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Alicia Jo Rabins joins forces with the Camas High School Choir, string players from Third Angle, and a trio of acclaimed rock musicians for the world premiere of Rabins' I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs (Photo) - 03/11/24

April 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. | Revolution Hall
Followed by a New York City debut on May 23 at the 

Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust 


 

This large-scale song cycle centers on the ancient stories of women in Jewish tradition and draws from orchestral indie rock, Appalachian folk, and diasporic modalities.

 

February 29, 2024, PORTLAND, OR — Portland-based composer, musician, and author Alicia Jo Rabins joins sonic forces with 130 singers from the award-winning Camas High School Choir, string players from the vaunted Third Angle New Music, and a trio of top-tier rock musicians for the dynamic world premiere of I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs

 

Composed by Rabins, this richly textured multimedia song cycle explores ancient stories of women from the Torah (Hebrew Bible) in a contemporary musical language blending indie rock, folk, chamber music, and the thrilling sound of 130 youthful voices joined in song. This one-night-only performance takes place on April 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at Revolution Hall and will feature a surprise guest opener. Tickets at $20 are on sale now at revolutionhall.com.

 

“Stories of women are often seen as peripheral when we read ancient sacred texts,” said Rabins of the project. “This project asks what would happen if we put these women at the center instead—using the combined power of choir, rock band, and strings to explore the bravery, resilience, and vulnerability at the heart of these ancient stories.”

 

"One thing that makes this project so unique, and I expect to really come through to audiences in a powerful way, is that the student singers in the choir have been genuine collaborators in shaping the composition and performance. Alicia has a very strong voice as a composer and deep knowledge of her subject, but she has also made space for the perspectives of the individual choir members to shine through. These young people have great insights about music, religion, pop culture, and gender that they have contributed to the piece," said award-winning Camas High School Choir Director Ethan Chessin.

 

This ambitious, large-scale collaboration is intergenerational, intercultural, interdisciplinary —and seeks to blend musical genres while opening dialogue across faiths, ethnicities, and perspectives. The Camas High School Choir has a rich history of choral collaborations with renowned artists, such as Portugal. The Man, Kingdom Sound, Stanley Jordan, and Luz Elena Mendoza of Y La Bamba. Chessin grounds these collaborations by providing students of this small town with in-depth explorations of diverse and varied traditions and cultures as a foundation for the music they generate. 

 

I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs builds upon Rabins’ long-running music project Girls in Trouble, which explores the complex and fascinating stories of Biblical women and how their lives overlap with contemporary experiences. Fans of Girls in Trouble will be delighted to hear some familiar songs resonate and breathe in fresh ways with the lush, expanded arrangements for choir, as well as take in brand new compositions. Newcomers to Rabins’ music will find it welcoming and thought-provoking in equal measure. Throughout the process, Rabins has worked closely with the Camas students, inviting them to anonymously contribute their own personal reflections on vulnerability, power, loss, and their hopes and dreams. These collective reflections will be woven throughout the piece, creating a tapestry of the young singers' personal stories alongside ancient source material.

 

I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs is a significant contribution to new choral repertoire for multiple reasons. First, it’s an ambitious new work by a woman composer, a group that remains dramatically underrepresented in the music world, and particularly in classical and New Music settings. Additionally, it’s a new contribution to the currently limited body of contemporary Jewish choral music. Moreover, it’s a Jewish work created in the Pacific Northwest, a region whose history of Jewish artistry is not yet widely appreciated. Animated projections and lighting by a team of theatre professionals will create the visual world of the show. 

 

Following the world premiere in Portland, I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs will make its New York City debut on May 23, 2024, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Prior to the Portland performance, a preview of I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs will be featured in Camas High School Choir’s spring performance, which begins at 7 p.m. on March 26, 2024. A full-length concert video, audio recording, published sheet music, and a mini-documentary about the composition, rehearsal, and performance process will ensure the project continues to find new audiences after this limited run of shows.

 

ABOUT THE SHOW
I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs is a gorgeous, richly-textured multimedia song cycle that builds upon Rabins' long-running Girls in Trouble project, musically re-interpreting the ancient stories of women in Jewish tradition and seeking the hidden places where their lives overlap with ours today.

 

With a colossal musical scale matching the power of these stories, this intergenerational, intercultural, and interdisciplinary supergroup draws from a rich palette of musical traditions including orchestral indie rock, Appalachian folk, and diasporic Jewish modalities. 
 

Throughout the show, Rabins explores the meaning of spiritual texts in a secular world, and what it means to center women's experiences in historically patriarchal traditions. A celebration of both diasporic Jewish culture and deep intercultural connections, this show is not to be missed!

 

ALICIA JO RABINS

Alicia Jo Rabins combines music, words, ritual, and performance to create works of experimental beauty exploring the intersection of ancient texts, feminism, and everyday life. Rabins’ solo music-theater show A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff premiered at Joe’s Pub (of NYC’s Public Theater). Boom Arts presented the Portland premiere, which was named one of the year’s best performances by Willamette Week (2014). In 2021, the show was adapted into an award-winning film with director Alicia J. Rose, starring and scored by Rabins, which screened at the Castro Theater and Lincoln Center and won the audience award for narrative film at the Ashland Film Festival. A renowned writer, Rabins’ debut collection of poetry, Divinity School, won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize; her second poetry collection, Fruit Geode, was a finalist for the Jewish Book Award and a New York Times Book Review “New & Notable” pick. A classically trained violinist since the age of four, Rabins has composed for PBS; toured Central America playing fiddle as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. State Department; and was the violinist in NYC’s klezmer-rock band Golem. She is a 2020 Literary Arts Fellow, a 2021 BMI Music for Screen Fellow, and holds an M.F.A. in Poetry and an M.A. in Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies.

 

THE CAMAS HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR

The Camas High School Choir is one of America’s most innovative choral programs. Over the last decade, the choir has toured extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest and premiered more than 100 new pieces of music written by students, alumni, friends, as well as internationally known pop stars. The choir is a frequent collaborator with musicians spanning an impressive cross-section of Portland’s music scene, from gospel to indie rock. Previous projects have included major new works by Luz Elena Mendoza (of Y La Bamba), Kelly Pratt (of Beirut & David Byrne), and Luke Wyland (of Methods Body), as well as notable performances with Pool Boys, Kingdom Sound, and Portugal. The Man. The choir will be making its East Coast debut on May 23, 2024, presenting I Was A Desert at the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
 

ETHAN CHESSIN

Ethan Chessin teaches choir, songwriting, and music production at Camas High School. In the 12 years he has been leading the Camas High School Choir program, the number of students participating in it has tripled, a testament to the excitement it generates. His expertise in producing major collaborative premieres has earned his choirs invitations to record and perform alongside Portugal. The Man, Stanley Jordan, Y La Bamba, AU, Michael Allen Harrison, Bright Moments, Kingdom Sound, Trio Tsuica, Carpathian-Pacific Express, and many others. Ethan is a 2023 Country Music Association Music Teacher of Excellence. He was awarded the first Give A Note Foundation nationwide Music Educator Innovator Award and he has been recognized regionally as a Washington Teacher of the Year Finalist, Southwest Washington Teacher of the Year, and Camas High School Teacher of the Year. An experienced musician in his own right, Chessin has performed alongside Pink Martini, opened for Gwen Stefani, and was featured on the soundtrack of the Pixar film Monsters University.


THE CREATIVE TEAM

Alicia Jo Rabins (Composer/Singer/Violin) will be joined on stage by 130 singers from the Camas High School Choir, Ethan Chessin (Choir Director), musicians from Third Angle—Seth Biagini (Cello), Casey Bozell (Violin), and Kim Uwate (Viola)—and locally based, nationally known rock/folk/jazz musicians Rachel Brashear (Guitar), Matt Mayhall (Drums), and Bryn Roberts (Keyboard). Rounding out the artistic team are Jason Powers (Lead Audio Engineer), Miranda Hardy (Lighting Designer), Tahni Holt (Choreographer), Zak Margolis (Animator), John Neumann (Engraver), and Cary Clarke (Producer). 


TICKET AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

When: April 11, 2024. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark Street, Portland, OR.

Tickets: Tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at revolutionhall.com or in person from the Etix self-serve kiosk located in the Show Bar at Revolution Hall. 

 

Please Note: The show is for all ages. Seating is general admission. This concert will be interpreted by a certified American Sign Language interpreter.

This project is made possible thanks to generous support from The Ronni S. Lacroute Fund of Oregon Community Foundation, Peleh Fund, Arts for Learning Northwest, CMA Foundation, The Emily Georges Gottfried Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, Friends of Camas Arts, Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Revolution Hall, and Third Angle New Music.

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. 

This project is supported by funds from the Oregon Arts Commission.

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