Cultures at Risk Presenter Biographies

Gompo Dhundup

Tibetan music and dance: Gompo Dhundup and Jamyang Yeshi

Gompo Dhundup was born into a nomad family at Amchok, in the Amdo region of Tibet, and learned traditional Tibetan music, passed down through generations of Amdo people, from his uncle. Starting at age 17, he continued his music studies with two famous Amdo musicians, Phalgon and Dore. In 1996 he performed at a competition in Silong, winning an award.

Later that year, seeking a free artistic environment and desiring to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Gompo escaped across the mountains to India. Gompo arrived in Dharamsala and began working at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA); however, he became very ill and returned to Tibet in 1997. In 1999, Gompo performed pro-Tibetan songs at a Chinese-organized modern music competition for “ethnic minorities” in Lhasa, and was subsequently harassed by the Chinese authorities. He was forced to flee Tibet again in 2000, returning to Dharamsala, and to TIPA as an instructor of traditional Tibetan music.

Gompo has produced several CDs, including OM 1, 2, 3 and 4, and most recently OM 5, the first VCD produced by a Tibetan in exile. Through these recordings and through live performances, Gompo’s popularity has continued to grow in Tibet and India.