centers for Tibetans.
So, I'm sorry to hear that
they're not doing as well
in India as you are
in Australia.
So, when we were talking
last time, the question
where we were interrupted, you
were telling me the relationship
between traditional Tibetan
songs and the music you compose.
How do you apply what you
know from Tibetan music
in your own songwriting?
>> For me, the essence of my
songs in my music writing is
in the lineage of my
Tibetan nomadic lineage,
which is from my mom and dad.
They were Tibetan
nomads, and so, when you,
even though I write in a very
contemporary context, but then,
I sometimes say to my Tibetian
friends, when you hear my songs,
if you can taste it as a food,
then you will taste
the [inaudible],
which is the roasted
barley flour,
very traditional,
only Tibetans eat it.
So, you will feel that essence
in there, even though --
because I live in the
21st century, and so,
whatever I write will be
very contemporary in context,
but then I tried to keep
the traditional essence
of it, as well.
>> Stephen Winick: Wonderful,
and of course, we talked a lot
about those Tibetan
traditions in the last part
of the interview, which
people can also find
on the Library of
Congress website.
So, I wanted to talk
about some of the projects
that you've been involved
in, and one of them
that I think is very exciting
and wonderful project
you've been doing
for a long time is
the Festival to Tibet.
Can you tell us a
little about that?
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Festival of
Tibet was born out of necessity.
It was 2008, and 2008, there's
the Beijing Olympics happening
then, and then there
was a lot of small --
in Tibet, we were hearing lots
of stories coming out of Tibet
at that point of time, and
I was in Japan touring.
And so, what happened was,
you know, there was a lot
of small uprisings in
small, little villages
about the human rights
violation, you know,
like the atrocities that was
being imposed over there.
So, every Tibetan, at that
point, must have felt,
at some point, what
can I do for Tibet?
So, is an artist, I thought the
best way to actually promote
and tell the stories of Tibet
would be through a festival.
So, and since I've been living
in the West for that long.
And so, I asked all my
Western artist friends
to put in their effort.
And then, that was a
small, little festival
at that time we organized.
And now, this year will be the
13th one, but last two years
and this year, we have been
doing a hybrid one where we kind
of do one or two days of
evening concerts, but then a lot
of online -- presenting
Tibetan films, Tibetan poets,
Tibetan activists, and even his
Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a
couple of nice, beautiful
letters for us.
So, yeah, and the Tibetan world,
it's a much, kind of like,
it's also to inspire
the younger generations.
You know, how art can actually
inspire and move forward rather
than being fearful
of, you know, like,
staying in the fear
zone instead of that.
And that's what we
have felt probably
through the whole last
two years, as well.
You know, when like a lot of
the art has been inspiring
for people, those who are
stuck in quarantine or anything
like whatever they were
going through, yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Sure, yeah,
it is a time of great fear
for a lot of people, but we
have to not let that take over,
and I think it is
interesting how you mentioned
that there was a positive
side, spending more time
with your family, and all of
us are finding there's new ways
to do things, I think, that
the pandemic taught us, where,
you know, we're not
happy that we had it,
but we learned things from it.
So, our video concert series
is an example of that, as well,
but I think having a festival.
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
Having a festival
of Tibet that's partly
online, which means anyone
in the world can participate,
is a really great thing.
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Any
funds that we raise,
it goes into a school
that I grew up with,
an orphanage school
that I grew up with,
Tibetan Children's
Village in Dharamshala.
And then, yeah, so it's
a beautiful festival
at the same time, giving
to a community that brought
out like three or more thousand
exiled Tibetan children.
>> Stephen Winick:That's
a wonderful goal, as well,
to help the school
and the village.
So, I guess just to
clarify for viewers,
I assume that the evening
concerts, that is, the live part
of the festival,
is that in Sydney,
or where in Australia
does that occur?
>> Tenzin Choegyal:
It's in Brisbane.
>> Stephen Winick: Oh, Brisbane.
>> Tenzin Choegyal:
Brisbane, Australia.
It's in Queensland, and it's
in a place called Powerhouse.
This year, we have a
very amazing two --
I've created two amazing shows.
One with Camerata,
the string orchestra,
the Queensland String Orchestra.
So, I'll be playing with the
string orchestra, and then,
one -- that's kind of like
using a lot of Tibetan --
it's a genre I can't
really pinpoint.
Some call it chamber,
folk chamber,
Tibetan folk chamber music.
Some call it like --
it's kind of like --
it's with like a collaboration
with string orchestra,
and then another one is with
like the obscure sounds.
So one other concert
will be with obscure --
I'm hoping to tell
stories of birds.
I don't know what yet.
>> Stephen Winick: All right,
so, we recommend people look
for the festival
of Tibet online,
and I think there's a lot
of wonderful stuff already
on the website for
that festival.
You know, another question that
comes up, we've talked a lot
about your background from
Tibet and your upbringing,
partly in India, but it's
really itself is sort
of such an interesting country
in such an interesting culture.
How do you find yourself
fitting into Australia,
and how does Australia play
into your musical experience?
>> Tenzin Choegyal: For me,
I think after 12 years
being Australia, I felt,
for the first time, when I went
to Garma Festival, and also,
to Uluru, that time I felt
that I was in Australia.
Other times, I didn't
really, like being in Brisbane
in the city, it doesn't
feel like in Australia,
because I could understand
what they were speaking,
like in English, but when
I went to Garma Festival
in central desert and up north,
all my aboriginal brothers
and sisters were talking
in their own language,
and I was like listening
carefully.
And so, definitely, that
time, which was like a couple
of years ago, that
time, I really felt
that I was in Australia.
And then, I collaborate with a
lot of my aboriginal brothers
and sisters, musically,
as well, and occasionally,
they call me "Uncle Tenzin,"
which is kind of like for anyone
to be called an uncle from
the aboriginal friends,
it's taking you into
the family, you know.
Yeah, yeah, I've
collaborated quite a lot.
So, you can find them like with
Lynn Barton and also with --
sorry, all these names.
Uncle Archie Roach
and Auntie Rhoda.
So, yeah, and then, in a way,
sometimes I feel they are living
in exile in their own home.
Sometimes I feel that.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Yes,
I know what you mean,
and some of those are great
artists I've followed for years.
Archie Roach, for example,
so it's good to hear
that you are working with them.
That's wonderful, too.
So, talking about
collaborations,
we mentioned a couple in our
last part of the interview
that we didn't actually
get to talk much
about how they came about.
So, for example, you mentioned
working with Philip Glass
on film scores, but we didn't
talk about how that happened.
So, if you could fill us in
on that, that would be great.
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Philip Glass
is a really dear friend of mine,
and I met him probably
about two decades ago.
And then, the first time
how I met was he invited me
to his Carnegie Hall
Hall concert,
the Tibet House Carnegie
concert,
and that's how we formed
a friendship musically
and outside music, as well.
And then, over the years,
we've been collaborating.
Each year, he would invite
me for a concert or two,
and then hang out
with him at his home.
And then, that particular
collaboration
that you were talking about is
The Last Dilemma, which was film
by Mickey Lemley
[assumed spelling].
And then, we had to spend -- we
spent quite a number of months
and then a month in residence
at his home writing the scores.
And then, also, we
collaborated on a piece,
a really beautiful --
called "The White
Lama" by Nikki Appino.
It's a theoretical
pace, and only got
to do the dress rehearsal
and Annenberg Center
in Philadelphia.
And then, we had to cancel
the show, the actual premiere,
because it was on 13th March
2020 when the pandemic hit.
So we had to cancel the show,
the actual show, but yeah,
actually Philip is
turning 85 this year.
>> Wow.
>> So happy birthday to him.
>> Yeah, happy birthday
to Philip Glass,
and we hope that someday
you'll be able to return
to the Annenberg Center and
actually perform the show
or direct the show, because
it would be wonderful to have
that happen and great
to hear about it.
>> Tenzin Choegyal: It's called
"The White Lama," and we spent,
that one, we spent almost
a year and a half doing --
like writing music for it.
And Nicki Appino.
He spent a lot of
time like creating it
into a beautiful
theoretical piece.
I don't know what to
call it, but it looks
like a theoretical piece, but
then it's a very musical piece.
I don't know.
Only when you see it you
will kind of know what it is.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
Yeah, sort of halfway
between the theater
and the music.
That's wonderful.
So, another project that we
talked a little bit about
but not so much how it came
about was Songs from the Bardo,
which you worked with Laurie
Anderson and Jesse Paris Smith.
So, how did you come to know
them and work with them.
>> Tenzin Choegyal:
That's true of Philip,
going to the Carnegie
Hall [inaudible],
and from there we formed a
friendship, meeting them --
like I've been doing it
for the last 20 years
as a ritual once a year.
So, this year I was able to
do it in LA with a friend.
So, it kind of manifests in
different forms each time,
but the text that you
hear in the recording
by Laurie is always the same.
But musically, it changes
a little accordingly,
who are there to play for it.
So, due to Philip's friendship,
that's how I met Jesse
and Laurie, and then,
amazing cellist in the piece,
in the Songs from the
Bardo is Rubin Kodheli,
his playing of cello
is like totally
like outer world in there.
So, it actually like
really gives the emotions
to the text, yes.
If you haven't heard the
Songs from the Bardo,
it's from the Smithsonian.
You can get it from
the Smithsonian.
>> Stephen Winick: Right, it's
on Smithsonian Folkways Records
and it is a wonderful work.
It was nominated for
Grammy award, in fact --
>> Tenzin Choegyal: Since then,
I have a new album
called should Yeshi Dolma.
I couldn't find a title.
So, to honor my mother,
her name is Yeshi Dolma.
So, I have a new album
with Camerata 's Chamber
String Orchestra, and in there,
there's a little part of
the Songs of the Bardo,
the "Safe Passage" text.
I have read it myself.
So, you get it.
>> Stephen Winick: Great, so
is that your latest album then?
>> Tenzin Choegyal: It's my
latest album, and [inaudible].
So, it's very fresh, yeah.
We recorded it like
last year during the --
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, so
one of the things I was going
to ask you about was upcoming
projects, but that's so recent,
it's almost upcoming,
I guess you could say,
but do you have other
plans for future projects?
>> Tenzin Choegyal: I'm about
to do a short, 11-minute piece
or something for Tibet House
Carnegie Hall concert is moved
to online.
So, I was supposed to be
going to New York in March,
but now I'm not going
to New York.
But I'm collaborating
with Laurie Anderson
and Ron Cordelia,and we
are still looking at what
that 11 minutes would be.
>> Tenzin Choegyal: So, one last
question that I had, I guess,
since you mentioned that you
wanted the festival of Tibet,
to some extent, to
be inspirational
for younger generations
of musicians.
Just a sort of general
question of what your advice is
to the next generation of
Tibetan musicians or musicians
from other traditions?
>> Tenzin Choegyal:
Listening, and also, sometimes,
not do knowing what
you are going
to do is an amazing
thing to be at.
In the manifestations of your
-- what you want to create,
I guess, it's similar
to meditating.
You know, like when you
meditate, you don't know
where you are going to go.
And where you mind will take
you, and then, how, you know,
like learning how to
listen to your own mind
and bringing the mind back home.
So, you know, applying that
in your artwork, as well,
in whatever practice you
are into, applying that.
I think listening to your own
mind, listening to yourself.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah,
definitely wonderful
advice about, you know,
keeping things open, keeping an
open mind, and also, you know,
listening to your
own inner thoughts
and your own mind rather
than the world all the time.
So, Tenzin, I think with those
two segments of the interview,
we've gotten a the little bit of
insight at least into your music
and what you've been
doing culturally
over the last few years.
So, we just want to thank you
one more time for being part
of our concert series and part
of this interview
series, as well.
>> Tenzin Choegyal:
Thank you, Stephen,
and have a beautiful evening.
>> Stephen Winick: You too.
Yes, it was wonderful
see you again.
[ Music ]