海角大神

What a string ensemble can do: Harmonize community, calm baby

Caitlin Gillespie, an expecting mother putting a struggle with homelessness, excessive substance use, and incarceration behind her, was skeptical when a Boston Medical Center worker introduced her to the in 2017.

The songwriting collaboration with the ensemble guides new and expecting parents to craft original lullabies for their children. What, she wondered, could crafting a song with classically trained violinists and cellists from premier music schools do for her and her unborn child?

That question goes to the core of Palaver Strings鈥� mission. The musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, Maine, uses classical music to address social issues, ranging from racial justice to coral reef conservation. It engages with communities in concert halls, as well as in day cares and hospitals.

It turns out, Ms. Gillespie did have something to gain from the Lullaby Project. She worked with two Palaver Strings musicians to craft the lullaby 鈥淗arper Rose.鈥� Named for her now 4-year-old daughter, the heartfelt melody paints the promise of a good life and endless support. But it wasn鈥檛 until after the birth, one night in the hospital, that Ms. Gillespie felt its impact as she played the lullaby for her daughter the first time.

鈥淚t was just me and her,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had it on my phone, and I played it. The nurse came in, and I was crying. Playing that song ... it was a beautiful thing.鈥�

That 鈥渂eautiful thing鈥� is Palaver鈥檚 medium for social change. Though classical music is historically associated with the elite, ensemble members shared a desire to break away from the traditional trajectory of classical musicianship that included cutthroat competition, rigid style, and run-of-the-mill performances for the upper-class audiences that could afford to attend.

鈥淐lassical music has many, many benefits,鈥� says Mine Do臒antan-Dack, editor and contributor of a forthcoming book, 鈥淭he Chamber Musician in the Twenty-First Century.鈥� 鈥淔or audiences to witness [classical music], it鈥檚 a very emotionally positive thing.鈥�

Spirit of the 鈥減alaver hut鈥�

Violinist Maya French and violist Brianna Fischler were students at Boston University when they started the ensemble in 2012.

鈥淚t was just a chance for our friends and colleagues that were in music school at that time ... to have more creative control of our artistic music-making, instead of just being in a school orchestra or a chamber group,鈥� says Ms. French, now managing director of the group that includes 11 musicians.

Members share artistic and creative leadership in a model inspired by the 鈥減alaver hut鈥� used in Liberia, a setting for discussion and conflict resolution. It was a concept Ms. French brought from a project she founded in high school to help Liberian youth.

By performing pieces from underrepresented composers, in urban auditoriums and rural community centers alike, Palaver commits to uplifting previously unheard voices and welcoming audiences that would otherwise have no invitation or inclination to engage with classical music.

The ensemble commissioned 鈥淔ear the Lamb,鈥� a string orchestra piece by Akenya Seymour, a Black composer from Chicago. A recounting through music of the life and death of Emmett Till, a Black 14-year-old who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman, 鈥淔ear the Lamb鈥� had a timely performance this fall, given the trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and defendants in the Ahmaud Arbery case.

The audience in the 30-seat Somerville, Massachusetts, room was gradually pulled into the boy鈥檚 journey of racial injustice. The graceful melody crescendoed into a harsh cacophony that dissipated into an eerie whistle. Then a sharp silence symbolizing the boy鈥檚 death brought the audience and musicians together, bowing heads and closing their eyes.

This, says cellist Matthew Smith, managing director of education, is how Palaver 鈥渦ses music when words sometimes fall short.鈥�

Palaver prioritizes community outreach, registering as a nonprofit in 2015 and leading yearly initiatives such as the Lifesongs Project. Heralded by Mr. Smith in partnership with both Boston鈥檚 Ethos and the LGBTQIA+ Aging Project, it creates space for LGBTQ adults to share their stories through song. Since 2017, it has helped create 17 original compositions.

Boston resident Stanley Sayer participated in 2019. A retired market researcher with a little performance experience, the nonagenarian collaborated with violist Lysander Jaffe and violinist Kiyoshi Hayashi. His song 鈥淭here Will Always Be Roses鈥� is about a young love of his in a time when homosexuality was taboo.

鈥淎t the beginning, I had trepidation. I didn鈥檛 know what on earth this was going to be about,鈥� says Mr. Sayer, echoing Ms. Gillespie鈥檚 hesitancy. 鈥淭hen they gave you hints about how to go about finding things. ... They made it so simple. It was really collaborative.鈥�

Mr. Sayer hoped that messages of acceptance would reach the listeners, piercing through differences and tying together human values. Palaver advocates music as a vehicle for social change, says Elizabeth Moore, programming director and violist with Palaver Strings.

鈥淚 feel like music and the arts tap into a side of us that opens us up to empathy in a way that arguments and words and essays and articles often maybe don鈥檛,鈥� says Ms. Moore. 鈥淭here might be a window there to reach somebody who wouldn鈥檛 otherwise agree with you by creating more of just a human connection.鈥�

Creating new doors to music

But Palaver didn鈥檛 want that feeling to be limited to the glamorous stages. The idea for the Palaver Music Center came about when the ensemble found that some of their most meaningful performances happened in classrooms and day care centers.

The center opened in 2019 in Portland and works with over 325 students of all ages per year, offering accessible and affordable music lessons and workshops.

鈥淲e thought it would be important for us to create an organization where both those things are honored equally, the things being performance and education,鈥� says Mr. Smith.

A feasibility study found that Portland, given its growing eastern and Central African immigrant and refugee population, would benefit from the Palaver Music Center.

鈥淥ne of our moms recently told me how she didn鈥檛 have access to music when she was younger [growing up] in the Democratic Republic of Congo,鈥� says Mr. Smith. 鈥淪he was saying how when the opportunity came for her son, who鈥檚 in second grade now, she was just really thrilled ... that a program like this exists.鈥�

Creating music and programming that centers human connection is a sentiment so universal that it can resonate through a sorrowful three-movement piece about the murder of Emmett Till, as well the bountiful spirit of childhood. At least, that鈥檚 what Heather Lee Rose鈥檚 experience suggests.

As 2020 Lullaby Project participants, Ms. Rose and her wife, Darcy Rose, crafted 鈥淭ender Little Things,鈥� first singing it to their son Camden when he was 5 months old. Now a toddler, he requests the song: 鈥淐am鈥檚 lullaby, please.鈥�

Ms. Rose says, 鈥淚 thought there鈥檚 no better gift I can give to our baby than actually creating a song with him in mind.鈥澛犅�