Palaver Strings. See them at the end of the pier?
Some days there’s no hope.
Then other days you learn about groups like Palaver Strings.
Musicians that share leadership, exchanging artistic ideas cooperatively. Educators who work diligently at outreach, creating musical training networks and exploring residencies, like their current one at Rockport Music.
Artist who care, and who prove it through their actions.
Palaver Strings is a chamber ensemble, formed six years ago by a small group of music students based at Boston University. Over time, Palaver Strings has welcomed other players, like violinist Josie Davis, who studied music at Oberlin before taking a masters in education at Harvard.
Palaver Strings has grown considerably in its short history, developing a solid foundation of musician/educators, and support for their work. At the core of the mission is their education network in Portland, Maine.
It includes after-school string training, community lessons for students of all ages, and pre-school instruction in child care centers. The group’s Lullaby Project works with new mothers to write songs. The ensemble has also raised money for Doctors without Borders and other causes, performing in coffee houses and retirement homes, as well as in fancy venues like Carnegie Hall.
Palaver Strings has been working with the Rockport High School orchestra this year, coaching players “to get outside the sheet music, and connect with each other,” Davis says. They will perform, accompanied by the RHS orchestra in some selections, on Thursday, Jan. 23 in Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center, as part of the residency.
“We are collaborative, like a band,” Davis says of Palaver Strings. “We are all co-artistic directors—we share the position. We all have an equal say, and that allows us to steer the group in a way that encourages growth. Our practices are always evolving, with so many people and so many strong opinions.”
Those opinions have led the group to include performances in correctional facilities, food pantries and other venues out of the classical music norm. “It’s gratifying to bring the music to the audience,” Davis says. Palaver Strings’ sessions with the Rockport students are similarly non-traditional.
“Even though they are an orchestra,” she says, “we encourage them to think like chamber musicians. Careful listening, making eye contact, breathing onstage—that’s how we all can be part of the same music making. It’s at the core of what we do, and what we want to be.”
The upcoming performance includes music of Mendelssohn (the Octet), Elgar, and “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” with guest violinist Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet. The RHS orchestra will join them for selections from Purcell’s “Abdelazer,” and RHS cellist Nathaniel Kirby will sit in with Palaver Strings for the Vivaldi selection.
Palaver Strings performs on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 p.m. in Rockport’s Shalin Liu Performance Center, part of their year-long residency for Rockport Music. Visit rockportmusic.org or call 978-546-7391.