early childhood music
Weekly music-and-movement classes for children and their caregivers. Offered year-round at partner childcare sites throughout Portland.
Learn moreGrammy-Nominated · Portland, Maine · Founded 2014
The ensemble that
plays Carnegie Hall
built a school for your kids.
Palaver Strings is a Grammy-nominated chamber ensemble — and a music school rooted in Portland, Maine. The music is the point. The community is what makes it possible. Thirteen seasons of the same musicians, no conductor, no hierarchy between stage and classroom.
Not everyone arrives the same way
what brought you here?
I want to support something real
invest in an idea that's working
Grammy-nominated musicians building civic infrastructure in Portland. No government funding covers the core. Your support is what makes the math work — for concerts, PMC scholarships, and community programs.
Give now My child should learn from the real thingyour child's teacher is a professional musician
Not a hobby studio. PMC is built by a Grammy-nominated ensemble. Faculty are professional musicians who bring that standard into the classroom. Five programs, ages 0–12+. Sliding-scale tuition. Downtown Portland.
Explore programs I want programming my audience will rememberprogramming that actually says something
Grammy-nominated. Reviewed in The Guardian, Gramophone, Musical America. No conductor. A chamber ensemble that programs Sam Cooke alongside Dvořák — and can tell you exactly why.
Press kit & booking
Music as Civic Life
palaver is a music organization.
Read the full story
palaver is a music organization.
community is what makes it possible.
A palaver hut is a small circular structure in Liberia — a place where people come to resolve things together, with everyone in the room having equal standing. We took the name from our early connections to the Liberian Education Fund, and kept it because it describes what we're actually doing.
Every rehearsal is a palaver: musicians negotiating without a conductor until they arrive at something none of them could have made alone. Every PMC class is a palaver. Every Lullaby Project session is a palaver. The ensemble, the school, and the community programs aren't three separate things. They're one compounding system — the national artistic work gives the school its credibility, and the community trust that grows here is what makes the whole thing worth sustaining.
"We are a diverse group of individuals seeking to come to a creative agreement when we make music."
Photo: Titilayo Ayangade — Season 13
Palaver Music Center
built by the ensemble.
built by the ensemble.
taught by professional musicians.
PMC exists because we noticed our most profound musical experiences happened outside the concert hall — in daycares, schools, and community centers. We wanted to play not only for Portland but with it. Five programs. Downtown location. Sliding-scale tuition.
Enroll →
Financial aid available for all families regardless of income.
Questions? info@palaverstrings.org
introduction to strings
Group classes introducing Pre-K students to violin, viola, and cello in a community setting. January through May.
Learn moreafter-school strings
Weekly private lessons in violin, viola, and cello with professional ensemble musicians. October through May.
Learn morelullaby project
Pregnant people and new parents work with professional musicians over three sessions to write original lullabies for their babies — and leave with a recording.
Learn morelifesongs project
A co-creative songwriting collaboration with storytellers from Portland's LGBTQ community. Personal histories become original songs, recorded and performed.
Learn more
Community Programs
we play not only
we play not only
for Portland.
we play with it.
Long-term co-creative relationships — not one-off outreach. The trust built through music holds outside the concert hall too. When Portland families need each other, the ones who found each other through Palaver already know who to call.
Songwriting Collaboration
lifesongs project
Storytellers from Portland's LGBTQ community work alongside Palaver musicians across multiple sessions to transform personal histories into original music — recorded, performed, and lasting. These songs belong to the people who wrote them.
Explore Lifesongs
Carnegie Hall Initiative
lullaby project
Initiated by Carnegie Hall and carried by a small number of ensembles nationwide, the Lullaby Project brings pregnant people and new parents together with professional musicians to write original lullabies. Each participant leaves with a recording of their song. In 2017, a Portland participant performed her lullaby at Carnegie Hall.
Explore Lullaby ProjectAnti-Racism Commitment
Classical music has a legacy of exclusion. We take concrete steps to change who makes music, who teaches it, who hears it, and who feels welcome doing all three. Read our statement →
Equity by Design
Sliding-scale tuition. Transit-accessible locations. Bilingual outreach where needed. Partnerships with organizations already inside the communities we hope to serve. Not gestures — structures.
Climate Commitment
We recognize climate change as an urgent reality and are deepening our organizational response. Touring and operational decisions are made with environmental impact in mind. Read our statement →
The Ensemble
we could have gone
we could have gone
to new york. we stayed.
Grammy-nominated. Reviewed in The Guardian and Gramophone. Carnegie Hall on our résumé. We chose Portland on purpose — not as a stepping stone, but as a home and a mission.
There's no conductor. No artistic director separate from the stage. We are the organization — the same people deciding what to play are also governing PMC, co-writing lullabies with new parents, and setting the strategic direction. That's not a structural quirk. It's the whole idea.
Grammy-nominated — Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. A Change is Gonna Come, 2024.
Reviewed internationally — The Guardian, Gramophone, Boston Globe, Musical America, The Arts Desk, Classical Music.
Musician-governed since founding — repertoire, hiring, community partnerships, and organizational strategy decided collectively. No hierarchy between office and instrument.
Committed to artist sustainability — fair wages, humane touring. You cannot build lasting community on burned-out musicians.
Photo: Christina Wnek
Support Palaver
this doesn't exist anywhere else.
this doesn't exist anywhere else.
help keep it here.
Grammy-nominated musicians who also teach your kids, write lullabies with new parents, and stay in the room long after the concert is over. There's no blueprint for this. No government funding covers it. Palaver runs because people decide it's worth sustaining.
We're not asking you to fund an institution. We're asking you to invest in a specific bet: that world-class musicians building deep local roots is better than world-class musicians doing two nights and moving on.
Your gift directly funds
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Concert series — live performances in Portland and beyond
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PMC scholarships — sliding-scale access for every family that wants it
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Lullaby & Lifesongs — community programs that couldn't exist without donation support
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Artist compensation — fair wages and humane conditions for our musicians
make a gift
Choose an amountPalaver Strings Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All gifts tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Other ways to give
Monthly via Patreon — exclusive audio, video, and merch. patreon.com/palaverstrings →
Mail a check — Payable to Palaver Strings Inc., 380 Cumberland Ave, Floor 2, Portland ME 04101
Major or planned gifts — Contact us to discuss a larger investment in Palaver's future.
Listen & Watch
now hear
now hear
what we sound like.
Palaver's recordings are available across all major platforms. Our albums — including Ready or Not, featuring works by female composers, and A Change is Gonna Come — have been reviewed in The Guardian, Gramophone, and Musical America.
become part of this.
Artist notes. Student stories. Concert invitations. Join the people who believe Palaver is worth sustaining.