Lyrica Chamber Music presents "Just Breathe"

The journey from sickness to health can be debilitating, leaving one with a single constant – the ability to draw the next breath.

As a breast cancer survivor, flutist Catherine Gregory knows the very quality that makes her instrument work – breath – shouldn’t be taken for granted. From her experience of illness and recovery, she has fashioned a musical program titled “Just Breathe.”

Featuring new and recent works from contemporary composers, “Just Breathe” will receive its world premiere at Lyrica Chamber Music’s next concert, Sunday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m., at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township, 240 Southern Blvd.

Lyrica concerts are presented with the support of Morris Arts which seeks to build community through the arts.

Gregory has said that during her struggle with cancer at times her own breath — the simple act of inhalation and exhalation — felt like the only element she had control over. “Just breathe!” she told herself, “…just breathe…”

Gregory will be accompanied by percussionist Ian Rosenbaum and soprano Ariadne Greif. She has chosen these three instruments for their elemental qualities.

“The flute, the human voice, and percussion make up a trio of the world’s oldest instruments,” she said. “Every ancient culture had some version of them, each representing the essence of music, sound, and life.”

Gregory reached out to composers whose works she had performed, or whom she admired.

“I admire each composer's unique voice very much and it's always exciting to see a new work take shape,” she said. “I love the different directions that they have taken the concept of breath and the essential.”

She gave the composers -- Timo Andres, Clarice Assad, Kinan Azmeh, Juhi Bansal, Viet Cuong, Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Diane Monroe, and Matthew Evan Taylor – a free hand. Their only brief was the subject of the program – just breathe. The concert will also include specially arranged works by Raven Chacon, Andy Akiho, and Kevin Puts that play on the same theme.

“They could choose to write for various combinations of the three instruments,” she said. “Even within each instrument there are a range of colors: piccolo, flute, alto flute, and pre-recorded track, marimba, vibraphone, vocalizations, whistling, and collective improvisations.”

During the weeks leading up to the concert, Gregory has been receiving all this new music and confronting the challenge of giving birth to these original compositions.

“Getting to know new music is a process of discovery both as individual performers and as collective artists,” she said. “In rehearsal, this is not so dissimilar to more familiar works -- our goal is to get to the heart of the music and to communicate the composer's intention.

“All three of us, as collaborators in this performance, become more steeped in the musical language of each composer and so in a sense we are creating our own performance history. Working with living composers also allows a directness to the music as we shape and craft our performance of the work based on their feedback and input.”

Although Sunday will be the world premiere of “Just Breathe,” its concept has gone out into the world for those who most need it, the community of people whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Gregory developed a series of interactive workshop-performances, that explore the essential way in which breath, life, music, and emotion are intertwined.

“Each ‘Just Breathe’ workshop-performance correlates specially curated works for solo flute (including some of these new works) with particular aspects of breath,” she said. “These musical interactions provide patients and caregivers a creative outlet to express their experiences, and facilitate storytelling of their personal journeys. Participants utilize techniques of mindfulness and breath work, and are encouraged to respond directly to the music by having a pen or pencil, paper, or any other art media on hand if possible.”

A native of Australia, Gregory, winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, enjoys a dynamic career as a soloist, ensemble player, teaching artist, and creative collaborator. Her performances of both new and old music have taken her across the globe from Alice Tully Hall in New York, to London’s Milton Court, Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie, and the Sydney Opera House. The New York Times has called her playing “magically mysterious,” also writing that “Ms. Gregory left a deep impression… her sound rich and fully present.”

Ariadne Greif, praised for her "luminous, expressive voice" (New York Times), her "elastic and round high notes" (classiqueinfo), and her "mesmerizing stage presence" (East Anglian Daily Times), began her opera career as a “boy” soprano in the Los Angeles area and at the Los Angeles Opera, eventually making an adult debut singing Lutoslawski’s “Chantefleurs et Chantefables” with the American Symphony Orchestra. She starred in roles ranging from Therese/Tirésias in Poulenc’s “Les Mamelles de Tirésias,” to Adina in “The Elixir of Love” with the Orlando Philharmonic and Sappho in “Atthis” by Georg Friedrich Haas.

Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), Grammy-nominated percussionist Ian Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years. As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, Rosenbaum has premiered over one hundred new chamber and solo works, and was nominated for three Grammy awards in 2021 for his performances on albums of music by Andy Akiho and Christopher Cerrone. In 2012, Rosenbaum joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist selected in their history.

Tickets for Lyrica concerts are $30 ($25 for seniors), and students and children are admitted free. For more information about Lyrica Chamber Music, visit www.lyricachambermusic.org or call 973-309-1668.