In1937,TsetenDrolmawasbornintoaserf鈥檚familythatlackedahomeorland.InoldTibet,officials,aristocratsandhighrankingmonks,aswellastheiragents,accountedforonlyfivepercentofTibet鈥檚population,buttheyownedalmostallofTibet鈥檚farmland,pastures,forests,mountains,andrivers,aswellaslivestock.About95percentofoldTibet鈥檚populationwasserfswithnomeansofproduction.Andserfswereforcedtoworktheestatesoflordsandhandoverthemajorityoftheirharvesttothelandowner,leavingonlyasmallportionfortheirsurvival.TsetenDrolmaexperiencedhungerandchillsinheryouth.
Duringaharvestbreakin1972,TsetenDrolmasingsasong.CFB
Asaserf鈥檚daughter,TsetenDrolmacertainlyhadnochancetogotoschool,whichwasaprivilegereservedonlyforaristocraticsons.Sheusuallyherdedlambsandcattleforhermasters.However,Tsetendidn鈥檛blamehersituationontheserfsystem.鈥淭helords鈥檆hildrenwerebornlucky,鈥漵hethought.
In1951,TibetwasliberatedpeacefullybythePeople鈥檚LiberationArmy(PLA).Asaresult,TsetenDrolma鈥檚meagerprospectstotallychanged.ThePLAArtTroupetriedtorecruitTsetenDrolmaafterhearinghersing.ShewashesitanttoaccepttheinvitationbecauseshewasunfamiliarwiththePLAandtheCommunistPartyofChina.Whileshewascontemplatingwhethertojoin,shefoundthechancetovisitotherplacesofChinaandsignedup.In1957,shejoinedotheryoungpeopleonatourofsomeareasbeyondTibet.Shewasstunnedtoseethatotherfarmersdidn鈥檛havetohandovertheirharvest.Thethree-monthtripturnedherworldupsidedown.
In1958,herloveforsingingandhopetoavoidstarvingpushedhertojointhearttroupeofthePLA.Ayearlater,DrolmawassenttoXianyangCity,ShaanxiProvince,tostudyatitsTibetInstitute.Forthefirsttime,TsetenDrolmahadthechancetositinaclass.Afterhalfayearofstudying,shefoundanothernewopportunity:ShanghaiConservatoryofMusicintroducedclassesespeciallyforminorityethnicgroups.Thankstoherbeautifulvoice,Tsetenwasrecruited.
October8,2003:TsetenDrolmabowstotheaudienceafterasoloconcertheldinNanjing,capitalofJiangsuProvince.CFPAttheShanghaiConservatoryofMusic,TsetenDrolmastudiedunderWangPinsu.TsetenDrolma鈥檚highestnotewassohighthatWangcouldnotfindacorrespondingpianokey.ShedecidedtotrainDrolmadifferently.WanginstructedhertokeepthesinginghabitsofTibetanfolksongs,buttaughthersomescientificmethodstooptimallydevelophernaturalvoice.Afterprofessionaltraining,TsetenDrolmapreservedherTibetanflavors.Atthattime,becauseoflanguagebarriersandaweakeducationalbase,itwashardforTsetenDrolmatostudymusictheory.ItwasalsohardforWangtoteach.Ultimately,WanglearnedTibetanjusttoteachTsetenDrolma.
Tibetansongsaremostlyloudandclearbutusuallygetweakasthenotesgohigher.ThankstoWang鈥檚guidanceandthestudent鈥檚efforts,TsetenDrolmabecameaworld-classsinger.
In1965,28-year-oldTsetenDrolmareturnedtoTibetandjoinedtheSongandDanceTroupeoftheTibetAutonomousRegion.ShevisitedalmosteveryvillageinTibettosingforthepublic.Beginningin1974,TsetenDrolmasuccessivelyservedasvicepresidentoftheBureauofCultureofTibet,vicechairwomanofthePeople鈥檚PoliticalConsultativeConferenceofTibetAutonomousRegionandvicepresidentofChinaFederationofLiteraryandArtCircles.In1994,TsetenDrolmalaunchedafundforTibetansingers.Forher,thedevelopmentofTibetanmusicisalife-longmission.
TibetanMusic:FromTibettotheWorld
Backinthe1960s,Tibetanmusicfeaturedanaturalstyle,andpopularsongsoftenpraisedtheCommunistPartyofChina,ChairmanMaoZedong,thePLAandTibet鈥檚newlook.TibetansingerswererepresentedbyTsetenDrolma.Inthe1990s,Yatung,knownasthe鈥淭ibetanKingofPop,鈥漣nspiredawaveofTibetanmusicproducersandsingersdevotedtomakingTibetanpopularmusicaspecialgenreinChinesepopmusic.ZhuZheqin(Dadawa)releasedthealbumVoicesfromtheSkyin60countriesaroundtheword,whichenabledTibetanmusictobeheardbytheworld.Sincethedawnofthe21stCentury,thepopularityofTibetanculturehasacceleratedthedevelopmentofTibetanmusic.InfluentialTibetanmusicfiguresfrom1990shavestartedpromotingTibetancultureandexploringtraditionalTibetanmusic.Anartistperformsatalking-singingversionofKingGesar.Inthepast,suchlegacieswerepreservedonlyinmemoryandpassedonbywordofmouth.
October1975,Beijing:ArtistsfromtheTibetSongandDanceTroupedancewiththeircounterpartsfromZhejiangProvince.byGuDehua
August2009:PrimaryschoolstudentsinLhasaperformaTibetanOperainfrontofthePotalaPalace.TibetanOperaisacentralfolkartinTibetanculture.Performersmakechangestofitlocaltastes.byKelsangDawa