Between Two Lights

A concerted soundscape about death, emptiness and life in between. Huang Ruo builds musical bridges between Asia and the West, but also between life and death. 

What lies between the end of one life and the beginning of another? Is there a space in between—a moment when we are no longer who we were, yet not yet who we are becoming?

Between Two Lights is neither a traditional narrative opera nor a classical concert. It is a physical listening experience—a journey to the edge of existence and back. In crafting this composition, Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo drew inspiration from the Heart Sutra, a Buddhist text in which emptiness and form intertwine. This is no abstract mysticism, but a meditation on the moment that affects us all: the fleeting interval between what we leave behind and what lies ahead.

During the pandemic, Huang Ruo experienced the profound loss of his mother. He returned to his home village and participated in a traditional mourning ritual lasting seven days, followed by six weeks of bardo—a time of transition, silence, and search. From this personal grief, the first notes of Between Two Lights were born. The piece consists of musical mantras—patterns that do more than sound; they become physically tangible. Sound, in this piece, carries rhythm, breath, and memory. Sixteen singers from the Netherlands Chamber Choir, two percussionists from the HERMESensemble, performer Grace Ellen Barkey, and Huang Ruo himself move through the space, their voices and bodies resonating and amplified by silence. Voice transforms into movement.

Do we dare to face the moment when everything falls silent? To look into the unknown, the emptiness? To recognize what binds us all, yet is seldom spoken of?

Credits

• Concept | Composition | Libretto | Conductor • Huang Ruo
• Choir • Nederlands Kamerkoor
• Percussion • HERMESensemble
• Performer • Grace Ellen Barkey
• Staging • Aïda Gabriëls / Tido Visser
• Assistant director • Matteo Carazza
• Live video • Lise Bruyneel
• Light design • Peter Quasters
• Artistic advise interviews • Barbara Raes
• Videography interviews • Mirjam Devriendt
• Dramaturgical Advice • Shuang Zou

Speakers featured in the video: Dr. Herman Devriendt, Yves-Marina Gnahoua, Farnoosh Khodadadeh and Tobin Roymans