Clara Moniz to Premiere BREATHE IN/BREATHE OUT Chamber Work

Emerging composer and vocalist Clara Moniz has announced the premiere of Breathe In/ Breathe Out, a 60-minute chamber work exploring chronic illness, disability, and the experience of living, and performing in a body that can be unpredictable.

Breathe In/ Breathe Out brings together four vocalists and a string quartet for a new work that considers the different ways illness can affect a person's physical and emotional life. Across ten movements, the piece explores complex experiences in the medical system, grief, hope, and finding agency. It asks what it means to keep moving forward when the life you imagined has changed, and where that persistence comes from. 

The music treats the body and voice as instruments in their own right. Breath, vocal sounds, and speech are incorporated into the musical language, alongside more traditional singing and string playing. The performers are asked to move between traditional classical sound worlds, and things that might often be considered noise, exploring the boundaries of musical and non-musical sound. 

Breathe In/ Breathe Out allows for the performers to explore embodiment throughout the rehearsal and performance process. There are physically demanding techniques, and ways of using instruments that push them in unusual directions, inspired by the challenges chronic illness poses in performing.