The Loden Foundation

Aa-Yang Music School, one of the projects supported by the Loden Foundation in 2010, launched a new musical album coinciding with the birth anniversary of the late third king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk. The album contains eight songs which are all traditional songs and most of them sung by Jigme Drukpa, the founder and director of the school.

Jigme said: "The main objective of producing this album is to pay tribute to his majesty the late third king of Bhutan and as such I have kept the title Homage". This new album was made with the aim of preserving and promoting the traditional music in the country.

There are presently about 31 children going to Aa-Yang music school. As an artist and Bhutan's first ethnomusicologist, Jigme provides lessons in both western and traditional music. Besides the daily music classes, his team also performs concerts frequently. He also visits schools in Thimphu and teaches basic music to school students.

 Jigme is from eastern Bhutan and received his degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Bergen in Norway. He plays a range of traditional Bhutanese instruments and sings in the two distinctive styles of Bhutanese secular music, zhung-dra and bö-dra. He worked for the Royal Academy of Performing Arts in Thimphu as a vice principal before founding the Aa-yang Music School. Jigme plans to open a branch in the central part of Bhutan in a couple of years from now.