Voices that carry fire: Tibetan maestro Loten Namling plays one night in London in tribute to Lobga Rangzen
A one-off concert at the October Gallery on 23 October honours more than 170 Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule, among them Loten’s friend Lobga Rangzen, who died outside the United Nations in New York on 2 July
On 2 July, Tibetan Lobga Rangzen set himself on fire outside the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. He chose the place deliberately as the institution that has spent more than six decades failing to hold Beijing to account for its occupation of Tibet. Tibetan musician and singer Loten Namling, known for his powerful performances of sacred songs from Tibetan tradition, was his friend.
On Friday 23 October, Free Tibet brings Loten Namling’s ‘Voices that Carry Fire’ to London in honour of Lobga Rangzen and more than 170 other Tibetans who set themselves alight for Tibetan freedom. A one-night only concert in the intimate setting of the October Gallery in Bloomsbury, it is Loten’s tribute to people whose sacrifice China has tried to erase: it has sealed off monasteries, detained relatives and criminalised the act of sharing their names and images.
Loten Namling was born in 1963 in Dharamsala, India, to Tibetan refugee parents. He is a master of the dranyen, the traditional Tibetan lute, and is known for his powerful performances of sacred and poetic songs, including those of the yogi Milarepa and the Sixth Dalai Lama. His style fuses Tibetan tradition with jazz, blues, rock and world music. He has collaborated with musicians across genres, from Indian classical and Qawwali to contemporary European bands, and he has performed from remote Himalayan villages to major stages across Europe, Asia and the Americas. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has praised him as a “dedicated” artist with a powerful voice.
Loten’s music has never been separate from his politics. In 2012, as self-immolations spread across eastern Tibet, he walked from Bern to the United Nations in Geneva dragging a black coffin behind him. “I am not carrying a cross,” he said at the time. “I am pulling a coffin.” That journey is at the heart of Tibetan Warrior, a documentary that follows his quest from Europe to India as he confronts questions of identity, resistance and nonviolent struggle.
Loten’s new project, Modern Lama Mani, revives the art of the itinerant Tibetan storyteller, who used song and painted scrolls to teach Buddhist stories. He has begun taking it to Tibetan schools and Western Buddhist centres around the world. China is working to sever a generation of Tibetan children from their language and faith inside Tibet. Loten is carrying that inheritance forward outside it.
Tenzin Rabga Tashi of Free Tibet said: “Lobga Rangzen has given the world a powerful message – Tibet matters and must not be forgotten. Loten Namling’s voice, honouring his friend, is one Beijing would prefer to remain silent. We’d love you to come and hear it.”
Voices that carry fire: Loten Namling in concert
Friday 23 October 2026, 7pm (doors 6.30pm)
October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AL
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/loten-namling-voices-that-carry-fire-tickets-2002618409572
Notes to editors
Free Tibet campaigns for a free Tibet in which human rights are respected. Loten Namling is available for interview.
Media enquiries: [email protected] or [email protected]
Loten Namling’s website: https://lotennamling.com/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@lotennamling6922
