Students’ reflections from Alicia Jo Rabins & the Camas High School Choir’s performance of Rabins' choral song cycle, I Was A Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs; recorded live at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon in 2024. In this performance, Rabins, a Portland-based composer/singer-songwriter/violinist, builds on her long-running music project Girls in Trouble, exploring the complex and fascinating stories of Biblical women and how their lives overlap with contemporary experiences.
The Camas High School Choir is based in Camas, Washington and led by award-winning conductor and educator, Ethan Chessin. Bi-annually, the choir commissions a Northwest-based composer/performer to create a new evening-length work to perform along with the choir, integrating traditional choral music with other musical styles. As the choir prepares for a world premiere, the composer visits the classroom regularly, inviting the students into the creative process, and working together towards two performances of the full piece: one in Portland, Oregon, and one on tour.
As the 2024 commission recipient, Rabins arranged these songs for choir, string trio, and folk-rock trio, along with her own voice, violin, and guitar. She also worked closely with the Camas High students, joining weekly to sing, explore the stories behind the songs, and invite students to anonymously contribute their own personal reflections on vulnerability, power, loss, and their hopes and dreams. In this video, you can hear some of these collective reflections which were woven throughout the piece, creating a tapestry of the young singers' personal stories alongside ancient source material.
Musicians:
Alicia Jo Rabins - Vocals, Violin, Acoustic Guitar
Bryn Roberts - Keyboard
Casey Bozell - Violin
Ethan Chessin - Conductor
Kim Uwate - Viola
Matt Mayhall - Drums
Rachel Brashear - Electric Guitar
Seth Biagini - Cello
and The Camas High School Choir
Creative & Production Team:
Alan Cline - Projections Programmer
Anya Gearhart - House Production Manager, Revolution Hall
Cary Clarke - Producer
Chris Bigalke (Showdeer) - Artwork & Design
Chris Cook - Monitor Engineer
Claudie Jean Fisher - Communications & Marketing Lead
Jason Powers - Lead Sound Engineer
John Neumann - Engraver
Miranda k Hardy - Lighting Designer
Owen Walz - House Lighting Designer, Revolution Hall
Tahni Holt - Choreographer
Zak Margolis - Animator
Choir members:
Abraham, Ethan
Ackley, Adisynn
Adams, Andrew
Alberty, Victoria
Allen, Jaime
Anderson, Mary
Andrews, Aidan
Barber, Brook
Bennett, Bella
Brown, Orrin
Buzan, Nathanael
Byman, Inka
Bynum, Sherman
Bynum, Sophie
Clasey, Caleb
Clayton, Zach
Combs, Faith
Cunningham, Dalilah
Dawson, Ciara
Deardorff, Elli
DeRosa, Tiffany
Dillon, Samantha
Durbin, Kaitlyn
Endreson, Lyla
Farland, Lucy
Fernando, Keziah
Fitch, Mason
Flores, Bianca
Garateix-Doll, Lillian
Gaur, Nishchay
Green, Marilyn
Guptill, Anna
Haack, Tye
Hackl, Elijah
Hall, Madison
Harris, Ainsley
Harris, Vera
Higgins, Natalie
Hill, Kiersa
Hillyard, Liam
Hodgson, Morgan
Hoffman, Anthony
Hoffman, Sienna
Hong, Aaron
Hornback, Theadora
Hunter, Arielle
Hutchins, Julien
Irwin, Charlie
Jensen, Raye
Johnsen, Sophia
Johnson, Cooper
Jones, Peyton
Jundt, Kaitlyn
Kanekoa, Kaualani
Kasten, Seth
Keeves, Lotus
Knesal-Walker, Mia
Knittle, Cris
Loughrey, Atlas
Lovell, Vivian
Luchini, Angelo
Lumbreras, Joel
Lupyr, Sofiia
Martinez, Ace
Martinez, Nathan
Maszak, Benjamin
McBride, Madeline
McGeachy, Lila
Mendenhall, Trevin
Meyer, Alyvia J.
Minium, Elizabeth
Montler, Austin
Morris, Michael
Muhr, Daravin
Murrow, Juliette
Navidi, Kira
Nguyen, Henry
Njenga, Ian Peter
Norris, Nathaniel
Oliver, Jacob
Ostap, Mariya
Papy, Cara
Phan, Alyssa
Prodan, Mariia
Ren, Daniel M.
Ricci, Isabella
Ruddy, Lena
Ryan, Camdyn
Saiz, Elektra
Sample, Alexander
Sanchez, Emilio
Schiller, Joseph
Schlesinger, Morgan
Schram, Lucia
Schwarzbeck, Ines
Shelar, Satyam
Skusa, Hailey
Stafford, Ariella
Steiger, Payton
Stewart, Addison
Stockdale, Isabelle
Sun, Evelyn
Tanner, Corban
Taylor, Kaydenn
Taylor, Taige
Thomas, Grant
Thomason, Audrey
Thompson, Riley
Tran, Trevor
Treloar, Jesse
Vandenberg, Vera
Ware, Kayla
Webberley, Grace
Westover, Finley
Westover, Margo
Wilder, Kyleigh
Williams, Elisabeth
Williams, Kayden
Williams, Kendall
Wilson, Leo
Wobber, Avery
Wunderli, Abigail
Yam, Owen
Young, Addison
This project is made possible thanks to generous support from the Ronni S. Lacroute Fund of the 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, Third Angle New Music, and Revolution Hall. This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission, and by funds from the Oregon Arts Commission.
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