Palaver Strings Chamber Series: night sky and the number pi featuring Michele Kennedy

Saturday, January 31 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM), 90-minutes with intermission

Tickets are available for $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and $30 for preferred seating (pay-what-you-can available)

All ages

----

Palaver Strings Chamber Series: night sky and the number pi featuring Michele Kennedy

This concert takes the audience on a journey through a rich tapestry of intense emotional landscapes: relentless determination, the jubilant celebration of true love, the sorrow of forbidden passion, and the searing frustration of being misunderstood. These deeply evocative works are paired with pieces that explore quieter, more reflective themes—visiting a coffee shop, contemplating the intricate structure of an orange, gazing at the night sky, and pondering the endless mystery of the number pi. This deliberate contrast offers the audience both a musical reprieve and a gentle reminder that our emotional experience does not always need to be dominated by extremes. In embracing the mundane with the same reverence as the monumental, these composers invite us to find meaning and vitality in the everyday. Palaver will be joined by acclaimed soprano Michele Kennedy.

Palaver Strings is a Grammy-nominated, musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. Our mission is to strengthen and inspire community through music. In our musician-led model, Palaver’s musicians share artistic and administrative leadership, guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Equally committed to performance and education, Palaver presents a full season of live concerts and serves hundreds of students yearly at the Palaver Music Center in Portland.

Praised as “an excellent and impassioned” soprano possessing "a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear" (San Francisco Chronicle), Michele Kennedy is a versatile specialist in early and new music. Her recent venues include Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and Washington National Cathedral. She is a Winner of the 2023 American Prize in Voice. In high demand across the country, Michele has been a featured soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with Voices of Music and The San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with NYC’s Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria and Handel’s Messiah with The Bach Society of Saint Louis, Undine Smith Moore's MLK Oratorio at U.C. Berkeley, and in her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra.

Musicians
Violin: Bree Fotheringham, Maya French
Viola: Brianna Fischler
Cello: Titilayo Ayangade
Soprano: Michele Kennedy

photo credit: Titilayo Ayangade

----

Maya French - Violin

Maya grew up in midcoast Maine and was lucky to have a childhood full of explorations and lots of music. She's studied and performed at Kronberg Academy, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Orford Music Academy, Manchester Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, Interlochen String Quartet Seminar, Virginia String Quartet Seminar, and Kinhaven Music School. Maya received her BM in Violin Performance from Boston University in 2015 under the direction of Bayla Keyes. As an educator, She's taught at Massachusetts Cultural Council, Bay Chamber Concerts and Music School, 317 Main Rise & Shine Violin Program, and Bridge Boston Charter School’s El Sistema-inspired strings program. Maya is currently a faculty member at the Palaver Music Center and certified to teach Suzuki Violin and Music Learning Theory, an early childhood music method. When she co-founded Palaver Strings, she had many goals in mind, such as promoting social service, participating in a self-conducted ensemble, and playing new music, but most of all she wanted to connect with audiences in an honest and open environment. Maya is excited to continue exploring how people in all stages of life can learn to communicate better and support one another. In addition to music, Maya loves traveling, cooking large family-style meals, fiddling, and the ocean.

Bree Fotheringham - Violin

Bree grew up in northern Utah in a family that encouraged music-making from a young age. Some of her earliest memories include singing around the campfire, performing duets at churches and community events, and, thanks to a neighbor down the street, starting violin lessons at age five. According to Bree's mother, she didn’t put the instrument down for an entire year, and since then, violin has been an integral part of her life.

As Bree continued on her musical path, she began to ask deeper questions: What role does classical music play in today’s world? How can it stay relevant to the communities around us? As a high school student, Bree often struggled to find satisfying answers in a culture that either dismissed classical music or questioned its purpose. That changed during her freshman year of college, when she performed a Mozart string quartet for residents at a halfway home in Los Angeles. The performance sparked joy, conversation, and a profound sense of connection between the musicians and the audience. Since then, she's been passionate about creating similar community-centered performance opportunities.

Bree's training includes studies at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. She's had the privilege of collaborating with artists like Noah Bendix-Balgley, Philip Setzer, and Andrew Marriner, and performing on concert series including the Sandbar Chamber Music Series, Phoenix Parlor Series, Connections Chamber Music Series, and the Never Too Late Series. She's also participated in festivals such as the Manchester Music Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. Currently, Bree is fortunate to live her collaborative dream performing with Palaver Strings and with the Salt Lake Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless ensemble she recently founded in Utah.

When not rehearsing or performing, you’ll likely find Bree at a thrift store searching for pieces to add to her travel-friendly capsule wardrobe, bagging peaks in the Mountain West, or exploring restaurants from her ever-growing food bucket list—both at home in Philadelphia and wherever music takes her.

Brianna Fischler - Viola

For as long as Brianna can remember, music has been a central part of her life. As she came from a long line of musicians and artists, you could even say she had prenatal musical experiences. Brianna's grandmother, a violinist herself, first introduced Brianna and her twin sister to the instrument. A few years later, her two younger twin brothers picked up the cello. If you were to walk into her house after school, in theory all four of them would have been practicing at once. Growing up with live-in “chamber music mates” was a luxury that positively enhanced Brianna's development as a human being. Her sister, her best friend Jennie Brent, and Brianna began playing in a trio at the age of eight at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT. They called themselves The Annellies, and they were guided by the love and support of their coach, Jody Rowitsch. Though their rehearsals were most likely 80% laughter and 20% work, they learned about the strong bond that can be formed through music. After a whirlwind musical education including local music school lessons, Kinhaven Music School, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the Aspen Music Festival, Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, and a Bachelor's degree in violin performance from Boston University, Brianna's friends and she found themselves in an environment desperately in need of inspiring chamber music-making. Thanks to an incredible amount of planning and dedication, Palaver Strings came to be. It has been an absolute joy to see their ensemble grow and the process of learning through music will be one that Brianna continues to enjoy and love immensely.

Titilayo Ayangade - Cello

With over two decades on the cello, Titilayo Ayangade has gracefully navigated classical music's landscape. A recent recipient of the Chamber Music America Artistic Projects grant, as the cellist of Duo Kayo, Titilayo continues her history of excellence in chamber music preceded by awards at Fischoff and tours spanning China to Brazil.

Titilayo is a passionate educator, coaching chamber music at New York Youth Symphony, various summer festivals and she is also a 2024 Lift Every Voice Juror at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. In Spring of 2024 Titilayo was awarded the Sphinx MPower Artist grant, to record and release a newly commissioned work by Curtis Stewart.

This season features collaborations with m Sphinx Virtuosi, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes, and performances on stages at MAD Museum, Caramoor, Newport Classical, Lincoln Center and more. Titilayo champions BIPOC musicians through commissioning new works, research and performance, advocating for an inclusive musical tapestry. Off-stage, she's a successful portrait photographer, crafting vibrant and colorful images with Grammy-nominated musicians and creatives from all arenas. Explore her journey at www.titilayoandco.com

---

PAY WHAT YOU CAN

No one will be turned away from MSA events for lack of funds. Please use this online form or contact MSA at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org to learn more and reserve tickets. Our box office staff are also happy to help at the door, pending availability!

EVENT PARKING

Free on-street parking is available in Mayo Street Arts’ neighborhood.

There is one paid parking lot conveniently located a six-minute walk from the venue: Top of the Old Port Parking (119 Pearl St, Portland ME 04101)

Mayo Street Arts is accessible by Greater Portland Metro bus routes with nearby transfer points 7, 9A & 9B. Click here to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

All performances and most other events held at Mayo Street Arts are wheelchair accessible. There are two accessible spots directly in front of our building, however there is not yet a curb cut out at that location.

If you would benefit from additional information or accommodations, we invite you to contact us at info@mayostreetarts.org or 207-879-4629.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Audience members — in addition to artists, staff & volunteers — who feel sick or exhibit symptoms of illness should stay home out of respect for others.

SEATING POLICY

We will save your reserved seat until showtime, at which point any unclaimed seats may be offered to other people. Please call our box office at 207-879-4629 if you are running late.

CANCELATION POLICY

MSA has a no refund policy for all reservations. In the event that MSA is forced to cancel an event due to weather, illness, etc., refunds will be offered via the Ticket Tailor platform.