about palaver music center

Over the years, we noticed that our most profound musical experiences often happen outside the concert hall - in hospitals, daycares, classrooms, and schools. We wanted to play not only for our community but with our community, using the power of music to create a space for dialogue and creativity. We recognize that classical music has a history of exclusion, upholding rather than confronting systemic inequalities. Through the Palaver Music Center, we hope to change the face of classical music in our local community, taking concrete steps to overcome financial, logistical, and cultural barriers to participation.

Based in Portland, ME, PMC offers early childhood music classes, string instrument lessons, community music classes, and songwriting projects such as the Lullaby Project and Lifesongs Project. To make our programming as accessible as possible, we offer sliding-scale tuition payments and generous financial aid, and offer all programming at transit-accessible locations in downtown Portland. In 2022, we opened the doors of our new dedicated teaching space on Cumberland Avenue, where the majority of our program offerings take place.