From noon until 1 p.m., the monks will sit with Students for a Free Tibet in the Pit to perform and discuss their work. At 3 p.m., the Abbot for the Gyuto Monks will speak at the Ackland Art Museum about the several pieces of Tibetan art currently on display there.
At 8 p.m., their stay will be capped with a performance of unique chants and Tibetan rituals at the University United Methodist Church, the concluding performance of the Carolina Union 2001-02 season.
Jennifer Smith, marketing and design manager for the Carolina Union, said the group's U.S. tour is meant to teach and illustrate the traditional Tibetan culture. "They'll be chanting and speaking a little bit about what they do, which is their goal for traveling in this country," she said.
Smith said that while their appearance here consists of just the concert, at other venues the monks have stayed several days to demonstrate their other forms of artistic expression, such as butter sculptures and sand mandalas.
The choir's journey from its home to touring in the United States was an unusual one.
The Gyuto order practiced Buddhism in Tibet, later setting up a monastery in Dharamsala, India, after being exiled from its home country in 1959. Years later, a decidedly Western influence discovered the monks and their prayer chants.
"One of the interesting things is that Mickey Hart, who was the Grateful Dead's drummer, is the one who discovered them and brought them to America," Smith said. "That's how they got here."
The choir released two albums in the late 1980s with Hart's assistance. Their music is distinctive because each monk sings an entire chord instead of an individual note -- the monks believe this type of sound can only come from someone who has achieved selfless wisdom.
To achieve a religious atmosphere, the Carolina Union scheduled the concert at the United Methodist Church on Franklin Street. While Tibetan monks chanting traditional prayers in a Protestant church might seem odd to some, the closing of Memorial Hall has required the Union to look for alternate venues.
