strengthening & inspiring community through music
who we are
Palaver Strings is a Grammy-nominated, musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. Our mission is 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. Equally committed to performance and education, Palaver presents a full season of live concerts in New England and around the country each year.
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.
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 performs at nationally-renown venues such as Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and Newport Classical, 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, Tufts University, Ithaca College, and Longy School of Music, where we offer master classes and graduate courses on music and community engagement. The ensemble has collaborated with artists such as Kinan Azmeh and Attacca Quartet, and commissioned works from Errollyn Wallen, Kareem Roustom, and Sato Matsui. Palaver’s latest release A Change is Gonna Come (Azica Records, 2024) features Nicholas Phan and Farayi Malek on reimagined American protest songs. The Grammy-nominated album was praised for its “fresh, galvanizing sound” (Bay Area Reporter) and named one of Gramophone’s favorite classical recordings of the year.
Equally committed to education, Palaver launched the Palaver Music Center in 2019, which now serves hundreds of students each 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.
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
s 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
