CELILO FALLS

A moving, multi-media orchestral work that explores the geologic and human history of Celilo Falls

Music by Nancy Ives

Imagery by Joe Cantrell (Cherokee)

Text by Ed Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock)

“Stunning, assiduously crafted… a many-splendored artistic experience…

I was blown away

because of the high quality, authenticity, and eye-opening nature.”

- Oregon ArtsWatch

Forthcoming album!

In follow-up to their live broadcast of the Oregon Symphony’s premiere performance of Celilo Falls in June 2025, All Classical Radio will share this beautiful music as part of their third Recording Inclusivity Initiative album.

Learn more

Celilo, Oregon was likely the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent until 1957 when the construction of the Dalles Dam submerged the falls and nearby settlements.

Native Americans lost not only their livelihoods but their cultural home for millennia. This sonic and visual tapestry of evocative music, personal recollections, and immersive imagery conveys Native peoples’ depth of presence in this land and the universal power of place.

Photos courtesy of the Oregon Symphony

PRESS

Oregon ArtsWatch

Review

“Stunning, assiduously crafted… a many-splendored artistic experience… I was blown away because of the high quality, authenticity, and eye-opening nature.”

Read the Review
Oregonian

Feature Article

“Nancy Ives is “one of Oregon’s most prominent and accomplished classical musicians... [Her] new composition supplies a sonic evocation of the place and people Edmo and Cantrell illuminate in their respective art forms.”

Full article
Oregon Public Broadcasting

Think Out Loud Interview
“We all shared the goal of using the power of music to bring people together in a shared emotional experience. We wanted to use that to create a wider awareness and understanding of what Celilo Falls was, and what it meant to our native neighbors…” — Ives

Read the transcript

Celilo Falls

Flexible length, 3 - 45’

in 11 short movements, which may be performed individually, in various combinations, or in total

N'Chewana (4:45)
Celilo Fisherman - with poem (2:30)
Deep Time for Joe Cantrell - with projected imagery (6:00)
Grandfather Storyteller - with poem (3:00)
What I Miss Most is the Mist - with narration (8:15)
Grandfather Echo (0:40)
Celilo Blues - with poem (3:30)
Inundation, Flat Water (2:20)
She Who Watches - with projected imagery (3:30)
Grandfather Storyteller Reprise - for solo string quartet (1:30)
There Has Been Something- with poem (7:20)

Download program notes

Ives creates music of consequence and enjoys working with Indigenous artists to authentically capture, amplify, and relay their stories to wider audiences. This multimedia work will depict the history of Celilo Falls and the Native communities who have lived there for millennia - from the Missoula floods that formed the gorge, to the inundation of the Falls in 1957 and the present day experience of those who’ve lost so much. Many Oregonians are unaware of what was there, its significance for Native peoples, and what was lost; Ives’ piece will shine a light on writer/storyteller Ed Edmo and those who still suffer from that loss, using a compelling combination of music, text, and imagery to bring a wide audience together in a shared experience.

Meet the Collaborators…

Cherokee photographer Joe Martin Cantrell uses his personal depth of perspective in combination with sophisticated techniques to make visible things that often go unseen. After two tours as a Navy officer in Vietnam, Cantrell worked as a photojournalist for UPI, Black Star, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and hundreds of other publications worldwide. He has taught at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Mount Hood Community College, and was Artist in Residence at Crow’s Shadow Institute. Cantrell carries the name of an ancestor who died on the Trail of Tears, and offers his own meaningful legacy through generous contributions to benefit humanitarian causes and the arts.

Photo by Joe Cantrell: Self-Portrait

Ed Edmo is a Shoshone-Bannock poet, playwright, performer, traditional storyteller, tour guide, and lecturer on Northwest tribal culture. Edmo offers guided tours to sacred Native sites, conducts workshops, and offers traditional storytelling performances, dramatic monologues, and lectures on issues such as cultural understanding, substance abuse, and mental health. Edmo is a published short story writer, poet, and playwright, and serves as a consultant to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

Photo by Joe Cantrell: Ed Edmo