"As dynamic young performers... the Palaver players know how to command a stage on their own terms." - Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe
PRICE, FLORENCE (1897-1953) | Adoration
(arr. String Orchestra by Elaine Fine)
SHEKHAR, NINA (b. 1995) | Above the Fray
KOUYOUMDJIAN, MARY (b. 1983) | Tagh [Diary} of an Immigrant
ST. CHARLES IRIS LLYLLYTH, XENIA (b. 2000) | Canary Resuscitator
FARAN, TEAGAN (b. 1996) | Fíjate
Grammy-nominated, Portland, Maine-based Palaver Strings has made its mark as one of New England's most innovative chamber ensembles. Guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices, Palaver is celebrated for their collaborative artistic programming and dynamic performances, as well their deep commitment to accessible education through the Palaver Music Center. Founded in 2014, the ensemble’s Co-Artistic Directors curate artistic programming collaboratively and democratically, rotating project direction and musical leadership. Each year Palaver presents a full concert season featuring diverse programming and world-renown collaborators, and offers music instruction to hundreds of students through the Palaver Music Center.
I Believed in Magic addresses themes of gender, power, fear, and desire through the reimagination of classic favorites through an evening of bedtime stories. The program features works by composers such as Florence Price and Mary Kouyoumdjian, set as a musical score to retold fables throughout the evening. Fijate, a world premiere by Palaver’s own Teagan Faran, is a response to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, retold from the perspective of the pursued woman. It draws on themes from the original Berlioz a well as Faran’s deep knowledge of tango idioms, relating them to Paris’s role in globalizing and exoticizing tangoian tastes during Berlioz’s time. Palaver also shares Nina Shekhar’s Above the Fray, which takes Bach’s famous prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 through transformations, degradations, and reshapings. Another premiere, Xenia St. Charles Iris Llyllyth’s Canary Resucitator, continues the theme through ambient choral-like references to snippets of Mozart. The title refers to the use of canaries in coal mines to warn of gas leaks as a metaphor for the US trans population, especially around issues of healthcare and wellness. This piece is intended both as a response to and a respite from the political turmoil surrounding trans rights.
Palaver’s recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall, Newport Classical, National Sawdust, and the Kennedy Center, as well as residencies at Rockport Music, Longy School of Music, and Boston Center for the Arts. 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 (PMC) in 2019. PMC programs offer pathways to musical development from birth through adulthood, including Early Childhood Music classes and string instrument lessons taught by Palaver musicians. Our programs seek to address inequities in access to music education, serving Portland families of diverse backgrounds. 60% of our students qualify for low-income subsidies, and 55% are first-generation immigrants, primarily from Angola, Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. PMC, located in the Bayside neighborhood where many of our students live, serves as a central community hub for classes, lessons, and rehearsals. Palaver musicians also offer high school and college-level educational programming, including workshops, masterclasses, and a graduate course on Music and Community Engagement at Longy School of Music. In this experiential class, Palaver members guide students through the process of creating a real-life community music project.
