Susan Ung’s interest in contemporary music for the viola began as a collaboration with her husband, Chinary Ung, on his first solo work for cello/viola, Khse Buon, in 1980. The opening of the work is based on her own viola improvisation inspired by Indian saranghi music. While majoring in viola performance at Northern Illinois University and studying with members of the Vermeer Quartet, she became interested and involved in performances on various Asian and Indonesian instruments and improvisation, and her graduate study took place at Stony Brook University where her focus was on new music.
Recently, travel and touring with the music of Chinary Ung are a frequent part of her life, with festivals and concerts in many venues across the U.S. as well as in New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and China. She has been part of several premiers and recordings of her husband’s works, including Aura (for large chamber ensemble) and Spiral IX (for baritone, viola and percussion), Spiral XI (solo viola/voice), Spiral XII (chamber ensemble with chorus, soprano soloists and dancers) Akasa (for pi-pa, viola cello and piano), Singing Inside Aura (a concerto for singing violist) and Therigata Inside Aura. All of these recent works include extensive vocalization, including singing, and whistling different pitches and rhythms while playing the viola. She has recordings on Summit, New World Records, CRI, and Cambria, Bridge Records and BMOP.
