Lama Gyurme & Jean-Philippe Rykiel

LAMA GYURME (Pronounced Djiurmé)
Born in Bhutan in 1948, Lama Gyurme exhibited very early exceptional qualities and a strong attraction for the monastic life. At the age of four he was entrusted by his family to the monastery of Djang Tchub Tcheu Ling in Bhutan, where his inclination for sacred music was rapidly revealed. He became a permanent resident of the monastery at the age of nine and received a complete religious education (sacred texts, writing) and an initiation into the traditional arts, such as music.

He made his first three-year retreat (a stage required on the lamaïc path) at the monastery of Sonada in India. He was then twenty and it is during this retreat that he was named ‘Ouzme – Master of Music’ by the most Venerable Kalu Rinpoche.

After a stay at the Monastery of Rumtek (Sikkim), he went on to perfect his religious education in Bhutan and received numerous initiations before receiving his degree as a teacher of the Kagyupa tradition which was conferred by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa.

In France since 1974, he has directed the Kagyupa Centre in Paris (Kagyu Dzong) and, since 1982, the Vajradhara Ling Centre in Normandy.

JEAN-PHILIPPE RYKIEL
Born blind in 1961, Jean-Philippe Rykiel taught himself the piano from a very early age. If he recognises the influence of Thelonious Monk as preponderant in his decision to become a musician, it was on discovering Pierre Henry that he became impassioned by the perspectives offered by synthesisers.

His technical mastery of the instrument and his musical intuition rapidly brought him recognition by his contemporaries, providing him with many experiences and collaborations as programmer (Vangelis), instrumentalist (Steve Hillage, Jon Hassell, Didier Malherbe) or arranger (Xalam, Salif Keita, Papa Wemba, Leonard Cohen, Youssou N’Dour to cite just a few…). He co-composed and co-produced ‘Eyes Open’ for Youssou N’Dour in 1992, a collaboration which continued for the worldwide hit album ‘The Guide/Wommat’ in 1994.

Paralleling these multiple encounters, he followed a more personal musical search that witnessed a first solo album’s appearance in 1982 – a work steeped in musicotherapy under the direction of Dr. Patrick l’Echevin – and music composed for performances and for audio-visual (the score and arrangements for the films ‘Les Pierres Bleues Du Désert’ and ‘L’Enfant Lion’, and commercials for Christian Dior and Kenzo).