Hundreds showed up in Sherman Function Hall Sunday evening for the Tibetan Music Festival, a tour of musicians from the politically-ambiguous mountainous region. The show at Brandeis marked one of many stops since Nov. 4, when the musicians began traveling across the United States on their 2005 tour. Though the event was sponsored by Brandeis' Students for a Free Tibet, most of the crowd came from outside the Brandeis community. In fact, it was a largely Tibetan-American crowd (many dressed in chubas, the traditional Tibetan robe) some of whom learned of the event through Tibetan newspapers and traveled from across the country to see the performance. The event featured an assortment of Tibetan musicians and singers performing music ranging from the Tibetan popular music to the traditional. Organizers were not shy about the political attitude of the event, providing a large amount of provocative written material on the current situation in Tibet. The night began around 8 p.m. with a brief introduction by event organizer Aliza Krevolin '07. She welcomed the audience and performers alike, and proclaimed Students for a Free Tibet's purpose: to work with the Tibetan people to help achieve their quest for freedom and independence and "end the illegal foreign occupation by China."

The concert began with a few songs performed on two traditional Tibetan lute-like instruments. The first song was dedicated to the "peaceful warriors" of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. However, the concert soon evolved into a seemingly much less authentic exhibition as various singers took to the stage performing to tracks of prerecorded vocals and instruments, regrettably affixing an almost karaoke-like novelty to the music. One song even sounded strangely similar to Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight." Despite the performers' talent, much of the concert's meaning was unfortunately lost on the English-speaking portion of the crowd, as nearly all of the songs and speeches were in the Tibetan language.

The performers varied as much as the music. While some were dressed very traditionally, others wore Western clothing. One performer looked as though he had walked right off the stage of American Idol, wearing a fancy collared shirt underneath a brown leather jacket. The event appeared to be a family affair; many of performers had their families in tow, and the audience was filled with children of all ages.

Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of the evening came from the audience itself. In fact, about midway through Sunday night's performance, one performer led the audience in an emphatic chant of, "Free Tibet/Let us live." When it was not broadcast from a prerecorded track, the evening's music was quite interesting and entertaining. The less traditional music had many similarities to American popular music, often utilizing the same instruments and time signatures and frequently featuring pre-recorded electric guitar solos.

The night was an enormous success for the Brandeis chapter of Students for a Free Tibet. Organizers must have been pleased with the enormous turnout, even if some performers proved somewhat of a letdown.