strengthening & inspiring community through music
who we are
Palaver Strings is a musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. For ten years, our mission has been to strengthen and inspire community through music. In our musician-led model, Palaver’s musicians share artistic and administrative leadership, guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices.
why we play
We were trained to play behind closed doors, in formal halls, for a select few who already “get it.” Once we saw how powerful music can be in hospitals, classrooms, shelter, and parks, we asked ourselves why we play and what music is for:
Music warms our hearts and minds.
Music meets us where we are.
Music thrives in dusty barns and empty warehouses.
Music crosses genres and breaks down barriers.
Music lifts up unheard voices and untold stories
Music responds to a changing world.
Music invites us all in.
So come on in.
anti-racism statement
Palaver Strings affirms that Black lives matter and acknowledges that systemic racism continues to affect our community. Our mission is to strengthen and inspire community through music, and we believe that true community is not possible without sustained work to dismantle these oppressive structures that can separate us and impair the development of the community we seek. As performers, educators, and collaborators, we strive to create a culture of equity, inclusion, and accountability. One necessary part of this work is examining classical music’s legacy of exclusion and white supremacy, and the ways in which this legacy shapes our playing, decision-making, and ways of being together. We will coordinate that effort with a continuing awareness of the effects that exclusion and white supremacy have on our day-to-day lives. Our work cannot end here; it must continue with concrete action to disrupt these systems and practices.
what we do
Palaver Strings presents a full series of live concerts each year, featuring diverse musical programming, community partnerships, and world-class collaborators from many genres and artistic media. Palaver tours nationally, with recent and upcoming engagements at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and National Sawdust, while maintaining a special focus on our home state of Maine. The ensemble has enjoyed residencies at Rockport Music, Boston Center for the Arts, Bay Chamber Concerts, the Brattleboro Music Center, and Longy School of Music, where we offer master classes and graduate courses on music and community engagement. Palaver’s 2022 album Ready or Not (Azica Records, 2022) received acclaim from The Guardian and left BBC Music Magazine “wanting more.” Our newest album A Change is Gonna Come features Nicholas Phan and Farayi Malek on new arrangements of American protest songs. Palaver Strings is proudly represented by Ariel Artists.
Equally committed to education, Palaver launched the Palaver Music Center in 2019, which now serves hundreds of students per year at our downtown Portland teaching space. Our programs include Early Childhood Music, private string instrument lessons, and group classes for students in grades K-4. Learn more about PMC program offerings here.
how we work
As a musician-led ensemble, Palaver operates collaboratively and democratically, with thirteen Co-Artistic Directors sharing musical and administrative leadership. Our adventurous musical programming is shaped directly by individual musicians, who bring their unique interests and experiences to the table. We all share a passion for expanding the possibilities of the string orchestra medium, embracing cross-genre projects, unconventional venues, new commissions and arrangements, and community collaborations. Palaver uses music to address social justice issues, promote education and dialogue, and amplify underrepresented voices. Education is central to our mission, and we strive to share these values with students of all ages and backgrounds through the Palaver Music Center.
what does our name mean?
where does it come from?
“Palaver” comes from the term “palaver hut,” a traditional setting for discussion and conflict resolution found in Liberia and other West African countries. Some of our first performances as an ensemble were benefit concerts for the Liberian Education Fund, an organization co-founded by our Managing Director, Maya French. Maya and her peers worked together to raise funds for high school and college scholarships for Liberian students, traveling to Liberia several times and creating powerful personal connections that continue to this day. Through these friendships, Maya learned about the tradition of the palaver hut, and we were all inspired by the concept as we built our own container for creative collaboration. While our organization operates in a very different cultural context, the concept of the palaver hut still resonates strongly with our vision. When Maya proposed the name “Palaver Strings,” our friends in Liberia gave us their blessing, and we continue to communicate about what it means to claim this name. In an age of appropriation and commodification of indigenous cultural practices, we hope to honor our early collaboration with LEF. It’s an important part of our story, and catalyzed our own collaboration for years to come. Learn more about students’ experiences with LEF here: Ley'Go: A Documentary about Students in Liberia
