Tenzin Choegyal

Tibetan singer/songwriter Tenzin Choegyal teams up with composer Jesse Paris Smith and friends for a special concert inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, entitled Bardo Songs for In-between. The evening, which explores how we can prepare for the mind’s journey from the body, features live narration by performance artist Laurie Anderson.

Using selected text from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the authorship of which is attributed to the Lotus Guru Padmasambhava, this concert pairs sacred words with musical meditations to provide insight into the Bardo, or the intermediate state between life and death.

Tenzin Choegyal’s international award-winning music has been described as “beautifully evocative,” “healing,” “mesmerizing,” “spine-tingling,” and “transcendent.” His music reflects his nomadic roots and his love for his homeland. His cantering rhythms, soaring vocals and exquisite flute solos have enchanted audiences around the globe.

About the Musicians

From O Superman in 1980 to Homeland released in 2010, Laurie Anderson is acknowledged as one of today’s premier performance artists. Known primarily for her multimedia presentations, she has cast herself in roles as varied as visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, electronics whiz, vocalist, and instrumentalist. Major works include United States I-V (1983), Empty Places (1990), The Nerve Bible (1995), and Songs and Stories for Moby Dick,a multimedia stage performance based on the novel by Herman Melville. Laurie Anderson’s visual work has been presented in major museumsthroughout the United States and Europe, including The Missing Peace here at the Rubin Museum of Art. This marks her eighth appearance at the Rubin Museum of Art.

Tenzin Choegyal‘s international award-winning music has been described as “beautifully evocative,” “healing,” and “transcendent.” His music reflects his nomadic roots and his love for Tibet, his homeland. His cantering rhythms, soaring vocals and exquisite flute solos have enchanted audiences around the globe. Tenzin was last heard in New York at the Rubin Museum for his concert “For Tibet With Love,” and at Carnegie Hall in 2013 performing alongside Philip Glass, Angelique Kidjo, Taj Mahal, James McCartney, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe, Jesse Paris Smith, and Michael Campbell. He regularly tours internationally and is the founder, organizer, and creative force behind the Brisbane Festival of Tibet.

Jesse Paris Smith is a composer, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist. Fascinated by patterns and elements found in nature and their relationship to sound, she has a meticulous approach to voicingand arrangement, and has become proficient on an obscure collection of natural instruments. She performs in many configurations, including Tree Laboratory, which is her music production company with Eric Hoegemeyer, specializing in sound and music for film. She is on the Associate Board at Tibet House US, where she curates a weekly event called Mindful Music and Sound Series, and she co-curates and hosts the Rubin Museum’sTalkingstick, a monthly true storytelling and music event. In September 2014, with cellist, Rebecca Foon, she also launched Pathway to Paris, a year long event series and online portal, focused on innovative solutions for climate change.