Whispering Sky

In this exceptional performance Tenzin Choegyal (Australia) and Tenzin Kunsang (Japan) come together to share music and dance from all layers of Tibetan society.

A son of Tibetan nomads, Tenzin Choegyal feels a particular connection to the music of the high Himalayan plateau. In recent years he has worked with Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson and Australia’s own Matt Corby.

Through song, dance and warm explanations, Choegyal and Kunsang take audiences on a musical journey which transcends cultural boundaries and brings Tibetan music firmly into a very contemporary setting. The result is a joyful celebration of dance, music, song and spirit.

Tenzin Choegyal, Tibetan-Australian singer-songwriter, activist and cultural ambassador,  is one of a handful of artists keeping Tibet’s music alive in the freedom of exile. He first performed in Australia in 1997 and is now considered one of the world’s finest musicians in the Tibetan tradition. A son of Tibetan nomads, he plays dranyen (Tibetan lute) and lingbu (bamboo flute) but is best known for his extraordinary vocal ability.

Tenzin is a regular at festivals across Australia including Woodford, WOMADelaide, Port Fairy, Denmark Festival of Voice, Boomerang at Byron Bluesfest, Garma Festival and Alice Springs Desert Festival.

Internationally he has performed in New Zealand, Japan, India, Germany, Bangladesh, Russia Mongolia and USA, including several performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. In 2026 Tenzin’s album Snow Flower won the QMA World Music Award and was nominated for an ARIA, and in 2025 he won the Contemporary Album Australian Folk Music Award for his album Whispering Sky.

Tenzin Kunsang is a classically trained singer, dancer and multi-instrumentalist with a broad repertoire including Tibetan opera and his own original compositions. A second-generation Tibetan refugee, Kunsang was born in Dharamsala, India, and has lived in Nagano, Japan since 2010.

Kunsang studied traditional singing, dance, opera and instrumental performance at the prestigious Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala, India, one of the first institutions established in exile by the H.H. Dalai Lama. He now regularly tours Japan and internationally, either solo or with one of his three bands. Kunsang performs vocals and plays the damnyen, erhu, bansuri and other traditional instruments and is part of WATARA, a multi-ethnic performing arts group which skilfully fuses Japanese, Korean and Tibetan music and dance.