Ani Choying Dolma
Encyclopedia
Ani Choying Drolma also known as Choying Drolma and Ani Choying (Ani, "nun", is an honorific), is a Buddhist nun
and musician from the Nagi Gompa nunnery in Nepal
. She is known in Nepal and throughout the world for bringing many Tibetan Buddhist
chants and feast songs to mainstream audiences.
, to Tibetan
exiles. She entered monastic
life as a means of escape from her physically abusive father, and she was accepted into the Nagi Gompa nunnery at the age of 13. For a number of years, the monastery's resident chant master (who was trained directly by the wife of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
) taught Ani Choying the music that she is famous for performing.
visited the nunnery and eventually recorded much of the Tibetan music with Ani Choying on two albums. The recordings, titled Chö and Selwa, were released to critical acclaim. Tibbetts and Ani Choying embarked on small performance tours, which included shows at several historical Tibetan monasteries.
Sina Vodjani recorded an album in collaboration with Ani Choying Drolma.
Ani Choying Dolma is part of a fairly large group of musicians in the Tibetan tradition now active outside Tibet, including singer Techung, singer Karjam Saeji
, singer Phurbu T Namgyal, flautist Nawang Khechog
, singer Amchok Gompo Dhondup, singer Yungchen Lhamo
and Jewish-American Tibetan-genre performer Amalia Rubin.
Bhikkhuni
A bhikkhuni or bhikṣuṇī is a fully ordained female Buddhist monastic. Male monastics are called bhikkhus. Both bhikkhunis and bhikkhus live by the vinaya...
and musician from the Nagi Gompa nunnery in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. She is known in Nepal and throughout the world for bringing many Tibetan Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
chants and feast songs to mainstream audiences.
Biography
Ani Choying was born in 1971 in Kathmandu, NepalNepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, to Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
exiles. She entered monastic
Monasticism
Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
life as a means of escape from her physically abusive father, and she was accepted into the Nagi Gompa nunnery at the age of 13. For a number of years, the monastery's resident chant master (who was trained directly by the wife of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche . A contemporary Buddhist master of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages, who lived at Nagi Gompa hermitage in Nepal, Urgyen Rinpoche was considered one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of our time.-Life:...
) taught Ani Choying the music that she is famous for performing.
Musical career
In 1994, guitarist Steve TibbettsSteve Tibbetts
Steve Tibbetts is a Saint Paul-based American guitarist known for an original approach to both composing and sound-forming. Tibbetts views the recording studio as a tool for creating sounds...
visited the nunnery and eventually recorded much of the Tibetan music with Ani Choying on two albums. The recordings, titled Chö and Selwa, were released to critical acclaim. Tibbetts and Ani Choying embarked on small performance tours, which included shows at several historical Tibetan monasteries.
Sina Vodjani recorded an album in collaboration with Ani Choying Drolma.
Ani Choying Dolma is part of a fairly large group of musicians in the Tibetan tradition now active outside Tibet, including singer Techung, singer Karjam Saeji
Karjam Saeji
Karjam, or Karsangjamtso, Saeji is a Tibetan singer/songwriter/dancer from the grasslands near Maqu in Gansu Province in China. He performed with the Gannan Tibetan Performance Troupe, from Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture from 1991 and moved to America in 2007. He recorded a CD, Pilgrimage, in...
, singer Phurbu T Namgyal, flautist Nawang Khechog
Nawang Khechog
Nawang Khechog is a Tibetan flute player and composer.Nawang was born in Tibet, but following the Chinese invasion of 1949/1950, his family moved to India, where Nawang studied meditation and Buddhist philosophy...
, singer Amchok Gompo Dhondup, singer Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo
Yungchen Lhamo is a Tibetan singer-songwriter and currently living in exile in New York City. She has won an Australian Record Industry Association award for best Folk/World/Traditional album, and was then signed by Peter Gabriel's Realworld Record label.She has performed with Billy Corgan and...
and Jewish-American Tibetan-genre performer Amalia Rubin.