Elena Kats-Chernin composed Dance of the Paper Umbrellas in 2013 in collaboration with the Hush Foundation in Australia. The Hush Foundation is a charity organization that “transforms healthcare by the healing power of music.” The Foundation also presents arts as healthcare through different mediums, most notably plays. Founded by Dr. Catherine Crock, the Hush Foundation is dedicated to bringing kindness and humanity back to healthcare in Australia, and does so through the connective power of art as a supplement to standard treatments. Kats-Chernin composed Dance of the Paper Umbrellas for a Hush Foundation CD.

Kats-Chernin visited the leukemia ward at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and was inspired to write a work that would bring bemused joy to the children in treatment. Dance of the Paper Umbrellas does just that: its effervescent pizzicato strings provide a reliable pulse that grounds the entire work. The pizzicato strings are echoed in staccato woodwind melodies; flutes provide a short melodic motif that is answered coolly by violins. The conversational air to the work provides a calm, singing energy to the listener. A legato melody floats across the orchestra, introduced by the oboe, which provides a new, vibrant melodic fragment. The colorful transparency of the four-minute work evokes an air of lighthearted relief that is bound to bring a smile to the listener’s face. The graceful ending of the work is brought on by long notes in the celli, just before a final cadence  provides one last “pop” of plucked strings.