Friday, January 07, 2000

Wilmington -- The mystical and ritual pageantry of Tibetan tradition comes to life as the lamas of the Drepung Loseling Monastery perform "Sacred Music and Sacred Dance for World Healing" at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 29, in UNCW's Kenan Auditorium. This performance will feature elaborate costumes, masked dances, traditional instruments, unique multiphonic singing and traditional temple music. The concert is part of the UNCW Arts in Action Performing Arts Series presented by the Activities and Leadership Center.

The 1999-2000 Sacred Music Sacred Dance tour is dedicated to promoting world peace and healing and to sharing Tibet's ancient sacred arts with Western audiences. The tours, sponsored by Richard Gere Productions Inc. and The Loseling Institute, are endorsed by the Dalai Lama as a means of raising international awareness of the endangered Tibetan civilization.

Tibetan sacred music is most known in the West for its use of the multiphonic vocal technique. Renowned for this unique singing style, the Drepung Loseling monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord by reshaping the muscles of the vocal chords to accord with the natural overtones of the voice. The performance incorporates traditional instruments such as 10-foot-long dunchen trumpets, drums, bells, cymbals and gyaling horns. Rich brocade costumes and masked dances add to the exotic splendor.

The Drepung Monastery was established near Lhasa, Tibet, in 1416. It had four departments, of which Loseling, or "The Hermitage of the Radiant Mind," was the largest, housing more than three quarters of Drepung's 10,000 to 15,000 monks. Following the Chinese invasions of Tibet in 1959 and the forced closure and destruction of its 6,500 monasteries, some 250 monks from Loseling managed to escape the holocaust and rebuild their institution in southern India. The monastery now houses about 2,500 monks.

Tibetan monks have made several appearances in American productions to raise awareness for alleged human rights violations in Tibet. The music of the multiphonic singers of Drepung Loseling Monastery is the heart of the soundtrack of the motion picture Seven Years in Tibet, and the monks performed with composer Philip Glass at the premiere presentation of his Oscar-nominated score for Martin Scorsese's Kundun. Two of the group's five CDs have achieved top 10 status on U.S. music charts.

Tickets are $4 for UNCW students and children 12 and younger, $6 for UNCW faculty/staff and $12 for all others and can be purchased at the information desk located in the University Union or Kenan Auditorium box office, or by calling 910/962-3500 or 1-800-732-3643.

The UNCW Arts in Action Performing Arts Series presents artistic productions of the highest standards possible, while providing the campus and local community an opportunity to experience a broad spectrum of the arts in an affordable and accessible format. Future events in the Arts in Action 1999-2000 season include George Gee and the Make-Believe Ballroom Orchestra and Swing Dance Extravaganza and the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express production of Much Ado About Nothing. For ticket prices and information, call 910/962-3500 or 1-800-732-3643.



Media Contact: Shannon Hooker, 910/962-7600.