Program Note

Still Life After Death (1995) is a music theatre theater work inspired by an ancient Cambodian ritual that traditionally takes place at an individual’s deathbed. A Buddhist monk would be invited to a home to preside at this ritual, which assists a dying person in his or her transit from life to death. The monk chants short phrases in the ancient language of Pali, and the dying person would repeat each phrase after the monk, until the very last breath. In Still Life…, the female vocalist represents the dying person and the male vocalist represents the Buddhist monk.
—Susan Ung