"Coming Up for Air is a fascinating and rewarding project." (TEMPO)
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Coming Up for Air explores the creative possibilities that emerge when pieces are limited to the performance of a single breath. Initially formed as a personal response to recovering from chronic respiratory conditions, the project invites composers to consider their own relationship to breath and the body's role in performance. The collection currently contains over 100 pieces and celebrates its inclusivity of composers of diverse ages, experience, and background. A "strangely fascinating" (BBC Music Magazine) album containing 40 single-breath pieces is now available on Huddersfield Contemporary Records and distributed by NMC. Composers include: Chaya Czernowin, Oliver Coates, Amber Priestley, Andy Ingamells, Larry Goves, Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh, Newton Armstrong, Mary Bellamy, Stephen Chase, Sarah Hennies, Mauricio Pauly, and Brian Ferneyhough, who is represented here by the brief excerpt from Unity Capsule that provided the original inspiration for the project.
Coming Up for Air has been performed around the world: at Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (Australia), Constellation (Chicago, USA), Royaumont Abbey (France), Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo), Purcell Room (Southbank Centre, London), Cafe Oto (London), Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester), Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA), and Kettle's Yard (Cambridge).
Each iteration is different. The content and order is changeable depending on the venue and the environment. So far, Kathryn has performed 68 single-breath pieces in one concert. It has been featured on BBC Radio 3 The Listening Service and New Music Show, PBS Melbourne, and RNCM Radio. In print, Coming Up for Air has appeared in Breathe Magazine, BBC Music Magazine, PAN (Journal of British Flute Society), and TEMPO. |
Performing 'make a wish' by Eleanor Cully Boehringer at Cafe OTO.
Photo by Dmitri Djuric.
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OPEN CALL FOR SINGLE-BREATH PIECES
Performance pieces limited to one inhale and one exhale (without circular breathing) can be written for any member of the flute family (with the broadest possible interpretation, including piccolo, C flute, alto, bass, breath, voice, objects, electronics, spoken word, etc). I will informally record and offer feedback on all the pieces I receive and will programme and record as many as possible. I am keen to hear from all composers of any age, experience, gender, or nationality.
Some points for getting started:
Please get in touch via form below.
Some points for getting started:
- Include instructions for the inhale: the inhale is 50% of the piece! Even if you are intending to write material for exhale only, I strongly recommend showing that you have engaged with inhalation. There are interesting sounds possible on in inhale and it is possible to lengthen the duration by using suspension of breath. Look at Megan Grace Beugger's Asthmatic Inhalation and Exhalation score below. Nina Whiteman's Thread elongates the inhale to 20 seconds and exhale to over one minute. Turning the mouthpiece inwards allows sound to be made during inhalation. A separate in-ear audio track cues of my inhalation and exhalation, thereby decoupling breathing and playing. David Pocknee's Gray Winter Grimes simply requires an inhale that I believe will enable me to finish the piece.
- Structure can start either with lungs empty: inhale -> exhale OR start with lungs full: exhale <- inhale
- Currently, I can elongate my inhale to around 40 seconds, continuously exhale for 60 seconds, and remain static for 10-20 seconds at a time. This can vary depending on the environment I am in, as my asthma can be worsened by external factors such as dust, pollen and smoke.
Please get in touch via form below.
