Cal Performances | World Stage | Gyuto Monks Tibetan Tantric Choir

Patron Information | Artists links

Gyuto Monks
Tibetan Tantric Choir

Wed, Mar 14, 8 pm

Venue: Zellerbach Hall B

Price: $22/$30/$42

Subscription Series: Choose-Your-Own, Winter/Spring Mini Series

What do these symbols mean?

Representing a rich Buddhist tradition founded in 15th-century Tibet, the monks of the Gyuto Tantric University joined the Dalai Lama in fleeing their homeland in 1959 and setting up a government-in-exile in northern India. They have been chanting in their multi-tonal style since the university's founding in 1474, and their liturgical arts—among the most complex and awe-inspiring in Tibetan Buddhism—have developed over the centuries on the isolated high plateaus of their mountainous land. "Without question," says composer Philip Glass, "they represent the spirit and culture of Tibet at its highest level."

PATRON INFORMATION

Learn More!

Program Notes: Program notes are available online, click here.

Audio clips:

( Real One Player or Windows Media Player)

Guhyasamaja Tantra, Chapter II *

Melody For Mahakala *

* Clips listed here are representative of the artists, but may be different than what are being played as part of the Cal Performances program

Education and Community Events:
Understanding Tibetan Monastic Music in the 21st Century
Wed, Mar 14, 4pm, Seaborg Room, UC Berkeley Faculty Club
Learn more about Tibetan musical structure and theory in preparation for the evening's performance by the Gyuto Monks. Benjamin Bogin, Buddhist Studies, UC Berkeley, Keila Diehl, Anthropology, Stanford University, and Jessie Wallner, Ethnomusicology, Indiana University will situate the monks' performance in the context of the history of Tibetan monastic rituals, including the cultural transformations that occur when a ritual is displaced from the monastery to the stage. Co-sponsored by Cal Performances, the Institute of East Asian Studies, and the Center for Buddhist Studies, UC Berkeley

Artists links:
Official Gyuto Monks site