Tibetan Philharmonic Orchestra shares music from the plateau with the world

At 12 years of age, when many of his peers entered monasteries, Penba joined a Tibetan opera troupe, driven by his love of music.

Over four decades, love has taken him to universities in Beijing and Shanghai, as he performed in front of increasingly large crowds across China.

Now, aged 50, Penba is the chief conductor of the Tibetan Philharmonic Orchestra, one of China's few philharmonic orchestras made up of ethnic minority musicians.

He led his 68-member orchestra to southwest China's Chongqing Municipality this week, bringing plateau music to Western China's Symphony Week.

Most of the pieces, composed by native Tibetan artists, had a quick tempo: "Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon," "Sherpa Dance Music," "Hometown Sentiment" and "Festival Valse."

As a special treat, their repertoire also included "Pleasant Sunrise," a classical piece Chongqing people adore.

Their performances at the Chongqing Grand Theater Thursday night were met with rapturous acclaim and ignited in the audience enthusiasm for Tibetan folk art and culture.

"It's such a delight!" said university teacher Gan Lu who has visited Tibet twice. She went to the concert with her fiance.

Again and again, Penba bowed to the enthusiastic crowds.

"We were fully prepared and confident this time," he said.

Dream Fulfilled

When the orchestra performed at the National Grand Theater in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in April, Penba admitted he was nervous.

"As the conductor, I was the last one to appear on the stage. While I was waiting, I saw that I would not be able to see the audience through the backstage screen," he said. "That was tough. I told myself to do my best even if no one was watching."

When the orchestra finished their last piece, Penba was almost deafened by the thundering applause. "As I turned around and faced the audience, I felt that my childhood dream had come true. I was so proud to be a Tibetan."

It was the first time ever the orchestra with 66 Tibetans, one Muslim Hui and one Han -- both of whom were born and brought up in Tibet -- performed outside of their plateau home.

Along with the Western orchestral instruments, the orchestra added Tibetan sounds to their performances -- yak horn pipes, traditional percussion instruments from the Potala Palace, 4-meter-long Tibetan bugles and banjo-like stringed instruments.

The Tibetan Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2002 as a loose band of artists. It included musicians from a Lhasa-based singing and dancing troupe, art teachers from Tibet University, and folk artists from a famed troupe based 131 kilometers from Lhasa in Shannan Prefecture.

"When we have to meet for rehearsals and performances, it takes time to bring everyone together," said Penba.

But lack of funds, weak organization and low efficiency are nothing compared to their lack of original pieces. "We only have a few pieces we composed on our own. This is our biggest problem," said Penba.

"While most Chinese philharmonic orchestras copy foreign bands, we copy them, the copycats, from the inland regions of China."

Despite the difficulties, Penba and his pals never give up hope. "Tibet has a richness in music and a huge audience. Symphonies will certainly be popular."

"When we play classical pieces like 'Radetzky March' and 'Carmen' and well-known Chinese and Tibetan pieces, our audience are fascinated," said Luo Xuelai, a Tibet University teacher and violinist in the orchestra.

At least six of Luo's students are also in the orchestra.

Stepping Out

Penba, who first learned the two-stringed "erhu" in Beijing and Shanghai and then trained as a conductor, said he feels blessed to have been able to play music throughout his life.

"I hope one day the Tibetan Philharmonic Orchestra can perform at world-class music halls around the world. Using Western music, we love to share our unique culture and way of life with the rest of the world -- this is what communication is about."

When he gets older, Penba said he will train young musicians to carry on his cause of promoting Tibetan culture.

Tibet's regional cultural bureau has vowed to support the orchestra.

"We will create opportunities for them to perform in inland cities and encourage leading artists from other provinces to join them," said Lhaba, a bureau official in charge of art.