Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo talks tradition, new beginnings and the torch that has ignited international protests

At first, Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo’s music seems simply meditative, tranquil. As you might expect, the Tibetan Buddhist’s soft voice and ethereal instrumental choices summon up images of the world’s highest place and the peaceful conceit Westerners afford its inhabitants. Laced with breathy flute melodies and soaked in shimmery digital reverb, Lhamo’s devotional compositions might seem almost too perfect, devoid of any emotion other than serene mindfulness. However, on close listen, a thousand possibilities reveal themselves in these songs. A gentle sadness surfaces first, and rightfully so. Lhamo’s life story is a traumatic one, full of loss and pain. There is also a touch of loneliness, a subtle sense of alienation in the interplay of traditional Tibetan vocals and Western-style electric guitars. Lhamo, who lives in exile in New York City, practices an art that is outlawed in Tibet. As the world’s most famous Tibetan singer, Lhamo is a living symbol of the Tibetan diaspora, a cultural ambassador to a repressed, scattered society, and this disconnect is deeply present within her music.

One emotional state you will not find expressed in Lhamo’s catalogue is passive acceptance. “Defiance,” for example, off 1998’s Coming Home (released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World record label), burns with fiery indignation; the gravelly timbres of Tibetan throat singing provide a rough, bassy foil to Lhamo’s heartfelt soprano. Conversely, you won’t hear any outright rage—it’s more of a balanced, considered approach to things. Speaking to Lhamo on the phone on the eve of the 2008 Olympic Torch’s smuggler’s run through the streets of San Francisco, there was a similar progression of feeling that you might hear on one of her albums: from peaceful, to touchingly sad, to defiant and forthright.

“I always try to keep my grandmother’s teachings in mind,” Lhamo says, “But at the same time I live in the 21st Century. Some sounds I like very much, so I try to put them together. Traditions for everyone are very important, I think, but at the same time we can create new sounds.”

Lhamo, who was raised in Tibet, originally resisted her grandmother’s calls to learn Tibetan devotional songs. “I said, ‘I want to help people,’ “ Lhamo recalls. “And my grandmother said, ‘If this is the case, then you must learn how to sing these prayers.’ I replied, ‘Oh no, I never want to become a singer, I just want to help people.’” Singing seemed impractical to Lhamo. “I thought, ‘Here we are being punished, we cannot get three meals a day, and you are asking me to sing religious songs? People need food, not my voice.’ “ Fortunately, Lhamo’s grandmother pushed her to develop what she referred to as a “gift,” although Lhamo even resisted that: some “gift,” she thought, when her parents were in enforced labor and food was scarce. Eventually, Lhamo was convinced to flee Tibet over the Himalayas in 1989 with her son.

Lhamo’s tone becomes suddenly matter-of-fact when the subject of the current round of Tibetan protests comes up, though she remains positive. She cites an increased awareness of Tibetan issues as a “very good sign.” “My hope is that all the people in the world who look at things deeply see that this is not just Tibet,” she says. “If someone is lying about something, this is not very good for the world. It is sad that both Tibetans and Chinese die in Tibet, but it is sad wherever people are dying. The big problem now is that the Chinese are showing their own people dying in Tibet, but they are not showing that Tibetans are hurt, are also dying. Now the telephone lines are cut, and I cannot contact any of my family members. It’s not good. I think the Chinese need to find a solution, and I wish they would discuss this with the Dalai Lama. We are still neighbors, and the Lama said that he wants autonomy, not a free Tibet.” Her voice rises a bit for the first time in the interview. “Why they have this fear, and why they don’t accept anything from the Tibetan side, I think that says something.”

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