D & I went to Tucson June 2 2007 to watch a performance by the Gyuto Monks Tibetan Tantric Choir.

What makes their chanting different is that each of these Gyuto monks have trained for years to learn how to sing as much as an entire chord at once.

"What's really special is that these monks can sing multiple tones simultaneously," said Jonathan Holden, a UApresents publicist. "It makes a half-dozen people sound like a 30- or 40-person choir. It's a very altering experience."

The singing is just a part of their intense religious training, which also includes yoga techniques, meditation and the study of Buddhist scripture.

"This form of chanting is a part of a sacred ritual; it's a practice. It's their yoga, as it were," Holden said.

When China took over Tibet in 1959, the Gyuto monks fled with the Dalai Lama from Lhasa, Tibet, where they had been living for centuries. The Gyuto monks are now living in exile, as are many other Buddhist sects, Holden said. The Gyuto monks are currently based out of a monastery near Dharamsala, India.

Most monks enter the monastery during childhood, eventually attainting the equivalent of a doctorate, Holden said.

When Grateful Dead artist Mickey Hart learned of the Gyuto monks in the 1980s, he worked to bring them from their monastery to the United States for a concert tour. They came through Tucson during that original tour, Holden said, and performed at Centennial Hall.

*** to say the least......the lady next to me was missing her "Buddha -nature" when she verbally spanked me during the intermission for taking this picture......((mind u....D & I were sitting front row center section....so....a few people heard this spanking))

hey...we arrived after everyone .....just before the performance started....i didnt know any better......

::: winkwink::::