Breath Cycle, our new project designed to benefit those suffering from a range of conditions affecting lung health, in particular Long Covid, begins online this month.
A team of musicians from the Company will work with participants during a series of relaxed weekly sessions, introducing them to fun and stimulating songs, vocal exercises and breathing techniques. The benefits of singing regularly are widely recognised, from improved lung function, posture and circulation, to a strengthened immune system and core, better breath control, as well as relief from stress and anxiety. Made with support from key NHS consultants, the first Breath Cycle sessions start on 20 October, and will be repeated in blocks in January and April 2022.
In addition to the singing sessions, those interested in taking part can sign up for new online song writing workshops led by former Scottish Opera composer-in-residence Gareth Williams, and performance poet Martin O’Connor. The songs that come out of these workshops, alongside those created by Gareth and Martin themselves, will be arranged and recorded by us to create a free digital resource for individuals, choirs and singing groups worldwide, called ‘The Covid Composers Songbook’, as a positive musical legacy of the past 18 months.
The Breath Cycle project was originally created in 2013 by Scottish Opera and Glasgow’s Gartnavel General Hospital Cystic Fibrosis Service to explore whether learning classical singing techniques, including breath control, can improve the wellbeing of cystic fibrosis patients.
If you’d like to find out more, or sign up (by 13 October) visit www.scottishopera.org.uk/join-in/breath-cycle/
All the sessions are via Zoom and free of charge.