Four Coastal Voices “America @ 250” concerts in May bear the influence of younger, different views

By LORI TOBIAS/Oregon ArtsWatch

NEWPORT — Nothing says America like a concert with words borrowed from the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address. And nothing silences that music like a singer who says “No.”

That’s what Coastal Voices conductor Rhodd Caldwell learned as he began putting together the set for the spring concert series America @ 250: One Nation, Many Voices. Original plans included songs God Bless America, This Is My Country, and one with words from The New Colossus, the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

“A third part was sort of a tapestry of freedom with words from Jefferson and Lincoln and Martin Luther King,” Caldwell said. “And I was kind of bowled over by this idea that people would not go there. There was a generational divide — folks like me, boomers, who had a certain understanding and appreciation of the democracy that we had grown up loving and had in our minds and hearts. That music was one side of the equation.

“And on the other, folks that were maybe 35 and under … because of all the controversy and all of the issues around freedom and democracy and immigration, they couldn’t even affirm that it was a possibility for us to keep hold of that language.”

The discussion took place right around the same time U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was looking to open a detention center in Newport.

One Gen Z member emailed Caldwell: “Patriotic’ songs make me feel uncomfortable — what if we’re singing something like America the Beautiful or God Bless America while people are being detained down the street?”

Caldwell listened to the concerns and decided he had no choice but to start over. That eventually led him to a different sort of discovery, also surprising, but this time pleasantly so. Out of the disagreement, he said, came a better concert.

The results can be heard Saturday, May 2 at the Newport Performing Arts Center, followed by concerts Sunday, May 3 in Depoe Bay; Saturday, May 9 in Lincoln City; and Sunday, May 10 in Yachats.

New material

In searching for new material, Caldwell found composers he’d never heard of and music he’d never experienced.

“I started looking at various cultural groups, and I found many contemporary composers that had positive experiences of America, or language that came out of their particular cultural definition,” Caldwell said. “So, I have a Native American composer. I have an Asian American composer, a Black composer, LGBTQ … a woman who is neurodivergent, who grew up with autism and music, and writing music became her way of dealing with her neurodivergence.”

The concert opens with music meant to “encapsulate the philosophy and feeling about democracy and freedom,” Caldwell said, a song called One Voice, originally created by the Canadian women’s folk group The Wailin’ Jennys.

“It starts out with a song, a singer, which becomes a duet, which becomes a trio,” Caldwell said. “And the message of the song is we’re in this together. Leave all the rest behind. Look for harmony, look for cooperation, look for what pulls us together, because we are one voice with many voices.”

That will be followed by some fresh versions of old standards, including a reimagined Yankee Doodle and a jazz-influenced rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.

The first act will end with a singalong. Caldwell said a second singalong will be a tribute to American armed forces with their official songs and asking active personnel and veterans to stand as their song is sung.

Part II includes Paul Simon’s American Tune arranged by long-time Coastal Voices member Vern Sanders.

The performance will include singers randomly coming on stage to speak a variation of “I’ve come to America,” or “I’m going to America” in their family’s original language. The singers will eventually all speak one phrase in English.

The concert will also feature 12 chorus members singing Let’s Reach a New Height, a piece by Asian American composer Chen Yi from a poem from the Tang Dynasty. “It’s a very simple but very short poem, and essentially it says, to achieve a grander sight, let’s reach a new height,” Caldwell said. “Remember who we are, remember who you are, remember what this is.

“What I’m trying to do with this concert is affirm all the best that we are as American citizens. Sure, we make mistakes. We have for 250 years. But we can keep aspiring. We can keep rising higher. We can keep getting above it all and seeing there’s more for us to be.”

• This story was originally published by news partner Oregon ArtsWatch. For more arts news coverage go to Oregon ArtsWatch
• Lori Tobias is a longtime Newport-based journalist and author who can be reached at [email protected]