When you die, you float

for soprano, alto flute, bass clarinet, violin, and cello (2024, rev. 2025-2026)

When you die, you float is based on the shipwreck recounted by Dr. Nathalie Roff, who escaped Vietnam at the age of 12. The boat she was on sank around 4am in the morning. She floated for around 12 hours with 11 other survivors on a piece of buoy before being rescued by a fishing boat returning to shore. Her brother was washed ashore alive 3 days later. She lost her parents, 2 sisters, and grandmother.

There was a young man who was floating with young Nathalie. He had died, possibly from hypothermia. Before he died, he had tied himself to the buoy, so there was a dead body floating next to her the entire time, and the dead body was constantly touching her body. But at the time, she thought the body was helping them survive, because an old Vietnamese saying goes: when you die, you float.

I had the privilege to have done 2 interviews with Dr. Nathalie Roff, first one in Houston (April 2024), second one in Paris (August 2024). Both times she showed great positivity and willingness to share, even as the recounting brought herself to tears. I am extremely grateful for her generosity, openness, and precision of the details (number of people on the boat, number of death, at what hour of the day certain events transpired, what people were doing in the water, etc.). Her story is a tremendous tragedy no doubt, but at the same time a tale of courage and resilience, a testament to the incredible vitality of the human spirit.

When you die, you float is commissioned by the Chao Center of Asian American Studies at Rice University. The premiere performance was given on Oct 3rd, 2024, at the Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, Texas.

The present recording features Soprano Jenna Kreider, Isabel Jamois on alto flute, Jake Laser on bass clarinet, John Fawcett on Violin, Ben Rodriguez on Cello, under the direction of composer/conductor Paul Mortilla.

Link to recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o6kZFCeP54CnvudvUVUt0EMOMW2gFui3/view?usp=sharing

Link to score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bFdgHyMUmKrmzBqNY5xY3Gjydiv4-yGg/view?usp=sharing