The Voice and Spirituality

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Panelist Giacomella Orofino at the Asia Society on Feb. 22, 2009. (Asia Society)

• Watch the video highlights (12 min., 25 sec.)

Part of Divinamente New York International Festival on Spirituality

Artistic Direction: Pamela Villoresi

With the collaboration of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Cultural Institute

NEW YORK, February 22, 2009 – As part of Divinamente New York, a five-night festival celebrating artistic exploration and spirituality, a diverse panel of women performers and scholars met atthe Asia Society to share their views on the topic of "the voice and spirituality."

Participants included Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo, who had given a concert at the Asia Society the night before; Italian actress and director Pamela Villoresi; Giacomella Orofino, professor of Tibetan literature at the Oriental University of Naples; and independent cultural entrepreneur Zeyba Rahman.

Among the highlights of the discussion, Lhamo describes her initial reception in the West after leaving her native country, while Orofino addresses the role of the human voice in Buddhistic tradition. Villoresi provides a vivid account of how she was able to harness the power of traditional Carnatic song while going through labor, and Rahman describes growing up with the qawwali tradition of Sufi mysticism.

A Soul of Asia Program, made possible by Ruth and Harold Newman.