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Two out of the 10 Grammy award finalists for the 2025 Music Educator Award hail from the greater Portland area.
Coty Raven Morris of Portland State University is in the running, as is Ethan Chessin, Camas High School’s choir director and conductor.
More than 2,400 nominations came in from 49 states for the honor, which goes out to teachers “who have made a significant and lasting contribution to music education and demonstrate a deep commitment to maintaining music programs in schools,” according to the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum.
Chessin’s nomination coincides with his new live album and film of his concert I Was a Desert: Songs of the Matriarchs. The choral work is a project with composer Alicia Jo Rabins, as part of her indie-folk song cycle about Biblical women called Girls in Trouble. The concert was recorded and filmed at Revolution Hall in April, followed by a May performance at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.
“The Grammy nomination was a huge surprise, since so much of what I do as a teacher is find opportunities to get out of the way and let my students learn from professional musicians and culture bearers,” Chessin tells WW. “I normally shy away from personal publicity, but my community in Portland and Camas has been so thrilled to share the news that it feels like a win for all of us.”
The Grammy winner will receive $10,000 and a matching grant for their school’s music program, plus travel to Los Angeles to attend the Feb. 2 awards ceremony. In addition to sharing projects like I Was a Desert on a national level, Chessin says the best part of winning would be to connect with a former student—a composer, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist studying commercial music in college now—who is volunteering for Grammy week.
“Seeing my former students finding success in the music industry or finding joy in music after high school is one of the most gratifying celebrations I can imagine.”