Composer Vivian Fung's (Un) Wandering Souls, Performed By Sandbox Percussion, Featured In New Film By Rithy Panh

Composer Vivian Fung today releases (Un) Wandering Souls, a new film collaboration featuring Sandbox Percussion performing Fung's original composition co-commissioned by Cambodian Living Arts and Metropolis Ensemble. The film, premiered today by I Care if You Listen, originally aired at the 2020 virtual Bangkosol Festival and was created by Oscar-nominated Cambodian film director Rithy Pahn.

Fung says, "My extended family - maternal grandmother, uncles, aunts, and cousins - lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in the 1970s as part of the overseas Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. They were there quite happily, in fact, until the Khmer Rouge stormed the capital in April 1975 and drove everyone out. Those events changed the course of my family forever. I was born in 1975 so my birth and childhood were most definitely affected by these events even though I was born and raised in Canada. I have been increasingly trying to piece together my family history and how it affected my family members' subsequent lives. My extended family miraculously survived an arduous journey - over a month on foot in the countryside of Cambodia, traveling only in the dead of night, and then in Vietnam. Ultimately, they ended up in Paris and Canada. I went to visit Cambodia for the first time in 2019 with my family - parents, son, and husband - and with some sleuthing, we were able to find my family's former home and the hospital that my aunt ran, still standing all these years later but now abandoned. I look forward to returning and to continuing to understand more about their past."

She continues, "My connection with Metropolis Ensemble and Andrew Cyr has been a long one, and when Andrew heard of my trip, he wanted to let me know that he also worked on a project involving survivors of the genocide, including the composer Him Sophy and the film director Rithy Panh. Bongsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia was an international success in 2017 and onward. The Cambodian Living Arts organization commissioned the work premiered by Metropolis Ensemble and then wanted to mount a 2020 online festival based on the Requiem. Metropolis Ensemble and Cambodian Living Arts joined forces to commission a series of works, 'variations' if you will, that are inspired by the Requiem. (Un)Wandering Souls is my 3-minute response to the Requiem - the melody is taken from the last scene - and the virtuosic treatment of it is my own."

JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a unique talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works, reflecting her multicultural background. NPR calls her "one of today's most eclectic composers."

Fung is currently at work on a new flute concerto for the Vancouver Symphony, a piano trio for L'arc Trio, and a piece for the UK's Tangram Collective. The Metropolis Ensemble commissioned (Un)Wandering Souls for Sandbox Percussion to premiere at the Bongsokol Festival in December 2020. In July 2020, the CBC Virtual Orchestra gave the online world premiere of Fung's Prayer, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He led The Philadelphia Orchestra in a virtual performance of Prayer in fall 2020.

Recent highlights include the UK premiere of Birdsong, performed by violinist Midori; the premiere of a trumpet concerto by Mary Elizabeth Bowden and the Erie Philharmonic; The Ice Is Talking, commissioned by the Banff Centre, using ice blocks to illustrate the fragility of our environment; A Child Dreams of Toys, commissioned by the Winnipeg New Music Festival; and String Quartet No. 4 "Insects and Machines," commissioned by the Red Bank Chamber Music Society and premiered by the American String Quartet.

With a deep interest in exploring different cultures, Fung has traveled to Cambodia, Southwest China, North Vietnam, Spain, and Bali to connect with her roots and collect research for her compositions. Passionate about fostering the talent of the next generation, Fung has mentored young composers in programs at the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, San Jose Youth Chamber Orchestra, and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Born in Edmonton, Canada, Fung received her doctorate from The Juilliard School. She currently lives in California and is on the faculty of Santa Clara University. Learn more at www.vivianfung.ca.

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