Umdzé

Umdzé (Tib. དབུ་མཛད་, Wyl. dbu mdzad) or chant leader — one of the three principle positions in a monastery, with the gekkö and the chöpön. U means ‘head’ and mdzé means ‘to act’, or ‘to do’. Therefore, the umdzé is “one who carries out the activity, the one who is heading the rituals.”