Coty Raven Morris, Visiting Assistant Professor of Choir, Music Education & Social Justice
This fall, Portland State University’s School of Music & Theater welcomed Coty Raven Morris to the role of Visiting Assistant Professor of Choir, Music Education & Social Justice, a brand-new, one-of-a-kind position that focuses on choral instruction and preparing future music educators inside the classroom, while lifting up marginalized communities through music outside the classroom.
Given the urgent need for racial justice, rising houselessness and many inequities in our community, Ethan Sperry, Barre Stoll Professor & Director of Choral Activities, conceived the idea for the new Visiting Assistant Professor, envisioning how the transformative experience of singing together could contribute to much-needed social change. In keeping with the university’s motto, “Let knowledge serve the city,” the School of Music & Theater created this new position to help build a more equitable world and promote healing through the power of singing by combining rigorous musical study with community outreach initiatives.
Morris personally knows the power that music education can have on a young person’s life, and what the transformative joy of choral singing can do for those experiencing trauma.
A turbulent childhood and adolescence marked with tragedy – the loss of her mother when she was just five years old, and the death of her grandmother when she was 12 – meant that the young Coty moved from her native New Orleans to the home of an aunt and uncle in Austin, Texas.
Despite the challenges of adjusting to her new environment, she jumped into school activities with full force, joining the cheer team, becoming the high school mascot and serving as editor of the school newspaper. But then at age 15, difficult family circumstances arose and she found herself living on her own. She spent her junior and senior years of high school couch surfing and staying with families of her fellow choir members, effectively homeless.
One day, “I had one of those iconic moments when your teacher puts on a piece, in this case Eric Whitacre’s ‘Water Night,’ and I just froze,” she says. “I just could not believe that there were people in the world who had that as their job.”
At that moment, she knew that choir was her calling.
With this new certainty of purpose, she pursued her undergraduate degree in music education at Texas State University. Housing insecurity followed her into college, forcing her to stay with friends and occasionally sleep in her car when she couldn’t afford a dorm room. Nevertheless, she began teaching at public schools in Texas, “continuing my passion for music, education and choir, seeing students who are in difficult situations that reminded me of myself.”
When a beloved mentor passed away, Morris, still in college, took over her high school choir classes, mentoring fellow students through the loss.
“I was concerned about those kids, because I knew what it was like to be that kid. I had students who had never experienced a death before, and I had students who felt like someone else had been taken from them again.” Morris knew that through teaching choir, she could help these young students navigate the loss of their teacher.
Good trouble
Her master’s degree at Michigan State came next. “But there was always something missing,” she says. The power of music and education to help students to confront their trauma and begin to heal, together, “has been the thing that I look for, which is not necessarily at the forefront of public education.”
Early on in Morris’s career, a mentor told her, “Coty, you are good trouble. There is always something about you that is stirring something else.”
That observation has stuck with her through the years. “That good trouble thing has always been there, rattling beneath the surface,” she says, and especially in the last few years, where the world has found itself exposed to widespread turmoil and trauma.
“I have always strived for my classroom to be an oasis where students felt welcomed and like they could be themselves,” she says. Her own childhood and her experiences working with vulnerable students have led her to realize that teaching choir is about far more than just music.
“I am equipping them with the tools to survive outside of the classroom, outside of me. When you teach like that, then you have students who are restless and won’t stop, who ask questions about the world outside the door. And then I realized, maybe I need to be outside the door–maybe I need to help other teachers. The core of this idea is inspiring other teachers who know that humanity is more important than the lesson plan.”
From teaching experiences in elementary and high schools, church choirs, high-caliber university choirs and everything in between, Morris’s approach is rooted in the knowledge that music education has multiple layers of benefits, both academic and social. She understands that music can have profound effects on a person’s emotional well-being, which in turn promotes learning and self-expression. “If I take time to get to your heart, to help you with the tools to communicate and connect, then I can introduce you to music skills, like sight reading, history and choral music, which you can use in the outside world as an expression of yourself.”
The healing power of singing in community
Morris boldly embraces the power of music, education and community to make change not only in the classroom but out in the larger world.
“It all comes down to one central word: community. When people ask me, ‘Coty, how did you find yourself out of homelessness?’ That's actually the answer. Choir provided that community.”
Around the time of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, “Being Human Together,” a music education community she had started, gained momentum. Her livestream talks began to draw thousands of people, who came for a sense of connection around difficult topics such as the impacts of racism. This direct focus on social justice outside of the classroom was the key to the next phase of her career, which was why she jumped at the chance to take on this innovative new faculty position at PSU.
When Ethan Sperry first met Morris, he knew she was perfect for the role. Sperry, whose vision for this position helped make it a reality, thought, “This is a person who could not only help bring music to underserved populations, but could also teach our students to do the same. With Coty leading, this program can create a ripple effect, inspiring generations of future music educators to follow her lead.”
Moved by Sperry’s idea to formalize a connection between choral music and social outreach, long-time Portland State supporters Greg Hinckley and Mary Chomenko Hinckley made a $1M gift to endow the professorship.
“We were inspired to make this gift because of the excellence and international reputation of the PSU choral program, and what that renown does for the students who participate, and for PSU and our community,” said Greg Hinckley. “We believe that when this program includes underserved members of the community as part of its focus, the impact will be significant.”
Other donors have enthusiastically joined the Hinckleys to support this faculty role, which is designed to intentionally situate PSU’s music activities where they make a social impact both inside the classroom and out in the community. Morris will serve as a Visiting Professor for three years. At the end of that time, the goal is that the Gregory K. & Mary Chomenko Hinckley Professor of Choir, Music Education and Social Justice Endowment will be fully funded, and the position will become permanent.
Hitting the ground running
Since starting at PSU in September 2021, Morris has worked with her university choir students to launch a pilot project to bring music education to organizations serving vulnerable populations, including First Christian Church, Portland Homeless Family Solutions, Mt. Scott Alternative High School and Mt. Hood Elementary School Headstart.
“The idea of the pilot project is to make sure that we are, in short, fulfilling all of the marks of Maslow's hierarchy of human needs,” she says. “I want to make sure they're getting music, but do I know if these people are residing outside? Do our community members have access to regular meals, and not just a snack once a week? We are looking at transportation as well. How can we safely get students to and from these rehearsals?”
PSU’s School of Social Work is involved in the pilot, helping to poll community members in each location to understand their unique needs, what services are already available, and where the gaps are.
At Portland Homeless Family Solutions, recognizing that people utilizing their services are in need of a sense of community, Morris’s students will be working with families to help them write their own lullabies and teach children’s songs, as a way of building that community. At First Christian Church, the project might involve connecting homeless people with services to find permanent housing.
What’s next? Morris envisions a massive outdoor high school choir gathering on the Park Blocks, collaborations around Opera a la Cart, the Portland Opera’s mobile performance venue designed by School of Architecture’s Center for Public Interest Design, and more–putting the directives of her position into direct action.
Morris also leads PSU’s Rose and Thorn Choirs, works with Ethan Sperry to help oversee the Portland State Chamber Choir, and teaches choral classes, bringing compassionate, healing practices into every aspect of her instruction.
The choirs have two sets of concerts planned for Winter and Spring term, titled “My Heart Be Brave.” Part One, on Feb. 26, will include spirituals and pieces from around the globe, “using the spiritual as a way to not only teach the history of the enslavement of African Americans and resistance against injustice, but also teach lessons about finding spiritual wellness” through this music, she says. Part Two, on April 3, will feature guest conductor Dr. David Morrow of Morehouse College, “amplifying the message from our first concert, as an educational event incorporating high school students.”
To learn more about My Heart Be Brave and purchase tickets, visit pdx.edu/music-theater/mhbb.
To make a gift to support the Hinckley Endowed Professor of Choir, Music Education & Social Justice, visit giving.psuf.org/hinckleyprofessor or contact Jaymee Jacoby, Assistant Vice President for Development, jacobyj@psuf.org or 503-725-3396.