Yungchen Lhamo

The 1,000-mile journey from Lhasa in Tibet over the Himalayan mountains to Dharamsala in India has to be one the most testing and physically gruelling exploits that anyone can undertake. Yungchen Lhamo — her name means ‘Goddess of Melody’ and was given to her at birth by a lama — walked this path back in 1989 to pursue her spiritual practice.

Yungchen moved to Australia in 1993 where her first CD release Tibetan Prayer won an ARIA award for Best World Music Album in 1995. She then released three acclaimed albums on Real World Records: Tibet Tibet (1996), Coming Home (1998) and, in 2006, Ama, which features duets with Annie Lennox and Joy Askew.

She toured the world, visiting over 80 countries and performing on prestigious stages such as Carnegie Hall in New York, London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Louvre in Paris, the Vatican in Rome, and at numerous WOMAD festivals and rock concerts. She has collaborated with many well-known artists, including Natalie Merchant, Billy Corgan, Peter Rowan, Bill T Jones, and Russian classical pianist Anton Batagov.

In 2013 she stopped performing outside of the USA to spend time working with the homeless and mentally ill in Upstate New York, where she now lives.

Yungchen has a voice of astounding clarity and purity that promotes sound healing and spiritual awakening, and her ability to sing long-sustained pure notes has astonished many sound engineers.

Now in 2023 she has returned to Real World Records — and to the world stage — with her latest album One Drop of Kindness – one of love, compassion, offerings and wisdom, a reminder that each of us can make a difference and achieve spiritual awakening.

Further reading

GRIT wins Modern Scottish Classic Award

The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) has today announced Martyn Bennett’s final studio a...

The Almighty Groove offers Colombian rhythms and African roots on debut EP Frère d’Afrique

The Almighty Groove is the new production imprint of long-time musical adventurer, John Hollis.

‘I’m really moved by people’s response to it’ – John Metcalfe discusses the album Tree

John Metcalfe releases three new remixes of tracks from his album 'Tree' and brings a special perfor...

Track of the day: ‘Too Many Have Gone’ by The Breath

The Breath reveal their first new music since the release of their third album, Land of My Other. A...