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About the Composer

Carlos Cordero

Hola, People! My name is Carlos Cordero. I am a new choral music advocate, composer, hug-giver, and singer with a crazy mind. My passion for new choral music and connecting with others has led me to create meaningful experiences and relationships, including recently writing “Holding Our Breath” with poet Julie Flanders commissioned by ACDA’s Genesis...

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The Happy Choir (Carlos Cordero)

Holding Our Breath (SSAA)

Name: Holding Our Breath (SSAA)
SKU: CC0051A
Availability: InStock

Carlos Cordero

A piece about facing the fear to breathe and finding the courage to be together once more; slowly taking in what it means to be alive and singing next to one another.

Difficulty: 4

Duration: 5-10 min.

CC0051A

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for SSAA a cappella

Composer’s Notes

Breathing is what keeps us alive. It is the mechanism that allows us to sing and communicate. Whenever we are troubled or are in a time of crisis, our instincts are to either hold our breath or to breathe. Taking slow breaths and centering ourselves is what brings us back to a more serene state. During this pandemic, breathing has been deemed dangerous, being the principle mechanism of how COVID-19 is spread. It is also the time where the phrase “I can’t breathe” became the powerful last words that moved an entire nation to demand rights, not only for the life of a man, but an entire population. Breathing is a cycle that can’t and should not be interrupted.

Holding Our Breath is a piece about facing the fear to breathe: on an individual level as well as next to each other again, and the courage to be together once more; slowly taking in what it means to be alive and singing next to one another.

-Carlos Cordero