Berkeley Buddhist Ritual Music Symposium

Drikung Kagyu Samtenling Nuns
Dehradun, India​

Drikung Kagyu Samtenling is a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery located in Dehradun, India, founded in 1992 as a branch of the Drikung Kagyu lineage's seat in exile. It functions as an educational center for a diverse group of nuns who hail from areas across the Himalayas, including Tibet, Ladakh, Kinnaur, and Nepal. With its core mission to preserve and promote the traditional Drikung Kagyu nunnery system, Samtenling Nunnery currently houses roughly sixty nuns who spend their time studying Buddhist philosophy, training in ritual arts, or engaged in meditation retreat. In 2009, the nuns of Samtenling Nunnery performed at the Victoria and Albert Museum's “A Day of Rare Buddhist Dances.” For this year's “Buddhist Ritual Music” conference at UC Berkeley, Samtenling Nunnery is represented by Konchok Gamtso, Konchok Tsechik, Meena Kumari, Sonam Choenzin, Tandup Angmo, and Tsewang Dolma Sherpa.

Karyovinga Shōmyō Kenkyūkai Ensemble
Tokyo, Japan

The Karyovinga Shōmyō Kenkyūkai Ensemble (or Kashōken for short) was founded in 1980 by priests of the Shingon school in order to study, disseminate, and pass down shōmyō ritual chanting in the tradition of the Buzan sect of the Shingon school. In 1966, about twenty Shingon priests under the leadership of Rev. Yuko Aoki (1891–1985), abbot of Hasedera (the head temple of the Buzan sect), gave public performances of ancient liturgical chant for the first time, which were received with great enthusiasm. These were followed by further performances in Japan—predominantly at the National Theater in Tokyo—and by highly praised performances in a several German cities during their first European tour in 1973.
In 1980 the hitherto loosely composed group of priests came together more formally as a permanent ensemble under the name Karyovinga Shōmyō Kenkyūkai (“The Karyovinga Association for the Study of Shōmyō Ritual Chanting”). Karyōvinga is the Japanese translation of kalaviṅka, the Sanskrit name of a mythical bird known for the unearthly beauty of its song. In Buddhism kalaviṅka is a symbol of transcendental understanding.
The ensemble now has ninety members from Shingon temples all over Japan. The ensemble has toured overseas with a variety of its members on a number of occasions. Most notably is their performance during the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria in 2013.
For their performance in Berkeley, Rev. Kojun Arai, one of the most celebrated shōmyō singers of Japan and a renowned scholar of Japanese Buddhist chant, will lead the ensemble.

Ven. Nivitigala Sumitta Thero
​Rosemead, California

Sumitta Thero holds two BA degrees and three masters degrees, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of the West, Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining UWest, Sumitta Thero was studying at University of Delhi, India and University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He then started teaching at the Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka apart from teaching in several other institutes as a visiting instructor. Thero has conducted several national and international academic conferences and workshops apart from attending a number of national and international Buddhist conferences. He is specialized in Buddhist Studies, Pali, Sanskrit, English literature and linguistics, and is vastly experienced as a Buddhist monk over three decades. He has presented a number of research papers in different national and international conferences too and is engaged in socio-religious activities to promote peace, harmony and humanity. He is also engaged in conducting meditation programs and Dhamma talks in the Los Angeles area.
He will perform the following chants in Berkeley: Buddha Vandana, Dhamma Vandana, Saṅgha Vandana, Maṅgala Sutta, Ratana Sutta, Karaṇīya Metta Sutta, Atthavīsati Paritta, Jaya Maṅgala Gāthā, Mahā Jayamaṅgala Gāthā, Jinapañjara Gāthā, and Jaya Paritta.