Hello, My Name Is…
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During my mid-20’s, I lost three beautiful friends my age to terminal illnesses over a period of 15 months. As I navigated a seemingly endless chapter of grieving, I experienced overwhelming anger and depression, fear of my own early death, and a desperate need to blame someone for letting this happen to them when they had every trait a person could need to make the world better. It’s easy to point the finger at God, or even death itself.
In the ten years following their deaths, I’ve had time to process and reflect on what it means to lose someone, the importance of knowing what isn’t in anyone’s control, and that at a certain point, the end of life can be more of a gift than a punishment… for everyone.
Hello, My Name Is… is my first art song setting, for which I wrote the text in January of 2022. It is a monologue in the voice of Death, personified as a deeply empathetic creature, comforting someone who has suffered a difficult loss. The key changes throughout the work represent the bereaved’s progression through the five stages of grief, as Death patiently explains their frequently misunderstood role within the realm of the living - not to cause suffering, but to end it. “I’ll walk with you always through your anger and your pain, because I am the face of compassion.”
Commissioned by Chicago soprano Elizabeth Shuman for premiere on May 5, 2023.
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50% of all sales from this work will be donated to the American Cancer Society.