News
The self-made music ace PDF Print E-mail

Tandin Dorji receiving an award at the recent annual film awards21 May 2010 - He has had no formal training, but he is one of the best music directors in the country. He has won eight awards, includ­ing the best music composer and best background score, in the recent film awards.

But the journey for music director Tandin Dorji was not all smooth sailing.

His father died after he fin­ished class XII. So he could not continue his studies. But he got an opportunity to study arts in India and Bangladesh, which was not what he was interested in.

In 2000, he composed four songs and went to try his luck at Norling recording studio in Thimphu. He was rejected.

Rejection made no differ­ence to him. In fact, he started visiting Norling more often. It was during one of these vis­its that he met some Indian musicians hired by Norling. “I learned a few things from them and then thought that if they could why couldn’t I?” he said.

After that, with the help of a friend, he bought some mu­sical equipment and started composing music and songs.

Finally, after four years, in 2004, Tandin got his first break. Director Kesang P Jigme approached him to work in his film Khachhem. Since then, Tandin has be­come the most sought after music director.

Till date, he has worked in 107 films and composed 2,974 songs.

“Composing songs depend on the situation and under­standing of a story,” said the music director. “Sometimes, I take about an hour and a half, while there are times when I take weeks to compose a song.”

He seeks inspiration from the works of Indian music director AR Rahman and Nepali music director Raven Darshan Dara. He also get in­spired by the works of Pema Rinzin and Tsheten Dorji, two other Bhutanese musicians.

He started his career charg­ing Nu 700 for a song; now he charges Nu 120,000 for a film.

From Punakha and the el­dest of the three siblings, the 28-year-old music director recollects his late father sing­ing and teaching him songs on the dramnyen, which never interested him. He was more into singing and playing piano.

“It is not necessary to have formal training. All you have to do is be dedicated and cre­ative,” he said.

He wants to touch peo­ple’s hearts with music. “My greatest achievement is the song Karsel Dawa, which I composed for a late friend of mine.” The song has been used in the film 4 Friends.

Tandin Dorji has sung in some 30 music albums but says he does not want to sing. He wants to concentrate on music composition.

Tandin Dorji has a huge fan following. He receives calls from fans who appreci­ate his work when his films are released.

He said some fans called him up and asked him to sing. “I am a composer, not a singer, but I still couldn’t con­vince them so Ihad to sing a couple of times,” he said.

He, however, recollects getting threats when he was one of the jury members of Druk Star show. “At times, I got proposals from women and at times, threats,” he said.

He said he will never again judge any singing shows.

Apart from composing songs, he likes painting, foot­ball and archery.

He is presently working on a new film.

Source: http://www.bhutanobserver.bt

 
Loden joins the Prince’s Youth Business International PDF Print E-mail
27 April, 2010 - Nearly a year after starting the process, the Loden Entrepreneurship Programme has now become registered as a Pilot Youth Business Programme within the network of the Prince's Youth Business International (YBI). YBI is a not-for-profit organisation based in London, which leads a global network of independent initiatives helping young people start their own business and create employment. It assists young entrepreneurs who are unable to find support elsewhere, with a combination of access to capital, volunteer mentoring, and other business development services.

"YBI is delighted to welcome the Loden Entrepreneurship Programme, to the YBI Network," said Andrew Devenport, CEO of Youth Business International. "We are confident that the Loden Entrepreneurship will make a real impact on youth entrepreneurship in Bhutan and will change the lives of many. This is an exciting partnership and we very much hope that Loden Entrepreneurship Programme's association with the YBI Network proves to be of great and sustained value in developing a wonderful initiative."

"Loden is a pioneer in fostering an entrepreneurship culture in Bhutan and will benefit enormously from the experience of other YBI members, especially in the region," said LEP's director Gerard Tardy. Through the membership, Loden will have access to the YBI methodology, technical assistance, knowledge sharing, global best practice tools and software, participation in YBI forums and gatherings, and funding opportunities facilitated by YBI. The pilot phase will expire after 24 months before which Loden will have to apply for a fully accredited status within the network.

In the weeks preceding the registration, Sarah Mcmillan of YBI visited the Loden office in Thimphu and participated in the annual LEP training programme, which, she reported, is a good practice that other YBI programmes could adopt. She made presentations on YBI to the participants, met members of Loden Foundation and visited the project sites with the LEP team. "LEP is very well-organised and well-run programme offering quality support to aspiring young Bhutanese entrepreneurs," she said. "Its potential to support a growing number of entrepreneurs in Bhutan is significant." She recommended that the programme should plan for growth and improve its local mentoring process. She will be helping LEP develop its mentoring programme.

YBI was founded in the UK in 2000 and is one of The Prince's Charities of which HRH the Prince of Wales is President and the network spans some 40 countries. Its goal is to support 100,000 new young entrepreneurs annually by 2020, thereby create a total of more than one million jobs and make a significant contribution to the global employment challenge.

"We very much look forward to a long and successful partnership with LEP", said Hoang Anh Thi Le, who provides operational support to  YBI's pilot members.  Loden will be participating in a YBI forum in Mexico later this year and learning to make optimal use of the tools, services and networking opportunities provided by YBI.

 
Loden completes the third LEP training programme PDF Print E-mail
Traiing
in session 23 April, 2010 - The Loden Foundation successfully finished the third annual Loden Entrepreneurship Programme (LEP) atthe Institute of Management Studies on 18 April, 2010. The crash course focussed on the basic concepts and skills of the entrepreneurship. The participants were trained by the strong pool of resource persons including 3 international and 6 local experts. Some of the successful Bhutanese entrepreneurs were also invited to the course to share their business experience with the potential entrepreneurs.

TraineesThe two day course was attended by 45 young potential entrepreneurs from districts including Tashigang and Samtse. Loden offered prizes to participants who travelled long distances to attend the course. Attractive prizes were also distributed to the most interactive candidate during the entire two day course and also to the best group. The board members of the Loden Foundation also attended the beginning and end of the course and met the participants.

After the crash course, the LEP team visited some of the projects in One of the Entrepreneurs with GerardThimphu, Paro, Wangdue and Zhemgang and met with the LEP beneficiaries of the 2008 and 2009. Loden plans to announce the annual competition for interest-free funds in the next month.

 
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>

Results 1 - 8 of 18
©2009 All Rights Reserved by the Loden Foundation
P.O. Box: 131 |::| Telefax: +975 2 337389 |::| Thimphu: Bhutan
Website Powered by: