| Chöying Drolma | |
|---|---|
| Labels | Six Degrees Records Hannibal/Rykodisc Records |
| Website | http://www.choying.com/ |
Ani Choying Drolma (born June 4, 1971, in Kathmandu, Nepal), also known as Choying Drolma and Ani Choying (Ani, "nun", is an honorific), is a Buddhist nun and musician from the Nagi Gompa nunnery in Nepal. She is known in Nepal and throughout the world for bringing many Tibetan Buddhist chants and feast songs to mainstream audiences.
Ani Choying was born in 1971 in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Tibetan exiles. She entered monastic life as a means of escape from her physically abusive father, and she was accepted into the Nagi Gompa nunnery at the age of 13.[1] For a number of years, the monastery's resident chant master (who was trained directly by the wife of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche) taught Ani Choying the music that she is famous for performing.
In 1994, guitarist Steve Tibbetts visited the nunnery and eventually recorded much of the Tibetan music with Ani Choying on two albums. The recordings, titled Chö and Selwa, were released to critical acclaim. Tibbetts and Ani Choying embarked on small performance tours, which included shows at several historical Tibetan monasteries.
Sina Vodjani recorded an album in collaboration with Ani Choying Drolma.[2]
Ani Choying Dolma is part of a fairly large group of musicians in the Tibetan tradition now active outside Tibet, including singer Techung, singer Karjam Saeji, singer Phurbu T Namgyal, flautist Nawang Khechog, singer Amchok Gompo Dhondup, singer Yungchen Lhamo and Jewish-American Tibetan-genre performer Amalia Rubin.