Dechen Shak-Dagsay is a modern musician of traditional

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

s expressed in recent lyrical contexts.

Life

Shak-Dagsay was born in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

in 1959. When she was 4 years old, Shak-Dagsay's family moved to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where she grew up. She is the eldest daughter of Dagsay

Tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is an individual recognized as the reincarnation of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to be reincarnated, in turn, after death. The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibet ...

Rinpoche, a Tibetan Lama. Shak-Dagsay describes herself as committed to "preserving Tibetan culture in the West", having studied and performed traditional

Tibetan music The music of Tibet ( zh, 藏族音乐) reflects the cultural heritage of the trans-Himalayan region centered in Tibet, but also known wherever ethnic Tibetan groups are found in Nepal, Bhutan, India and further abroad. The religious music of ...

and dance throughout her childhood and adolescence. She has performed songs from her albums "''Jewel"'' and "''Day Tomorrow"'' at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

New York CIty New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for the Tibet House Benefit Concert. She has also performed at the Kee Club in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. She is also the founder of the Dewa Che charity organization, which engages in social projects in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, and a co-founder of the ''Beyond'' interfaith music projects based in Switzerland.

Albums

* ''Jewel'' (2012) * ''Asian Jewel'' (2014) * ''Day Tomorrow''
2015
* ''emaho – The Story of Arya Tara'' (2021) Shak-Dagsay is also featured on the ''Beyond'' albums with

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

, Regula Curti, and Sawani Shende-Sathaye.

References

External links

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shak-Dagsay, Dechen 1959 births Living people Politicians from Kathmandu Nepalese emigrants to Switzerland Swiss people of Tibetan descent Tibetan-language singers Tibetan Buddhists from Switzerland 20th-century Tibetan women singers Performers of Buddhist music 20th-century Swiss women singers 21st-century Swiss women singers