Both musicians have established a brilliant non-verbal understanding and an exciting stage partnership. The program manager of the Viljandi Folk Music Festival Tarmo Noormaa says: “They are both fantastic people and true musicians.” Loten and Silver will join forces at this concert to show the spiritual dimension of Tibetan culture by performing spiritually empowering, intelligent music that is both rooted in tradition and contemporary.

Loten Namling is a singer, artist, and caricaturist. He was born in a Tibetan family in India and learned Tibetan culture and the teachings of the Dalai Lama from his parents. Each day, even during hard work in the fields, would always be accompanied by songs reflection upon a multitude of experiences. The 14th Dalai Lama once called Loten a singer with a voice. This has to do not only with his skill in music, but also his ability to reach people. 

At his concerts and workshops, Loten adds a spiritual dimension to songs and stories, and he uses these opportunities to shine a light upon the commonalities and differences among people and cultures. The musician first captures the listener’s heart with his powerful, extensive, rich, beautiful voice, as it resonates in the heart, the soul, and the mind, painting an image of the world, people’s fates, it touches deeply and expands globally. 

His mission is to show Tibetan music and traditions to the world in order to promote an understanding of Tibetan history and its people’s fight for self-determination. In 2013, Loten gained wide recognition for Tibet with his ‘Journey for Freedom – One Man, One Path’, where he dragged a black coffin with the sign FREE TIBET from Bern to Geneva. Upon his arrival, he gave a concert in front of the UN headquarters building.

This time, Loten Namling’s performance will be embellished with elaborate rhythms and vocals by singer and master of many instruments Silver Sepp. He is both a troubadour with a guitar in his hands and also an inventive dreamer. He is able to make music with traditional instruments and everyday objects alike. He has constructed a ‘nail-harp’ from his grandfather’s fishing net stand, he also plays the wheel of an old Latvian bicycle, making it sound thrilling combined with vocals and clarinet, leading his audiences on a journey through the murky meadows and wild beaches of Estonia.

Loten Namling, vocals and instruments

Silver Sepp, vocals and instruments

An hour before the concert, at 18.00, there will be an opportunity to get to know Loten Namling more closely during a pre-concert conversation on the topic ‘The world up close: Tibet and the human voice’, which will be led by the artistic director of the concert hall, Orests Silabriedis.