Big band, as the orchestral form of jazz, has a long tradition. Through their compositions, brilliant representatives such as Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Count Basie and many more have cemented big band as a style rather than as a line-up in jazz history. I attempt to loosen this cement a little with my way of using large sound bodies. In classical music it is common to use different line-ups for different pieces. Lenz also uses three different sized line-ups on the album Breathe - Music for Large Ensembles and focuses on the endless timbres of these line-ups.

The name of this album is based on an Art Piece of my wife, Colombian Artist Violeta Lenz. ‘Breathe - Aliento’, is an artistic confrontation of us dealing with my chronic lung disease. As a collaboration for this album she created illustrations for each song, forming a connection between visual art and music. She will accompany the concerts as a video artist creating live visuals and projections. The 21-member orchestra is made up of musicians from New York, who can also be heard on the album, as well as musicians from Graz, Vienna and Cologne.

"Mr. Lenz's large ensemble compositions transcend the stylistic trappings often found in traditional big bands. Peter's writing focuses on the essence of each song, the journey of each piece, and the inherent and natural sound of the band, which allows the music to be performed as well as listened to in the most effortless way." Jim Black