TIBETAN MONKS TO CREATE SAND MANDALA,
PERFORM NATIVE MUSIC, DANCE FEB. 23-26 AT WCU

The world-famous multiphonic singers of Tibet’s Drepung Loseling Monastery.

CULLOWHEE - The world-famous multiphonic singers of Tibet’s Drepung Loseling Monastery will perform at Western Carolina University at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, as part of their international tour of “Sacred Music and Sacred Dance for World Healing.”

The Drepung Loseling monks, whose sold-out performances in Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center received national acclaim, will perform in the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center as part of Western’s Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series for 2003-04.

While in Cullowhee, the monks also will create a mandala sand painting, painstakingly laying millions of grains of sand into place in an ancient spiritual art form designed to purify and heal the environment and its inhabitants. When finished, the mandala is destroyed to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists, and the colored sands are swept up and poured into a nearby river or stream, where the waters carry the healing energies throughout the world.

The process of constructing the mandala will begin with an opening ceremony at noon Monday, Feb. 23, in the atrium of A.K. Hinds University Center. A closing ceremony will be held at noon Thursday, Feb. 26. School groups planning a visit to campus to view construction of the mandala should call (828) 227-7206 to schedule a time.

While in Cullowhee, the monks will create a mandala sand painting.

The monks will take a break from their intricate artwork long enough to share some of the sacred traditions of music and dance from their native Tibet. The Feb. 24 performance will feature a unique style of multiphonic singing where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord. They also utilize traditional instruments such as 10-foot-long dungchen trumpets, drums, bells, cymbals and gyaling horns, and they wear rich brocade costumes and elaborate masks.

The Drepung Loseling monks have previously performed with such modern-day musicians as Kitaro, Paul Simon, Philip Glass, Edie Brickell, Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith, the Beastie Boys and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Their music also was featured on the Golden Globe-nominated soundtrack for the film “Seven Years in Tibet.”

The tour is produced by Richard Gere Productions and Drepung Loseling Institute, the North American Seat of Drepung Loseling Monastery, with the blessings of the Dalai Lama. The tour has three purposes - to contribute to world healing and peace movements, to generate greater awareness of the endangered Tibetan civilization, and to raise support for the refugee community in India.

Admission to the Feb. 24 performance is $10 for the general public, $5 for non-WCU students and for university faculty staff, and free to Western students with valid identification cards. Tickets can be purchased at the information desk of A.K. Hinds University Center or the Ramsey Center box office. For information, call (828) 227-7206.