THE SOLOISTS
LAMA SAMTEN YESHE RINPOCHE
A unique participation is that of Lama Samten Yeshe Rinpoche, who decided to take part in this project because of its ethical and spiritual implications.
Geshe Samten Yeshe Rinpoche was born in Kham, Menya, in Eastern Tibet. At the age of nine, Rinpoche took monastic vows and became a monk. He studied « Rime » Buddhism with Lama Tulku Ayung Rinpoche and many others great Tibetan masters from the five tibetan buddhists schools. At the age of eighteen, Rinpoche went in India where he studied and practiced Bön Buddhism (the most ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism) for 16 years at Menri Tashi Ling Monastery, Dolanji. He had the great privilege to receive many direct teachings, essential instructions, empowerments from H. H. Menri Trizin Rinpoche, the Abbot of the Monastery and the official spiritual leader of the Yundrung Bön lineage, as well as from H. E. Yongdzin Namdak Tenzin Rinpoche and Menri Ponlop Rinpoche.
He broadened his spiritual knowledge and practice of Bön Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen under the guidance of these three main holders of the Bön lineage.He studied different aspects of the Bönpo spiritual tradition such as the practices of the Nine Preliminaries, Primordial Vision, purification of the six realms, Tsalung. He received oral instructions in the practices of Dzogchen "the Great Perfection" and phowa (transference of consciousness). Rinpoche also studied philosophy and other topics of the Tibetan culture such as debate art, grammar, poetry, medicine and tibetan mandala art. He has-been the President and the Vice-President of the Bön Dialectic School in India and has been teaching younger students in Menri Monastery. Head of his class, Rinpoche successfully Passed His degree examination (Doctor of Philosophy) at Menri Monastery in 2010. Since 2011, Rinpoche has been living in France and has been teaching Tibetan Dzogchen Meditation and yoga in France and Europe.
In REKA Lama Samten Yeshe Rinpoche share some of the main rituals and prayers of the Bön tradition as the three heart mantras of Bön.An exceptional part of the lama will be singing a popular song dedicates to mothers. Even though the priest do not sing secular songs the lama had agreed to perform the traditional chant due to the importance of the archetype of the mother as a path to compaction within the Bön tradition.
GUNNLAUG THORVALDSDOTTIR
As an infant Gunnlaug Thorvaldsdottir, born in Reykjavik, Iceland, made such a strange and demonic sounds that her parents couldn't help wondering if the child was possessed by evil spirits, and at the age of 3 she was frequently "talking" to birds.
As a teenager she gained national attention for her bird's sound imitations and vocal abilities, appearing both on radio and TV, making performances of original poems and musical improvisation. Gunnlaug has made number of vocal appearances on CDs and for radio plays and film soundtracks.
In 2003-2005, Gunnlaug was awarded bursary to work in the music department of Fabrica in Treviso, Italy. There she worked with composer Andrea Molino as a soloist in the orchestral multimedia music theater piece “Credo”. In Fabrica Gunnlaug made her first solo c.d. “Survival Machines” which later was developed into a solo performance and premiered at the Pompidou Center in Paris in October 2006.
Gunnlaug features among 13 of the world’s most innovating vocal artists in the c.d. “Blood, muscles, air” curated by David Moss for the Sonic arts network in London. 2009 Gunnlaug did in collaboration with the spanish artist Naia del Castillo, the performance piece "Matryoshka", specially created for the contemporary art museum Esteban Vincente, premiered on the cultural night of Segovia "La noche de la Luna Llena", video of the performance was then shown throughout the summer 2009 in the museum. Recently, Gunnlaug appeared in the documentary of Ketill Larsen and did the soundtrack for the short films “A’mare”, which was shown at the Sundance film festival 2009 and I-DO-Air which won 2010 BAFTA for best short film and she also did music to the short film Chalk which was premiered now 2011 at the Berlinale film festival and has already won Best Live Action at the New York ICFF and as Best Short Film at Hamburg Mo&Friese. In may 2011 Gunnlaug acted the visions and the prologue in production of Macbeth by Teatro Euteca, Roma. She also did the music for the play and sang in it.Gunnlaug performs with Ana Sofrenovic in the piece In Between Spaces which is a part of the visual art project Displacement which was created for the Prague Quadrennial 2011 and is now showing there. Presently Gunnlaug lives in Rome where she's been working during the last couple of years with composer Maurizio Squillante in realizing her parts as Roxanne and to develope the part of Darius in his new opera “Alexander” which will open at the end of this year. She trains "bel canto" singing with the legendary 87 years old Japanese singer Michiko Hirayama.
In Summer 2015 Gunnlaug was chosen by Yuval Avital as one of the few selected artists to create a site-specific dialogue with his Icon-sonic installation "Alma Mater", in Milan's Fabbrica del Vapore.
YUSUF JOE LEGWABE
Joe grew up in Soweto, having absorbed one of the worst moments of the apartheid, which as for many other African artists made him extremely connected and proud of his roots.
Coming from a family related both to music and to shamanism, Joe had absorbed strongly these influences but at the same time didn’t close him to dialogue and collaboration with other cultures and musical worlds. His collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mombazo and with Master Drummers of Africa was his ticket out of South Africa, where he became a very active musician, now based in London, UK.
Today he is considered as one of the leading performers of Southern African music in the world. He is a phenomenal all round musician, playing around 25 different percussion instruments and has an extraordinary vocal range of four and a half octaves. He toured the world with Ipi Ntombi, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and has also worked extensively with Hugh Masekela. In the 1980s he worked with George Fenton on the film score Cry Freedom. Joe was a percussionist and dancer with Paul Young and Yazz,l and a soloist in Master drummers of Africa. In the international music scene, Joe had collaborated with
Lester Bowie & The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, The Temple Of Sound, Paul Young, Philip Bent e others. He Collaborates with Peter Gabriel’s Real-World records, and performs extensively all around the globe.
SOFIA KAIKOV
Sofia Kaikov, daughter of foremost Bukarian singer Barnoj Yizakov, is one of the most extraordinary voices of the extremely rare tradition of Bukarian Jews, a pearl of modal and epical singing. There is a tradition among the Bukharian Jews that they trace their ancestry to the Lost Tribes of Israel.
These Jews claim to be descendants of the Issachar, Nephtali, and Ephraim Israelite tribes who never came back from the Babylonian captivity after exile in the 7th century BCE. The Bukharian Jews of Central Asia were essentially cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for more than 2,000 years and somehow managed to survive and preserve their Jewish identity and heritage in the face of countless odds. They are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the years they have developed their own distinct culture.
Throughout the years, Jews from other Eastern countries such as Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Morocco migrated into Central Asia (usually by taking the Silk Road), all these joined the Central Asian Jewish community that was later on called the Bukharian Jews.
In Central Asia, they survived for centuries, subject to many conquering influences. Sofia is living today in Israel, Tel-Aviv, where she performs mainly within her community.
OMAR BANDINU
Omar Bandinu is one of the only sardinian bassu singers in the world. The Tenores singing is one of the more ancient ways of singing in the Mediterranean area. Nothing about its origins is sure, but the historians maintain that this traditional polyphony goes back to 3000 years ago.
Omar is one of the founders of the famous Tenores di Bitti “Mialinu Pira” : Having a style which is slightly less rough than that of other quartets, exemplary researchers in their heritage, impeccable executors with exceptional vocal quality, they have reached a level of excellence and of admiration which is without equal in Sardinia and in the whole world.
The Tenores di Bitti “Mialinu Pira” have a special place amongst the many groups in Sardinia. Their frequent performances on so many national television programs are to be remembered. In the last few years they've been touring extensively Europe (France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Nederland, Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Swiss, Ireland, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, Tunisia, Hungary, United Arab Emirates, Brazil , Japan and Israel).
It is also remarkable their participation in 2001 to the Christmas Concert in the Vatican for the Pope Giovanni Paolo II, the concert on May 2009 in the Concertgebouw Theatre in Amsterdam and in December in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
ENKHJARGAL ANDARVAANCHIG
Enkhjargal Dandarvaanchig, also known by his nickname - Epi, is considered to be one of Mongolia’s greatest living musicians of the Mongolian fiddle Morin huur & the overton/throat singing techniques, ‘harhiraa’, ‘höömii’ ‘Choomie’.
Epi was born 1968 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia). He grew up in a little village near the Russian border and He studied at Music-Conservatorium of Ulaanbaatar from 1990 – 1992. His teacher was the most known and best Moorin Hoor (Horsefiddle) player in Mongolia. During his studies Epi already played in a Moorin Hoor quintet also in the Mongolian television to keep traditional Mongolian music traditions alive. Because of his familiar background Epi is deeply rooted into the traditional and nomadic way of life that his people live in Mongolia. Epi’s father went into the steppe to raise horses, where Epi also has lost his heart at.
1993 Epi had travelled for the first time outside of Mongolia, during a concert tour in Germany. Since then Epihad been performing worldwide. His interpretation of the Mongolian folk music lets him step between two worlds and that is why one of his solo Cd’s is named “Hoirr Öngö” (between two worlds).
Epi currently lives in Karlsruhe (Germany) and is travelling a lot to share his passion (music) with the audience of Europe and the whole world.
