Room to Breathe

Masterclass with composer Sonia Allori and Drake Music Scotland

On 22 March 2022, I ran a breath masterclass with Drake Music Scotland, the Nevis Ensemble and composer Sonia Allori, in order to facilitate the composition of her piece ‘Room to Breathe’. Later on, we recorded my voice with details of some of the breath practices and Sonia dusted with this recoding live. An excerpt of the work composed was performed at PLUG festival in RCS in March 2022 and the world premiere was held in Aberdeen as part of Sound Scotland in October 2022.

Room to Breathe
David Cumming (trumpet), Dominic O’Sullivan (bassoon), Gabriela Jaros (flute) from Nevis Ensemble and iPad Lab (members of Digital Orchestra)

Composer: Sonia Allori
Artists: Nevis Ensemble and iPad lab
Devised by disabled composer and performer Sonia Allori, this suite of five movements imagines a different ‘room’, each developing an aspect of breath and breathing.

Musicians from Nevis Ensemble will be joined by members of Drake Music Scotland’s Digital Orchestra, the world’s first disabled youth orchestra.

Commissioned by Drake Music Scotland in collaboration with Nevis Ensemble.
1. Rhythm of the Breath
Instrumentation: Sonia Allori, 3 Wind Players (Nevis), iPad Quartet (with Clare Johnston)
Key concept: Rhythm

2. Breathing Out
Instrumentation: Samples of field recordings – Sound Work assembled by Sonia Allori
Key concept/idea: Soundscape & visuals

3. Fear, Hope & Breathing
Instrumentation: Sonia Allori, 3 Wind Players (Nevis), pre-recorded Voice track
Key concept: Exploring Anxiety and emotion – largely scored piece

4. The Well-Tempered Breath
Instrumentation: Sonia Allori – Bass Clarinet with voice recording from Laura Gonzalez

5.Take a Deep Breath