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About the Score

Marybeth Kurnat · Hello, My Name Is... (for high voice and piano) - Elizabeth Shuman, soprano; Jeremy Vigil, piano

During my mid-20’s, I lost three beautiful friends my age to terminal illnesses over a span of 15 months. As I navigated a seemingly endless chapter of traumatic grieving, I experienced overwhelming anger and depression, fear of any early death, and a desperate need to blame someone for letting this happen to them when they each had every trait one 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 passing, 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. 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.

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