| Native Name: | Huáng Huìyīn (黃慧音) |
| Native Name Lang: | zh |
| Birth Date: | 1964 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Taiping, Perak, Malaysia[1] |
| Genre: | Buddhist music |
| Occupation: | Composer, record producer, singer |
| Instrument: | Piano |
| Years Active: | 1999–present |
| Label: | I.M.M. Musicworks |
| Associated Acts: | Ho Lin Huay |
| Module: |
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Imee Ooi FRSA (;) is a Chinese-Malaysian record producer, composer, and singer who composes and arranges music for classic Buddhist chant, mantra, and dharani. She performs her compositions in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Mandarin. In 1997 she founded a record label, I.M.M. Musicworks, to publish her music. She has released more than 50 albums (55 between 1998 and 2020[2]).
Ooi also composed and directed three highly acclaimed stage musicals: Siddhartha, Above Full Moon, and Princess Wen Cheng (aka Jewel of Tibet).
Ooi was born in Taiping, Malaysia to a musically inclined Hoklo family. Her grandfather, who was a writer and dramatist, emigrated to Malaysia from Guangdong, China. Ooi's mother was a piano teacher; Imee and her four siblings all learned piano. Ooi continued her study of piano and trained as a classical pianist.[3]
In the early 1990s, after training as a classical pianist, she followed her mother's example and in turn became a piano teacher, before moving into composition, creating film music for cinema or television series.[4]
Buddhist vegetarian,[5] she decided to specialize in Buddhist music,[4] [3] creating from sacred texts (dharanis, mantras, sutras) which she performs in Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and mandarin,[6] some are translated into English. She also composes musicals and performs in concerts.[4]
In 1997 she founded a record label, I.M.M. Musicworks, to publish her music.[7] [4]
In 2015, she formed the male vocal group (8 singers aged between 25 and 38), named the Jing Shi Jin Gang which means "Guardians of the Dharma" with whom she toured internationally in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Shanghai.[4]
Imee is a discreet person. Her private life never comes up in the interviews she gives, preferring to talk only about her art and her spiritual path:
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999[8] | Siddhartha (or 'Prince Siddhartha') | Music producer, arranger, composer, music director[9] [10] | |
| 2004[11] | Above Full Moon | Composer, music director | |
| 2005–2006 | The Perfect Circle | Composer, music director[12] [13] | |
| 2007[14] | The Perfect Circle II | Composer, music director | |
| 2008[15] | Princess Wen Cheng (alternative title: Jewel of Tibet) | Composer, music director[16] | |
| 2010[17] | KITA | Composer, music director, music arranger[18] | |
| 2013 | The Perfect Circle III: Earth Epilogue – The Call Out of Naimisayana | Composer, music director, arranger |
All songs composed, produced, and some performed by Imee Ooi arranged by Praveen maddhali
| Title | Language(s) | Year of release | Catalog number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Chant of Metta | Pali, English | 1999 | IMM 1000 | |
| The Chant of Metta | Pali, Mandarin | 1999 | IMM 1000C | |
| Jayamangalagatha | Pali | 1999 | IMM 1001 | |
| Heart Sutra | Mandarin | 2009 | IMM 1002 | |
| Nilakantha Dharani [The Great Compassionate Mantra] | Sanskrit | 2000 | IMM 1003 | |
| The Great Mercy Mantra (alt. The Great Compassionate Mantra) | Tibetan | 2000 | IMM 1004 | |
| Tibetan | 2001 | IMM 1023 | ||
| The Guan Yin Mantra | Mandarin | 2002 | IMM 1008 | |
| Ratana Sutta | Pali, English | 2003 | IMM 1010 | |
| Mantras of the Sanskrit[19] (alt. Mantras in Sanskrit)[20] | Sanskrit | 2003 | IMM 1011 | |
| Heart Sutra | Cantonese | 2003 | IMM 1012 | |
| Mantra of the Green Tara | Tibetan | 2003 | IMM 1013 | |
| Tisarana | Pali | 2004 | IMM 1014 | |
| Namo Amitabha | Mandarin | 2004 | IMM 1017 | |
| The Diamond Sutra: Vijracchedika Prajna Paramita Sutra | Mandarin | 2005 | IMM 1018 | |
| The Wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva | Sanskrit | 2005 | IMM 1019 | |
| Medicine Buddha Dharani[21] | Sanskrit | 2005 | IMM 1020 | |
| Arya Ekadasa: Mukha Dharani | Sanskrit | 2006 | IMM 1021 | |
| The Series of Ten Short Mantras, Volume 1 | Sanskrit | 2006 | IMM 1022 | |
| Karaniya Metta Sutta | Pali | 2007 | IMM 1024 | |
| The Series of Ten Short Mantras, Volume 2 | Sanskrit | 2007 | IMM 1025 | |
| The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche | Tibetan | 2007 | IMM 1026 | |
| The Series of Ten Short Mantras, Volume 3 | Sanskrit | 2007 | IMM 1027 | |
| The Series of Ten Short Mantras, Volume 4 | Sanskrit | 2008 | IMM 1028 | |
| Chants from Heart to Heart: The Heart of Prajna Paramita and Hannya Shingyo | Pali | 2008 | IMM 1030 | |
| Ksitigarbha: Mantra of the Earth Store | Sanskrit | 2008 | IMM 1031 | |
| Message in Music, Volume 1 | 2008 | IMM 2000 | ||
| Sakyamuni Buddha Mantra | 2009 | IMM 1032 | ||
| Message in Music, Volume 2 | 2009 | IMM 2001 | ||
| Heart of Repentance | 2009 | IMM 1033 | ||
| Hymns of the Pureland | 2009 | IMM 1034 | ||
| The Shore Beyond: Prajna Paramaita Hrdaya Sutram | Sanskrit | 2009 | IMM 1035 | |
| Universal Door Chapter: The Lotus Sutra | 2009 | IMM 1036 | ||
| The Mantra of Vajrasattva: Om Benza Sato Hum | 2009 | IMM 1037 | ||
| Message in Music, Volume 3 | 2009 | IMM 2002 | ||
| Shurangama Mantra | 2009 | IMM 1039 | ||
| Maitreya: The Buddha of Loving-Kindness | 2011 | IMM 1041 | ||
| The Sounds of Protection (alt. Mantras in Tibetan) | Tibetan | 2011 | IMM 1042 | |
| Message in Music, Volume 4 | 2012 | IMM 2003 | ||
| In Metta, A collaboration with Dewa Budjana | English | 2017 | IMM 2017 |
| -- to use sortable requires eliminating all use of rowspan --> | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of Release | Released Title(s) | Date of Release (if applicable) | Notes | |
| 2002 | Siddhartha: The Musical | May 2002 | in Mandarin, 2 CD'S | |
| 2004 | Above Full Moon The Musical[22] | N/A | 2004 version | |
| 2009 | Siddhartha: The Musical | N/A | 10th Anniversary Special Edition, 2009 version | |
| 2010 | KITA The Musical | June 2010 | Limited (did not have a widespread distribution) | |
| 2011 | Princess Wen Cheng: The Musical | N/A | 2011 version |
