Out of Breath features works that explore the nature of breath through sound, language, and meaning. Two of the works on the program feature voice: the rarely-heard Parole di San Paolo for voice and 11 instruments by Italian modernist Luigi Dallapiccola and the world premiere of Distant by Ko Muramatsu, which features controlled delay using physical space and electronics. Two other pieces on the program, Saad Haddad's Aruah and Peter S. Shin's Screaming Shapes, also utilize breath and/or vocalization in their instrumental and electronic parts.