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January 28th saw the first of 20 concerts that will benefit the humanitarian mission of Gyalwang Drukpa, a leader of Tibetan Buddhism affiliated with the Drukpa Charitable Foundation and who will be visiting the U.S. in September upon the completion of the tour.
The first "Evening of Higher Consciousness" concert was at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles and featured performances by Poe, Ben Lee, Astrella Celeste and Amrita Sen, as well as Jerry Vivino of the Max Weinberg 7 and "an all star jam" featuring Fishbone's Norwood Fisher with Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns (and founding member of Guns N' Roses), Sublime's Jack Maness, Veruca Salt's Kellii Scott, and others. A similar lineup of musicians and activists will lead every concert on the tour, which will hit New York, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, Las Vegas, Austin, Nashville, New Orleans, and other cities around the country. Six Feet Under's Matthew St. Patrick hosted the evening, which also featured BMI Vice President and human rights activist Aaron Cohen of AbolishSlavery.org.
Spreading the humanitarian message
Local community heroes will be recognized during the concerts, which the Gyalwang Grupta hopes will inspire others to humanitarianism efforts. The Drukpa Charitable Foundation, which will benefit from the tour, seeks to achieve its goal of global harmony and regional empowerment by supporting educational facilities, humanitarian and medical assistance efforts, cultural preservation, and gender equality.
Focused primarily on the remote cultures of the Himalayas, the foundation supports the Druk White Lotus School (which is the focus of a documentary shown during the concerts), a unique school in India's "Little Tibet" that provides modern education but also teaches the traditional values of Ladakhi culture—as well as environmental sustainability, a message driven home by the threats that global warming presents to the fragile Himalayan environment. The building has received awards for its earth-conscious architecture, and planned future branches of the school will focus particularly on educating girls in more remote areas.
The foundation also supports art and cultural preservation, as well as a medical clinic—again, primarily in the Himalayan region, but at least some of the concerts on the current tour will also benefit relief efforts in Haiti.
Tickets available at www.drupkausa.org and www.musictoday.com.
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