Jon Armstrong has developed a reputation as a daring composer/performer throughout his career, releasing three critically acclaimed albums on Orenda Records as a band leader. He continues to innovate with his latest and most ambitious release of his career, “Voluntary Breath”, a 30-minute concerto for tenor saxophone and orchestra, recorded with the Idaho State-Civic Symphony, under the direction of conductor Nell Flanders.
“Voluntary Breath” is a ground-breaking work, incorporating music healing, world music, meditation, jazz, classical music. The piece was inspired by the soundscapes of hospital rooms where his premature son spent his first nine months of life. As composer Armstrong states:
“The composition began as a way of exploring a dream I had: A shamanic figure, sitting in a lotus position, is floating over a mountain lake in deep meditation and holding a guitar-like instrument. As he strums his instrument, ripples emanate from him across the lake. He re-tunes his instrument and creates different patterns and frequencies across the water.
The meaning of this dream shifted when my son Breen was born four months premature in January of 2021, weighing only 1lb, 4.8 oz. He spent almost nine months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. My wife Erin and I sat alongside our tiny boy in this prolonged existence of overlapping liminal spaces; he was here before he was ready to be born and yet he was teetering close to the end of life.
The NICU soundscape was brutal. We were told how sensitive preemies are to stimulation, and we agonized over the invisible damage from these sonic assaults. Inspired by my dream, I attempted to “tune” my son’s room by singing simple melodies and drones in the key and tempo of the sounds of the machines that kept him alive. I tried to soothe the chaos in his environment.
I would often sing or hum to my son soft melodies that incorporated the notes and rhythms of the machines that kept him alive. Over time, these improvisations eventually grew into a simple lullaby. When we were finally able to hold him, I would feel the resonance of my sung notes vibrating in his fragile body.”
“Voluntary Breath” sets the soloist, Armstrong himself on tenor saxophone, as that shamanic figure, creating ripples throughout the orchestra with his performance. The piece features variations on the aforementioned lullaby theme, as well as orchestrations of the transcribed sounds, rhythms, and melodies from the hospital machines of his son’s NICU room, as well as setting the text of the hospital rounds. Armstrong explains that these sections are meant to invoke a “feeling of bewilderment, desperately trying to understand what the medical workers were saying about our son. The ostinato for the chant sections is the rhythm of his stated age at birth, which was spoken regarding our son countless times: “23 weeks, 6 days gestation”. The saxophone solo is composed from the text of medical records that were read aloud during rounds, and the accompaniment is based on my transcriptions of medical machinery. “
Photograph by Ryker Reese
“Voluntary Breath” is a sonically rich and emotionally powerful experience for listeners. The piece was initially commissioned and premiered by conductor Grant Harville and the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra in February of 2025. It was then performed and recorded by the Idaho State-Civic Symphony in September of 2025.
For the recording, “Voluntary Breath” was conducted and brilliantly interpreted by Nell Flanders, who serves as the director of orchestras for the Idaho State-Civic Symphony, a 56-piece orchestra run out of the Idaho State University music department. The recording significantly features drummer Jens Kuross, who does a masterful job with a difficult and demanding part, driving the ensemble throughout the piece. The other featured instrument in the piece is electric guitar, which Jon Armstrong himself overdubbed after the recording due to a last minute complication with the performing guitarist.
The piece was recorded at Jensen Concert Hall in Pocatello, ID by the Idaho State University Commercial Music Program, which Jon Armstrong created and serves as director. Lead engineer Mike Worona and Assistant Producer Logan Anderson are ISU commercial music professors, and assistant engineer Dave Baumert is a long-standing partner of the commercial music program. All other credited engineers were current students of the program.
The post-production mixing and mastering of “Voluntary Breath” was done by Dan Rosenboom, director of Orenda Records. In Armstrong’s own words: “Dan’s mix and master of the piece is absolutely genius. He creates a clarity and presence throughout the 30 minute piece that makes you feel like you’re sitting right on stage with the orchestra. Yet, when “Voluntary Breath” gets big, the clarity remains while the impact is felt. Dan remained in constant communication throughout the process, so I am well aware of how much work he put into the nuances of the production. I am forever grateful for Dan’s brilliance, attention to detail, and artistic achievement with this album”
Orenda Records is proud to co-release “Voluntary Breath” with City Creek Records, a record label run by the commercial music program Jon Armstrong directs at Idaho State University. This is an intriguing and unique partnership between an established creative music label and an upstart college label that could lead to interesting collaborations in the future.