Semshae-Heart Songs CD Release Tour
Website: http://www.semshae.org
The new Semshae-Heart Songs album is comprised of contemporary and traditional Tibetan songs composed especially to help children learn some basic vocabulary of the Tibetan language. The songs teach the Tibetan numbers, colors, days of the week, and seasons, and convey cultural information about daily chores, visiting a temple, gardens, musical instruments, and peace. The CD notes provide the song lyrics in Tibetan script, phonetic Tibetan, and English translation, so children of any cultural background can sing along. The primary goal of this charming album is to ensure that Tibet’s language and culture of compassion are preserved through children’s music for all ages.
Semshae-Heart Songs will be officially released in New York City at Tibet House on May 22, 2010. The release is scheduled in conjunction with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit. The first copy will be offered to His Holiness to receive His blessing. Project founder and director, Tashi D. Sharzur (a.k.a Techung) will then conduct a CD Release Tour to introduce the CD to Tibetan communities in North America, Europe and Asia. Tashi’s tour schedule can be viewed by clicking “Upcoming Events” on Semshae’s website (http://www.semshae.org).
Tibetan Association of Southern California will organize the CD release party and community fundraising event on June 12 from 6-9p.m. to help their Sunday School education project. Tashi and the local Tibetan community children will sing songs from the new album, and he will be available to sign CDs. This event will take place at IBEW 8333 Airport Blvd, LA CA 90045. The cover charge is $20.00 Children under 16 free. For more info about the Tibetan community visit www.socaltibet.org
Many individuals are aware of Tibetan Buddhism’s culture of compassion and nonviolence, but they may not be aware that the continued existence of Tibetan culture is seriously threatened. Through music, Semshae – a non-political, privately funded project— contributes to the preservation of a part of Tibet’s culture and its dissemination around the world.
Semshae-Heart Songs will also be a welcome addition to the small library of Tibetan music for the many Westerners who are interested in Tibet and Tibetan culture. Exposing non-Tibetan children to the language and culture of a nation whose spiritual belief system emphasizes the happiness and well being of each human can be of benefit to today’s computer/cell phone-driven generation. This is the first album of its kind produced professionally in the West or anywhere in the Tibetan exile community.
Tashi Sharzur is a Tibetan traditional/contemporary singer who grew up in Tibetan refugee camps in Dharamsala, India and now lives with his daughters in the Bay Area, California. His parents followed the Dalai Lama into exile after the Communist invasion of his native country, Tibet, in 1959. His parents and many thousands of refugees searching for work and better life were hired by Indian government to build roads across the Himalayan region. Tashi, like many other children, was born in these makeshift refugee camps at a very difficult time. As Tibetan refugees gradually settled in India, the exiled Tibetan government, with guidance and support from Indian Government, built schools and monasteries. Tashi was sent to the Tibetan Dance and Drama School to learn music and folklore. After moving to United States to join a theatrical group, he co-founded Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera Company and was the artistic director till 2008. He also worked with the Milarepa Foundation in the 1990s and was involved in organizing its Tibetan Freedom Concerts and grassroots campaigns. He has made 7 albums of folk and contemporary Tibetan music, and recently performed at Carnegie Hall.
“It is my hope that through the efforts of Semshae
and through the power of music I can help to support
the next generation of Tibetans and the Tibetan culture.”
— Tashi Shazur, Artist, Founder, and Director of Semshae
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