Ana Sokolovic’s You Can Die Properly Now Debuts in Montréal
Sokolovic’s You Can Die Properly Now receives its world premiere with soprano Emma Pennel and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in May.
You Can Die Properly Now, written for soprano and orchestra by Ana Sokolovic with libretto by Michelle Sylliboy, receives its world premiere on May 28-30 with soprano Emma Pennel, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM), and Rafael Payare.
Sokolovic served as OSM's Artist-in-Residence from 2020-2023, which included the world premiere of her orchestral work Melita in April 2023, led by Rafael Payare. The composer has a long relationship with the orchestra that has bridged the tenures of different music directors: Oro, her Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, was Charles Dutoit’s final commission in 2001, and her Concerto for Orchestra was Kent Nagano’s first commission, in 2007—a piece that the orchestra has since performed multiple times.
Sokolovic’s five-minute work was commissioned by OSM to be performed alongside Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. Both works are centered around the fragility of human existence. The poetry by Sylliboy, who is an Indigenous artist, is written in Mi’kmaq, and reflects on the tragic discovery of the remains of Indigenous children who were taken from their families to attend residential schools in Canada. In Mi’kmaq culture, death is seen as a continuation of life, but a proper burial is required for life to continue. Sylliboy’s text offers gentle hope that the children may leave the Earth in the way that was intended in their culture.
“Michelle’s poem served as the starting point for every aspect of my composition: both the musical and the semantic dimensions,” says Sokolovic. “I wanted to do justice to the Mi’kmaq language, which is melodically fluid, rhythmically complex, and full of unexpected accentuations in its melodic contours.”
This season also sees the world premiere of Two Studies for Piano (May 12), to be played by the finalists of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, as well as a new production of Svadba with Oper Bonn (Jun 21-July 9). January 2026 sees the world premiere of Sokolovic’s new opera Clown(s) at Opéra de Montréal.
Performance Information
Wednesday, May 28 at 7:30pm EST
Thursday, May 29 at 7:30pm EST
Friday, May 30 at 7:30pm EST
Maison symphonique de Montréal
More info
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Rafael Payare, conductor
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
Nikolai Schukoff, tenor
Elisabeth St-Gelais, soprano
Emma Pennel, soprano
ANA SOKOLOVIC You can Die Properly Now (World Premiere)
IAN CUSSON Un cri s’élève en moi (World Premiere)
GUSTAV MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde
> Weitere Informationen zum Werk: You Can Die Properly Now
Photo: Andre´ Parmentier