Earth's Protection: A Concert Reflection

This past weekend, we closed the books on our fourteenth season with our first-ever festival: Earth’s Protection. Despite the rain and cooler weather, community members from all over arrived to Lewis & Clark’s beautiful campus to share in an evening of profound visual art, powerfully vibrant dance, delicious local food and drink, and - of course - a dynamic and beautifully moving program of music by living composers.

PRE-CONCERT FESTIVITIES

The evening started with a stunning array of photographs by local photographer Joe Cantrell, whose brilliant images were given further context by the artist himself as viewers took in the gallery.

Festival-attendees even had the chance to purchase these one-of-a-kind works, taking a piece of the evening home with them—along with the fascinating stories Joe shared all evening!

You can read a wonderful write-up on the profound impact of the gallery from Oregon ArtsWatch by Friderike Heuer here.

Whether festival-goers were taking in the gallery, exploring the fascinating specimens on display with members from Portland Audubon, or partaking in delicious treats from Island Shave Ice, Fuego, Koi Fuision or Booze Trucks, guests were soon beckoned indoors by the Nez Perce drumming and dancing ensemble, Four Directions.

With stunning traditional garb, insightful explanations from leader Harold Paul, and the powerful performance of the drummers and vocalists, the performance was a highlight of the pre-concert activities!

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Photographer Joe Cantrell, joined by poet and traditional storyteller Ed Edmo, began the night’s main event with a visually-impactful land acknowledgement—using a long rope to represent different points in time, culminating in the longest section (spanning the length of the concert hall) showing the vast centuries First Peoples have inhabited this region. This powerful reminder was a perfect beginning for our concert - attendees shared later that this was the clearest, truest land acknowledgment they’ve ever heard. Thank you to Joe and Ed for leading it.

THE CONCERT BEGINS!

COVID had delayed many projects, and while Jasmine Barnes’ work Normal Never Was premiered to the world in video format in 2021, Friday was the first time this piece had been performed for a live audience since it was commissioned. The piece encourages us to consider the opportunity we have to move forward as better human beings to one another than the “normal” we had before the pandemic.

Next on the program, we were pleased to feature composer and Oregon Symphony principal cellist Nancy Ives along with poet Ed Edmo for their work Songs for Celilo - scored for singing cellist.

The work commemorates the indigenous community that lived near Celilo Falls before its intentional flooding in the 1940’s when the Dalles Dam was built. Interpolated with Ed Edmo’s powerful delivery of his original poetry, the solo cello lines beautifully accompany the soaring vocal writing of the same text — drawing out both the hope and pain of the community who lost their beloved home.

Wrapping up the first half of the program, Reena Esmail’s The Tipping Point features a fantastic collaboration with Indian classical percussionist Shrikant Naware. The work juxtaposes traditional Western choral writing with traditional Indian raga patterns and vocalizations. The result is a dynamic and moving work that boldly declares, while we are “balanced on the razor’s edge,” to remember that “light always returns.”

Joined by musicians from Portland’s Fear No Music Ensemble, the second half of the program featured the Oregon premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s work Mass for the Endangered.

The work, divided into six movements, uses a mix of traditional Latin mass texts and original poetry in English by Nathaniel Bellows. Lush and playful orchestration accompanies sparkling melody lines and powerful choral textures.

When the performance concluded, audiences sat silent for nearly thirty seconds before erupting into a standing ovation. It was magical, and we couldn’t have asked for a better end to our season!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

Those who attended Friday’s concert were the first to hear the big news we’ll be announcing tomorrow — 15th anniversary 2023-24 season! With special guests that made our audience gasp in delight, this is an announcement you will NOT want to miss! 

Unless otherwise credited, all photos in this post are by Rachel Hadiashar