Breath of the Mountains | Cait Nishimura (with score)

Title: Breath of the Mountains Instrumentation: Concert Band (Grade 3.5) Composer: Cait Nishimura Performer: Honor Band of America, conducted by Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, at the 2026 Music For All National Concert Festival Purchase: https://caitnishimura.com/products/br... Program Notes: Breath of the Mountains was commissioned by Sam Yamamoto and the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Gold Symphonic Band. Lethbridge is located in Southern Alberta, where the landscape and climate are shaped by powerful warming winds called chinooks coming from the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In addition to these winds, Lethbridge is known for having more than 320 days of sunshine each year. When writing this piece, I reflected on my time visiting Lethbridge in 2020 (my last pre-pandemic residency), where I had the opportunity to connect with the welcoming music community and also experience the warm sunshine and expansive, powerful winds that define this part of the province. I began thinking of the wind as a life force; an expression of aliveness coming from the mountains in the form of birdsong, flowing water, hills and valleys, and sparkling sunlight. And as I wondered what that wind would sound like, Breath of the Mountains was born.