Ani Choying Drolma

Ani Choying Drolma is a Buddhist nun whose voice has carried Tibetan sacred chants from the meditation halls of Kathmandu to concert stages worldwide. Born Choying Drolma in Nepal, she took ordination as a nun in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition and has spent more than three decades balancing monastic discipline with a recording career that introduced traditional chant to global listeners unfamiliar with the liturgical music of Himalayan Buddhism.

Her repertoire draws directly from the Tibetan Buddhist canon, particularly devotional chants to Tara, the female bodhisattva of compassion, and mantra recitations used in daily monastic practice. Where many Western adaptations of sacred music layer production or reinterpretation, Ani Choying preserves the melodic contours and Sanskrit-Tibetan phonetics of the original liturgy, often accompanied only by Tibetan singing bowls or damaru drums. Her voice, a clear soprano trained through years of ritual recitation, delivers these texts with minimal ornamentation, maintaining the meditative function they serve in monastery settings.

Her recording career began in the late 1990s when guitarist Steve Tibbetts, who had been traveling in Nepal, proposed a collaboration. The result was *Cho*, released in 1997 on the Hannibal label, which paired her unaccompanied chant with Tibbetts' sparse guitar textures. The album brought her music to audiences in North America and Europe and marked the beginning of a series of recordings including *Selwa* and *Inner Peace*, albums that remained close to traditional forms while reaching beyond the devotional community. In 2004 she released *Moment*, and later *Smile* and *Warmth*, each documenting different facets of the Tibetan chant repertoire.

Ani Choying was raised in Kathmandu and ordained at a young age under the guidance of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a respected Dzogchen master who established Nagi Gompa, a nunnery perched on the forested slopes above the Kathmandu Valley. She has lived and practiced at Nagi Gompa for much of her adult life, a community where nuns maintain a schedule of study, meditation, and ritual service. Her decision to pursue music was initially unconventional within her monastic environment, but she framed the work as an extension of dharma practice, using royalties and performance fees to fund educational and social welfare projects in Nepal.

Beyond recording, she founded the Arya Tara School in Kathmandu, a boarding school offering free education to girls from marginalized communities across Nepal, including remote Himalayan villages where access to schooling remains limited. The institution provides instruction in Nepali, English, Tibetan language, and Buddhist philosophy, and has educated hundreds of students since its establishment. She has also supported the Nun's Welfare Foundation, which funds healthcare, education, and infrastructure for nuns in Nepal and India. Her international concert schedule has taken her to venues in the United States, Australia, Japan, and across Europe, often performing in theaters, meditation centers, and festivals focused on world sacred music.

Ani Choying continues to reside at Nagi Gompa when not traveling, maintaining her monastic vows and leading group practices. She periodically tours to support the Arya Tara School and related humanitarian projects, and remains active in recording work that documents lesser-known Tibetan liturgical traditions. Interviews with outlets including the BBC and *Tricycle: The Buddhist Review* have profiled both her music and her advocacy for educational access in Nepal.

For listeners seeking an entry point into Tibetan Buddhist chant that honors both tradition and accessibility, Ani Choying Drolma offers recordings that function as both devotional practice and contemplative listening.