Palaver Strings

love abounds more beautiful things coming soon with this life giving collaboration go support all the work @palaverstrings is doing 🫂💛✨

As another school year, performance season, and fiscal year comes to a close, we’re asking for your support. ❤️ Palaver Music Center serves hundreds of students and families each year through classes, afterschool programs, private lessons, performances, and songwriting projects, with many students relying on scholarship support to participate. As arts funding declines and costs rise, community support is more important than ever. Your donation helps provide scholarships, support teaching artists, and keep music education accessible for students across our community. Every contribution, of any amount, helps make this work possible. Thank you for your generosity, and for helping us continue another year of music, learning, and creativity ahead. Visit the link in bio to make a donation. 📷 @yoon.strewn

Five Palaver musicians, featuring @vuyosotashe and @chrispattishall , are kicking off the @allroadsmusicfest on May 15 at the @statetheatreportland 🎶 Join us in Portland for the start of a weekend full of incredible music. Check out the link in bio for more info about festival passes and tickets.

Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” performed by @grant.houston and @palaverstrings left everyone in the audience utterly transformed. There are no words. This was a transmission and we can still feel the reverberations. 🙏🏼 Shout out to @grecchinois for bringing this project to us 😘

Bienvenido! I’m honored to share my first community letter as Education Director of Palaver Strings. At the Palaver Music Center, we believe every student deserves access to world-class music education, regardless of background or financial circumstance. Over the past six years, our programs have served hundreds of students and families across our community, with many relying on scholarship support to participate. This spring, we’re asking for your help to continue this work. Your gift to Palaver’s Annual Fund directly supports scholarships, faculty, and the resources our students need to thrive. Thank you for being part of this work. Visit the link in bio to make a donation. 📷 @briannafischler @yoon.strewn

🎻 @palaverstrings and @grecchinois took us on a musical history tour of protest songs; compositions both new and timeless. Thank you to everyone who packed the house for this special evening, and to our community partners @cabrillofestival , @ucsc Arts Division, and @rippleartsfestsantacruz ! 📸 @r._r._jones_photography #palaverstrings #nicholasphan #achangeisgonnacome #kuumbwajazz

This band is honored to be out here in the Bay performing our Change is Gonna Come program with our dear friend and collaborator @grecchinois . Right now this work is more important and relevant than ever. Music + gathering are protest. We won’t stop. Berkeley this morning for workshops before heading to Santa Cruz for work with the USCS composition department and another show with the @cabrillofestival at @kuumbwajazz on Friday. 📷 @yoon.strewn

Dancing Home 💃 A high-energy program exploring heritage, belonging, and resilience through dance. Featuring tango, Syrian folk, Croatian traditions, and Kareem Roustom’s ḥawwāsh with rotating solos across the ensemble. Come be part of it. April 16 - @maine.mechanics April 17 - @longyschoolofmusic 🎟️ in bio! 📷 @titilayoayangade

Tour reflections from @kiyoshijhayashi 🍎🍏 It was such a joy, pleasure, and honor to bring this Apple of Their Eyes program to life and share it with so many people. Huge thank you to Kamryon for dreaming up such an impactful program and I think it was one of the most well-received programs we’ve done so far! As Concert Coordinator, I’m incredibly grateful for the respect, attention to detail, thoughtfulness, buy-in, and flexibility you all brought throughout the entire process! I was really inspired by how the speakers crafted such a cohesive narrative around the program’s deeper meaning, and it felt like with each performance we were able to dive deeper and deeper into the music. I was initially unsure how this program and topic would come across, but I felt we really embodied these composers’ stories and artistry and fully brought Kam’s vision to life. The soloists sounded absolutely gorgeous—huge congrats to Maï for being such a consistent, heartfelt powerhouse throughout. Shoutout to Brianna for always making us look great and for navigating all the different stage setups, and Haley has been a godsend in keeping these tours and travel so organized. Our guest artists were awesome, vibes were awesome, y’all are awesome! Cheers to a fantastic tour and looking forward to continuing to build on all the things moving forward! Love, Ki 📷 @yoon.strewn + @titilayoayangade

NYC, we’re here with Apple of Their Eyes. It has been an honor to explore the music of incredible Black composers curated by our dear @kamywills , and we are excited to share it with you. @publicrecordsnyc tonight at 8pm
@gather_nyc tomorrow at 11am Hope to see you there 🍎 📷 @yoon.strewn

A few moments from our recent Palaver Music Center Residency — rehearsing, singing together, sharing food, and celebrating the music. 📷 @briannafischler

Join Palaver Strings @palaverstrings for an evening exploring the African-American experience in classical music through the voices of Black composers at Mechanics' Hall @maine.mechanics , March 11th 5:30-6:30pm & March 12th 7:00-8:30pm. This powerful program begins with the “blues” movement from Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2, followed by the reflective Prelude for Piano by Julia Perry. At the heart of the concert is Romance and Reverie Phantasy for Violin and String Orchestra by Edmund Thornton Jenkins, restored, edited, and arranged by Tuffus Zimbabwe. The program concludes with moving works by Adolphus Hailstork and William Grant Still, celebrating spirituality, reflection, and family. The Apple of Their Eyes highlights the richness, depth, and lasting impact of Black classical music. Download the FREE Creative Portland App and never miss out on events and opportunities!