Aup Dengo

An esteemed song authority and composer with a long career in government service. Aup Dengo now leads the private troop Phunsum Drayang, based in Paro, which performs folk and masked dances. The troop provides employment for its youth members and teaches them the value of culture.

Aup Gangkar Wangdi

His appointments included serving the song composer Ashi Choki in Bumthang, Prince Namgyal Wangchuk in India, and the Third King in Paro and Thimphu. Under the Third King Aup Gangkar Wangdi was a major popularizer of boedra and drukdra. He also started the government’s Handicraft Centre in Thimphu and oversaw sales for its first seven years before being promoted to position of loan collector in the Department of Finance.

Aup Tsheten Dorji

A Tibetan-born muscian who fled to Bhutan in 1960 and served the Third King for over a decade. Aup Tsheten Dorji introduced and popularized many songs from Tibet and also became a prolific composer. Two of his songs commemorate Bhutan’s entry into the United Nations in 1971 and the Coronation of the Fifth King in 2008.