Techung
Listen to Techung songs on Gakyi.
Techung's real name is Tashi Dhondup Sharzur.
Techung is a prominent Tibetan singer/songwriter living in exile in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He is best known for his performances of traditional Tibetan music, dance, and opera under the
name Tashi Dhondup Sharzur. He uses his childhood nickname, Techung, when performing as a solo
artist. Whether performing in traditional or contemporary styles, Techung's dual goals are to
revive Tibetan music in the Tibetan community and to expose the rich performing cultural
tradition of his homeland to the world community. Techung grew up in Dharamsala, India, rather
than in his native Tibet, because in 1949 Communist China brutally occupied his homeland. He and
his family were forced to resettle in India along with tens of thousands of other Tibetans.
Because of the limited educational opportunities open to young refugees in the 1970s, he was
enrolled at age 9 in the newly formed Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), although his
family did not have an artistic background. In his 19 years of residency at the Institute, he
studied all aspects of the Tibetan performing arts - folk, court, and religious music traditions
- through the oral teaching tradition used by the venerated Tibetan elders with whom he was honored
to study. He toured with TIPA in its first international tour as a leading child actor in 1975-76
and for many years afterwards. After emigrating to the U.S., he co-founded the San Francisco-based
Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera Company in 1989.
Techung's Solo Albums include:
Ka Kha: Tibetan Children's Songs (forthcoming, Kunga Records)
Nyingtop: Courage (2002, Kunga Records)
Sky Treasure (2001, Windtiger and Kunga Records)
Changshay: Traditional Tibetan Drinking Songs, Vol. 1 (1999)
Yarlung: Tibetan Songs of Love and Freedom (1997)
Albums of Techung with Chaksampa:
Pha Yul Renewal: Contemporary Tibetan folk songs (2002)
"Ajo Sotop" Tibetan Freedom Concert: produced by Capital Records (1997)
Rainbow Tibet 'Jah: Contemporary Tibetan Music (1991)
An Introduction to Tibetan Music (with Tibetan Dance Company) (1989)
Various recordings with the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (1975-1987)
Techung's voice and music have been featured on the soundtracks of the IMAX film "Everest," the feature film "Windhorse,"
the documentary films "Stranger in My Native Land," "Tibet's Stolen Child," and "Three Days for Tibet" (about a concert in
Dharamsala with Joan Osborne, Zakir Hussein and other musicians). His music was also featured on PSA's for the Milarepa
Fund (promoting the 1999 Tibetan Freedom Concert), Students' For a Free Tibet's DVD demo "Tibet Will Be Free", and Amnesty
International (soliciting support for the human rights case of Ven. Palden Gyatso), as well as on an audio book by Diki
Tsering titled "Dalai Lama, My Son." His music is currently being used in documentary film "What Remains of Us" which was
selected at 2004 CANNES film festival. His music will be used in the upcoming Tibetan feature film Dreaming of Lhasa
(working title: Poison Charm) directed by Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin.
In addition to being looked up to as one of the key keepers of traditional Tibetan musical traditions, Techung is also respected
for the original solo and collaborative music he creates by drawing on both his own heritage and his familiarity with other world
music traditions. He collaborated on his first solo album, "Yarlung: Tibetan Songs of Love and Freedom" (1997) with composer/
performer Miguel Frasconi, followed by "Sky Treasure" (2001) with Windham Hill jazz keyboardist Kit Walker. His other two solo
albums were "Chang Shae: Traditional Tibetan drinking songs, Vol. 1" (1999) and "Nyingtop-Courage" (2002). His song "Losar" was
chosen as the 2003 best modern traditional Tibetan song at the first annual Tibetan Music Awards held in Dharamsala.
