Responding quickly to a racial controversy at Madeleine School in Northeast Portland, the Portland music group 45th Parallel Universe has moved its Wednesday, April 30, concert Treasured Resources: Water and Music from Madeleine’s auditorium to Polaris Hall, 625 N. Killingsworth Court, Portland.

“Due to an ongoing situation at the Madeleine School/Parish we are moving our concerts elsewhere,” 45th Parallel wrote in an email to followers. “[W]e will be at Polaris Hall for our Treasured Resources show and plan to promote music, community, safety, coming together, and celebration of what communities gather to do together when they come to a concert: enjoy life and have a heart warming evening.

“That is the business we are into and in order to maintain the highest standards of experience we feel that at this time, this is the best move for upholding our values as performers in this beloved city we share with you!”

Julia Silverman of The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported on the Madeleine controversy in detail in her story Catholic school in upheaval over charges of racism, inaction.

“The principal at The Madeleine School, a private Catholic school in Northeast Portland, summoned Portland police to the campus in late March when the parents of a Black student demanded to know her plan of action after their fourth-grade son reported being called a racist slur on the playground,” Silverman wrote.

“Just 72 hours later, the school expelled the boy, effective immediately, saying his parents — Moda Health executive Karis Stoudamire-Phillips and renowned jazz musician Mike Phillips, both prominent Black Portlanders with long histories of volunteering both citywide and in Portland’s tight-knit Catholic school community — had violated the school’s code of conduct for parents.”

Madeleine’s auditorium has become a congenial location for small-scale concerts in Portland’s music community, but the racial confrontation has made groups rethink, and 45th Parallel responded swiftly once the news broke.

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Wednesday’s concert features Waterworks, a world premiere by Northwest composer Deena Grossman, composer- in-residence with Columbia Riverkeeper; plus Au-Delà du Temps, by composer Yuko Uebayashi and featuring Oregon Symphony flutists Zack Galatis and Alicia DiDonato Paulsen. Other performers on the program include violist Charles Noble, cellist Pansy Chang, and pianist Maria Garcia.

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UPDATE: Meanwhile, Cascadia Composers has decided to keep its Friday, Feb. 9 concert Found Sound: Musi for Percussion and Found Objects at Madeleine.

“At Cascadia Composers, we have been following events at the Madeleine School. Our thoughts and prayers are with the students, their families, and the community at large,” John Hidalgo, a member of the composers’ group, wrote in a Monday, May 5 email.

“Our next concert, Found Sound, is scheduled for this Friday at the Old Madeleine Church event facility. Many people’s work must come together to produce a concert of new music, and this program has been in the works for many months. We have considered all our options, and decided to honor our original commitment to the musicians and other participants, and to our members with music on the program. So the concert will go ahead as planned, with thanks to everyone who has worked to make it happen.”

Cascadia Composers’ decision comes after Madeleine School Principal Tresa Rast was placed on leave, as Julia Silverman reported May 2 for The Oregonian/Oregon Live. “The decision to place Rast on leave came one day after a schoolwide advisory council meeting during which Rast and a consultant who focuses on antiracist educational strategies were scheduled to present on a handful of topics, including the development of anti-bias lesson plans and how the school balances family communication with confidentiality,” Silverman wrote.

She added: “Some parents have said they feel Rast is being unfairly maligned for trying to maintain student confidentiality amid a complicated disciplinary situation, while others are questioning why the school has yet to issue a formal apology for the situation.”

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The Found Sound concerts will include music by Cascadia members Hidalgo, Steven James, Lisa Ann Marsh, Brian Magill, Lisa Neher, Mark Pritchard, Alex Shapira, and Greg A. Steinke. Performers will include Florian Conzetti, Brad Dutz, Jolan Hutchinson, and Wanyue Ye.