Festival of Tibet

17/07/2026

Curated by Vanessa Tomlinson, Brisbane Festival will present the Australian premiere of Be the Sky - Tenzin Choegyal’s collaboration with Philip Glass - in Brisbane.
Be the Sky weaves Tenzin’s Tibetan musical lineage with Philip Glass’s unmistakable musical language in a meditation on compassion, impermanence and our shared humanity.

Ticket 🎟️ links 🎟️ Tickets https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/events/be-the-sky

Joining Tenzin will be Alex Gray from Dunvagen (NYC), who worked closely with Philip Glass and Tenzin throughout the project, alongside Vanessa Tomlinson, Erik Griswold, the Queensland Conservatorium String Orchestra and Conservatorium Chorus, with faculty guests and students from the Queensland Conservatorium.

Created in honour of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Be the Sky also celebrates Philip Glass ahead of his 90th birthday this coming January.

Dates & Times Monday 7 Sep, 7:30pm
Duration: 70 minutes, no interval

🎟️ Tickets via the link in bio.
📷 Main image by David Kelly, Andreas H. Bitesnich, Tenzin Chonjor Alexander von Busch. Palm image of Philip Glass by Tenzin with artwork by Tenzing Rigdol designed by Jamyang

Brisbane Festival Vanessa Tomlinson Erik Griswold Alex Ring Gray Queensland Conservatorium Philip Glass

05/07/2026

Happiest 91st Birthday to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet!

On June 19, 2011, my root Guru spoke to a gathering of Australian artists, sharing heartfelt wisdom on how to maintain optimism even during our darkest moments.

I wanted to share this video postcard a friend created which combines His Holiness’s words and 12 beautiful sketches of His Holiness in motion by a Japanese artist (whose name I am still looking for!), set to the track "A Big Hug" from the album Whispering Sky. It truly feels like a warm embrace for the soul. Happiest Birthday & Thank you, His Holiness, for everything! I am holding your words close to my heart and always try my best to put them into action.

གངས་རི་རྭ་བས་བསྐོར་བའི་ཞིང་ཁམས་སུ། །�ཕན་དང་བདེ་བ་མ་ལུས་འབྱུང་བའི་གནས། །�སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ།�ཞབས་པད་བསལ་བརྒྱའི་བར་དུ་བརྟན་གྱུར་ཅིག།།

Hope this video postcard gives some inspiration to anyone who encounters it.

Happiest 91st Birthday to His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet! O...

05/07/2026

01/07/2026

Remembering our dear friend Bob la, as he enters the 3rd week of his Bardo journey. May every prayer, every offering, and every loving thought support his journey. With deep gratitude, love, and dedication. Much love to all his family and friends.

Oh! white crane,
lend me your wings.
I will not fly far.
From Lithang, I shall return.
- 6th Dalai Lama

Spring has departed,
the birds cry,
fish have tears in their eyes.
- Matsuo Bashō

If you want to know
where my heart lives,
ask the wind
that crosses the mountain.
- Tenzin

Photo is after a special concert I offered for him, Nena, and friends of Tibet House US & Menla in Leh during His Holiness’s Kalachakra teaching. The T-shirt Bob la is wearing was designed for the Festival of Tibet, with “His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the Moon,” which he loved wearing. Tibet House US - NYC & Menla

17/06/2026

We’re deeply saddened by the passing of Prof. Robert A.F. Thurman, Tibetans lovingly called him “Bob la.” A dear friend, passionate supporter of Tibet and Freedom and lifelong friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Bob la has left us for his inward journey. Thank you with deep gratitude for your unwavering commitment to the Tibetan cause.

Whenever I met Bob la or Nena la, they would joyously call me “Oh! My Tibetan Snow Lion brother” and I would call Bob la, “Our American Snow Lion with a huge Tibetan Heart.” These little joyous moments would fill the whole space with love and big hearty laughters. One of my fav memory is the super special private intimate concert I gave for Bob, Nena & Ganden la’s friends in Ladakh at the altitude of 11,500 feet above sea level during the Kalachakra initiation by His Holiness in Leh.

With love and much prayer I say Safe passage through the bardo, my dear friend. And my heartfelt condolences to Nena la & Family and all the friends of .us

We will miss you our American Snow Lion with a Tibetan heart Bob la! Here is something simple yet powerful that everyone can recite.

Om Ma Ni Padme Hum ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱོུཾ།

May the element of space not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the Realm of the blue buddha.
May the element of water not rise up as enemy,
may you see the Realm of the white buddha.
May the element of earth not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the yellow buddha.
May the element of fire not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the red buddha.
May the element of air not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the green buddha,
May the rainbow of the elements not rise up as enemies,
may you see the realm of all the buddhas.
May the sounds, lights and rays not rise up as enemies,
may you see the infinite realms of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones.
May you know all the sounds as your own sound,
may you know all the lights as your own light,
may you know all the rays as you own ray.
May you spontaneously know the bardo as yourself,
may you attain the realms of the three kayas.

16/06/2026

Tashi Delek from Oslo! With Tibetans in Tibet and in exile, His Hol...

16/06/2026

When culture, courage and creativity jam together, you get something unforgettable.

Huge congratulations to Tenzin Choegyal, winner of the World Music category at the 2026 Queensland Music Awards, proudly supported by the Queensland Government!🌟

From his early days in the Tibetan Children’s Village to building his musical career in Brisbane, Tenzin’s story is one of resilience, creativity and cultural pride. His award‑winning album Snow Flower reflects the many cultures that make up modern Australia, while honouring the deep traditions of his Tibetan heritage.

Tibetan communities around the world are celebrating this win, and so are we. 🎉

📸: Supplied, Tenzin Choegyal

16/06/2026

16/06/2026

Thank you to everyone at Oslo Freedom Forum for welcoming me, along with so many inspiring Tibetan activists and advocates for freedom from around the world.

As we say goodbye, I say -
“Let us say goodbye, say goodbye to meet again soon. In the meantime, may we meet each other in all forms of life, with freedom in our hearts.”

And as we part ways, I also carry with me Richard Gere’s powerful reminder of the importance of humility and humor when standing up for what you believe in against all odds.

Deep gratitude to Richard Gere for decades of unwavering support for the Tibetan freedom movement and standing with those whose voices are too often ignored.

It was an honor to gift him a Vinyl copy of limited edition of my recently released album, Be the Sky, created in collaboration with Philip Glass in honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday. The album features the children of Tibetan Children’s Village, Saori Tsukada, Alex Gray, and the Scorchio Quartet. Cover art by my dear friend Tenzing Rigdol. “It so nice and good to hold the music.”

Until we meet again. 🙏✨
RichardGere DalaiLama90 HumanRights