With Every Breath I Take (from City of Angels): Choral Instrumental Pak

Paris Rutherford's arrangement captures the yearning vulnerability of Coleman's composition while making it genuinely singable for mixed ensembles. The instrumental pak format gives you flexibility to perform with or without accompaniment, and the song's introspective quality offers a refreshing contrast to uptempo showstoppers in concert programming.

Intimate and reflective, with the kind of harmonic sophistication that gives singers something real to lean into emotionally. The song unfolds like a quiet conversation, asking the ensemble to listen to itself as much as to the audience.

Mixed choirs, jazz ensembles, and musical theater programs looking for a standard that works at intermediate to advanced levels. Soloists also benefit from this arrangement's support for spotlighting a single voice.

• Honor the lyrical line even in ensemble passages; this song survives or falls on breath control and phrase shape, not on rhythmic precision alone.
• Balance the vocal blend carefully in the middle section where parts move independently. Soloists should sit forward, but the surrounding harmony must stay transparent.
• Allow space for the harmonic shifts to land. Coleman's chord changes reward slight tempo flexibility and won't feel rushed if you trust the voice leading.

Pair this with other standards from the 1980s to build a sophisticated pops concert, or use it as an opener to settle an audience into a more introspective mood. It works equally well as a showcase for a soloist or as a full ensemble moment that rewards careful preparation.

• Sustaining lyrical lines without vibrato interference
• Balancing individual voice parts within homophonic texture
• Interpreting jazz-influenced harmonic movement and chord extensions
• Blend and intonation in chromatic passages