I first moved to Ireland at the end of August, 2016, and I was amazed when a week or two later I received an email from a woman named Katharine Mac Mághnuis at the Athenry Music School, asking if I might be interested in composing something for the students there. Athenry was a only a short drive away from where I had moved to in County Galway, and Katharine had no idea I had just moved to Ireland! So the next thing I knew I was having lunch at Katharine’s house, discussing a commissioned work for the school.

For this occassion I wrote a piece called ‘When Everything Breathes’, for string orchestra and choir. I’ll be the first to admit that I may have written something a bit on the difficult side for these young students, but they did an amazing job with it, along with the help of the amazing Katharine conducting. I have just been sent this lovely video which I’m happy to share with you all, along with the choir lyrics below.

Everything that breathes
Has a wish for perfect air
And the air just wants to be appreciated
It goes both ways

Everything does breathe
And have a dream of perfect air
Dreams will take us where we long to be
And let us stay there
Breathing
Breathing