Fowler Festival: Himalaya—Tibetan Music, Dance, and Opera
IN PERSON
Program Schedule*
1–1:30 pm: Opening blessing by monks of Namgyal Monastery (Fowler Amphitheater)
1:30–2:30 pm: Concert performance (Fowler Amphitheater)
2–4 pm: Art workshop led by Fowler student educators (Courtyard; drop-in)
2:30–3:30 pm: Intermission with food available in the Courtyard; exhibition walk-through of Mountain Spirits led by a Fowler student educator in Lucas Gallery
4–6 pm: Open workshop, community dance workshop, and live music (Fowler Amphitheater; drop-in)
*Schedule subject to change.
Presented in collaboration with the Fowler Museum, UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, and the Center for India and South Asia (CISA), Fowler festival Himalaya—Tibetan Music, Dance, and Opera will bring together master artists, UCLA students, and members of the Los Angeles Tibetan community for a day-long celebration of Tibetan performing arts and culture.
The program will feature a public concert and Tibetan dance performances by UCLA students, including the newly formed Tibetan Music and Dance Ensemble. Following the concert, visitors are invited to join an open dance workshop to learn and practice traditional movements. A selection of Tibetan and South Asian foods from local vendors will be available in the courtyard throughout the afternoon.
Visitors are also invited to participate in a hands-on art activity led by monks from Namgyal Monastery. Participants will learn how to create traditional Tibetan prayer flags by printing sacred prayers and images with carved woodblocks onto fabrics in five colors representing the elements. They may also write their names in Tibetan or add the names of loved ones to wish them health, happiness, and long life, or to honor ancestors. Traditionally hung in high places, prayer flags are believed to carry blessings on the wind for the benefit of all living beings.
Students enrolled in courses on Tibetan music will attend and engage with the performances as part of their coursework, as the program is designed to connect directly with UCLA teaching. Visiting artists will lead workshops for UCLA classes and record dance songs to help preserve and sustain traditional repertoires.
Through monastic ritual, dance songs, and secular music, the festival will highlight the vitality of Tibetan performing arts within the broader Himalayan cultural world, where sound, movement, and devotion form a unified expressive language. By linking UCLA scholarship, museum collections, and community collaboration, the program will demonstrate how Tibetan artistic practices sustain tradition, foster cultural continuity, and inspire new generations to engage with this rich and expressive heritage.
Part of the Being Human Festival (US), running April 18–May 3, the Fowler’s presentation of Himalaya—Tibetan Music, Dance, and Opera will be one of 23 community events across the country supported by the National Humanities Center. This festival celebrates the humanities’ power to add depth and meaning to our lives, help us understand ourselves and one another, and provide context for the complex world around us.
Sonam Phuntsok joined the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala, India at age 11, to study with Opera Master Norbu Tsering, one of the last Tibetan performers trained in the traditional way. He was named Opera Master at TIPA in 1997 and continued in that role until emigrating to the United States in 2014. In 1993, he received a Fulbright scholarship to teach Tibetan folk music and monastic dance at Middlebury College. He later served as a resident artist in the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange program at UCLA. Phuntsok portrayed Reting Rinpoche in Martin Scorsese’s film Kundun (1997).
Tsering Wangmo Satho began learning traditional Tibetan performing arts from her parents and community in South India and joined TIPA in 1983. After moving to the United States in 1989, she co-founded the traditional Tibetan performing arts troupe Chaksampa in San Francisco. She has toured internationally with both TIPA and Chaksampa, performing at such venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. In 2022, she was recognized for her outstanding contributions to traditional arts by being named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow. She currently teaches in the Tibetan community and directs the UCLA Tibetan Music and Dance Ensemble.
Tashi Dhondup Ganchenpa (also known as Bhai) joined TIPA in 1980 at age 13, and trained in Tibetan music, dance, monastic dance, and opera. In 2000, he was appointed the institute’s main dance instructor; he toured internationally, singing leading roles in Tibetan opera. He relocated to Portland in 2008 and continues to perform, including with Chaksampa, which he joined in 2011. He also teaches music for the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association in Portland.
Tenzin Ngawang was born in Dharamsala and joined TIPA in 1993. After 11 years of intensive training and global touring, he graduated with a degree in advanced studies. He moved to Minneapolis in 2004 and served for 10 years as head teacher of traditional Tibetan performing arts, instructing more than 200 students in the local Tibetan community. He performs across North America and has collaborated with TigerLion Arts for over two decades. Ngawang is also the producer and lead singer of the Tibetan rock group Melong Band and appeared in Scorsese’s Kundun (1997).
Tenzin Norbu is a Tibetan musician, educator, and cultural advocate dedicated to preserving and evolving traditional Tibetan performing arts. Born in Lhasa in 1982, he relocated to India at age 11. He joined TIPA in 2004, specializing in traditional instruments, including the dranyen, piwang, flute, and gyumang. He also plays guitar, bass, piano, the Chinese erhu, and works with digital music production. Norbu moved to New York City in 2014.
Tenzin Choedon was born in a Tibetan settlement in South India and studied Tibetan dance, music, and opera at TIPA from 1992 to 2003. She has performed in more than 100 Tibetan cultural productions across North America, Asia, and Europe. In 2000, she participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival program, Tibetan Culture Beyond the Land of Snow, in Washington, D.C. Since 2004, she has worked with the Wisconsin Tibetan Association, teaching dozens of students about Tibetan music, dance, and instruments.
Lhakyi Dolma studied Tibetan music, dance, and opera at TIPA for more than eight years and toured extensively with the institute throughout Europe and the U.S. She relocated to the U.S. in 2005 and now lives in Richmond, California. An active member of Chaksampa, she teaches Tibetan dance and music to Tibetan children in the Bay Area, helping preserve Tibetan culture and language through community performances and educational programs.
Image courtesy of Tsering Wangmo
