musicians and staff
Teagan Faran
she/they
Violin
Co-Artistic Director & Librarian
I grew up as an ice hockey player outside of Buffalo, NY. I was lucky enough to take violin lessons as well at the local Suzuki academy and I quickly fell in love with performing and making music with friends. Western New York was a fertile artistic ground for curious young me and I got involved with jazz and tango groups in addition to my classical training. I went to the University of Michigan to continue studying music and then moved to Argentina through a Fulbright grant to research different performance practices. When I moved back to the US, I landed in New York City where I studied Contemporary Performance at the Manhattan School of Music.
Music for me is a great excuse to gather the people you care about together in one celebratory place. I have been able to travel and meet some of my closest friends through performance, and I love getting to know my local community better through the arts. I have been able to play with groups like Alarm Will Sound, International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. I love being in the recording studio, too, and have recorded recently with Carlos Simon, Tanner Porter, and La Martino Orquesta Típica – and released my second solo album, “Middle Child” in January 2025!
Outside of music, I am also a personal trainer, an avid tree climber, and a fan of ice cream all year round. In addition to Palaver, I also play in the electroacoustic duo Persephone & the Phoenix, bop around the US playing tango, and teach at Ithaca College.
Maya French
she/her
Violin
Co-Artistic Director &
Executive Director
I grew up in midcoast Maine and was lucky to have a childhood full of explorations and lots of music. I’ve 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. I received my BM in Violin Performance from Boston University in 2015 under the direction of Bayla Keyes. As an educator, I’ve 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. I am 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 I co-founded Palaver Strings, I had many goals in mind, such as promoting social service, participating in a self-conducted ensemble, and playing new music, but most of all I wanted to connect with audiences in an honest and open environment. I am excited to continue exploring how people in all stages of life can learn to communicate better and support one another. In addition to music, I love traveling, cooking large family-style meals, fiddling, and the ocean.
Maïthéna Girault
she/her
Violin
Co-Artistic Director & Evaluations Coordinator
The shared quality of music-making is what first drew me to the violin: after witnessing a cousin play at a family gathering, my first instinct was to get a fiddle of my own to play with her. The spark I felt then for music as a gathering element has been with me ever since.
Though I was born in France, I grew up in Montreal, Canada, where I attended the Montreal Conservatory of Music and McGill University. My dream of moving to New York City was eventually made possible with the prize-money of a few competitions and I was able to pursue my Bachelors, Masters and Professional Performance Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music. Now more than ever, I revel in the connectivity, proactiveness and critical-thinking of this city that is my home.
Collaborative music-making was always a favorite of mine and this preference most often transformed into a focus, leading to winning chamber music competition top prizes at McGill, MSM and the Fischoff National Chamber Competition. These group adventures have brought me to Asia, Europe and the Americas to play and work with members of the American, Alban Berg, Brentano, Borodin, Ébène, Emerson, Escher, Hagen, Jupiter, Mendelssohn and Tokyo quartets, among others.
Another significant musical family is the 18-member Sphinx Virtuosi. You can hear us on our 2025 debut album for Deutsche Grammophon and on another to be released summer 2025. Coincidently, I will also be releasing my own debut album this fall featuring works old and new titled ORIGIN: A Fantastical Journey.
I often run out of words to describe my sincere awe for the humanity and artist-citizenship of Palaver Strings, but I can list a few of my favorite things: boundless creativity, humbling thoughtfulness and care, warmth, incredible resilience and spirit, an affection for movement and nature, and the love of many for tinned fish.
Kiyoshi Hayashi
he/him
Violin
Co-Artistic Director
I grew up in Oak Park, IL and started playing the violin when I was seven. As a very shy kid, I discovered that music was the one way I felt truly comfortable expressing myself and sharing who I was. Over time, I built a community around music and kept discovering its power to move both myself and others. By the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career.
Throughout my studies, I’ve been lucky to work with several inspiring mentors, including Thomas Wermuth, Almita Vamos, and Nicholas Kitchen. I earned my BM from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2016 and have called Boston home ever since. In addition to playing with Palaver Strings, I regularly perform with the Rasa String Quartet, Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and other local ensembles. Some of my favorite collaborations have included performances with the Ariel String Quartet, Maeve Gilchrist, Judy Collins, and legendary rock bands like The Who and The Eagles.
I’m incredibly grateful to be a member of Palaver Strings because it is such a supportive family of like-minded musicians that has reconnected me with the joy, fulfillment, and sense of community I first experienced playing music as a child. After every Palaver event, I walk away inspired to be a more intentional musician, a more compassionate individual, and a more thoughtful citizen of the world.
Outside of performing, I’m a music educator, health and career coach, and speaker, with a mission to empower young artists to develop the entrepreneurial skills and holistic lifestyle necessary to design meaningful and sustainable careers. I’ve taught at institutions such as Apple Hill’s Summer Chamber Music Festival, the Longy School of Music, and Phillips Exeter Academy, and I work regularly with emerging musicians and entrepreneurs through my private coaching practice and one-on-one advising at the New England Conservatory.
When I’m not making music or coaching my clients, you’ll most likely find me on a morning run, playing soccer or tennis, practicing yoga, reading, diving into a podcast, or exploring the outdoors.
Grant Houston
he/him
Violin
Co-Artistic Director & Board Liaison
Music, for me, is about the joy of discovery and connection. I was lucky to discover the violin at age 7 in public school, and to say it was love at first sight is cliché- but true. Some fantastic music educators in my preteen years helped me see that though I could immerse myself in the world of music alone, the real thrill was the chance to share that experience with others both on and offstage. It's why I make chamber music the heart of my musical life: I'm all in on the team effort to connect music's kaleidoscope of emotions with any person who pulls up a chair.
I spent eight years as a student at the New England Conservatory in Boston, which made New England my home after growing up in a somewhat nomadic family. But I still follow where the music takes me, and I've found myself teaching in Panama, performing in a car factory in Germany and a shopping mall in Japan, stepping onto the biggest stage at Carnegie and into the homiest living room in New Hampshire. I started Trio Gaia, a piano trio heading into its seventh season, to make music and travel with my closest friends. Just as I discovered when I was young, it's coming together to make music with others that I love, whether on series like the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, Castle of Our Skins, and the Wellesley Chamber Players, at festivals like Spoleto Festival USA, Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, and Yellow Barn's Young Artist Program, or within conductor-less ensembles like The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, and Palaver Strings- of which I'm thrilled to be a part.
Bree Fotheringham
Violin
Co-Artistic Director & Board Liaison
I grew up in northern Utah in a family that encouraged music-making from a young age. Some of my 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 my mother, I didn’t put the instrument down for an entire year, and since then, violin has been an integral part of my life.
As I continued on my musical path, I 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, I often struggled to find satisfying answers in a culture that either dismissed classical music or questioned its purpose. That changed during my freshman year of college, when I 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, I’ve been passionate about creating similar community-centered performance opportunities.
My training includes studies at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. I’ve 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. I’ve also participated in festivals such as the Manchester Music Festival, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. Currently, I’m fortunate to live my collaborative dream performing with Palaver Strings and with the Salt Lake Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless ensemble I recently founded in Utah.
When I’m not rehearsing or performing, you’ll likely find me at a thrift store searching for pieces to add to my travel-friendly capsule wardrobe, bagging peaks in the Mountain West, or exploring restaurants from my ever-growing food bucket list—both at home in Philadelphia and wherever music takes me.
she/her
Brianna Fischler
she/her
Viola
Co-Artistic Director &
Education Coordinator
For as long as I can remember, music has been a central part of my life. As I came from a long line of musicians and artists, you could even say I had prenatal musical experiences. My grandmother, a violinist herself, first introduced my twin sister and I to the instrument. A few years later, my two younger twin brothers picked up the cello. If you were to walk into my house after school, in theory all four of us would have been practicing at once. Growing up with live-in “chamber music mates” was a luxury that positively enhanced my development as a human being. My sister, my best friend Jennie Brent, and I began playing in a trio at the age of eight at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT. We called ourselves The Annellies, and we were guided by the love and support of our coach, Jody Rowitsch. Though our rehearsals were most likely 80% laughter and 20% work, we 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, my friends and I found ourselves 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 our ensemble grow and the process of learning through music will be one that I continue to enjoy and love immensely.
Lysander Jaffe
he/him
Viola
Co-Artistic Director & Communications Coordinator
I grew up in rural western Massachusetts, where my parents, both jazz musicians, raised my siblings and I in a rich musical environment. I started Suzuki violin at the age of five and in high school I fell in love with the deep, introspective character of the viola, (not to mention the viola jokes). Over the years I studied with Michelle Liechti, Delores Thayer, and Ahling Neu, and am deeply indebted to their wisdom and patience. Thanks to Penny Schultz and Village Harmony, I also discovered a love of East European folk music and singing in general. After living abroad in Russia and England, I transferred to Williams College, where I continued my viola studies and graduated with a BA in Russian in 2014. Since then, I’ve traveled to the Balkans, Corsica, and the Republic of Georgia to study traditional music styles with amazing singers and players. These experiences cemented for me a commitment to folk traditions as nuanced, transcendent, and deeply alive in ways that we in the “classical” world can learn from. In 2020 I completed my Masters in Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory, where I had the opportunity to study all kinds of improvised music with Joe Morris, Warren Senders, and too many others to name. I joined Palaver Strings in 2015 and I am grateful every day for this family of supportive friends and collaborators. Lots of musicians talk about transforming the role of classical music, but my Palaver colleagues really do the work to build a new culture of deep listening, good humor, and trust. In addition to Palaver, I perform and teach with the vocal quintet Culomba and the Yiddish/klezmer band Levyosn, and serve as Artistic Director for SingPositive and Boston Harmony.
Elizabeth Moore
she/her
Viola
Co-Artistic Director & Programming Director
Growing up on a small farm in midcoast Maine, I was surrounded by music at an early age. I began studying violin at six, but have earlier memories from when I could still fit in a guitar case along the back of the stage as my father played and called for contra dances. Whether playing folk music, participating in ensembles through Bay Chamber Concerts, or singing every chance there was, I developed my musical interests in a small yet supportive community. After discovering the beautiful resonance of the viola, I went on to study at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with Sheila Browne, and at Boston University College of Fine Arts with Karen Ritscher, with a stint in between as a fellow with Lincoln Center Education. As Palaver evolves, I am constantly inspired by my colleagues; we push each other to perform at a higher level, and to continually reexamine the ways in which we approach music itself and our role as musicians in the world. As Programming Director for the ensemble, I am thrilled by the range of ideas we collectively bring. It’s so fulfilling to develop these into concrete programs, partnerships, and collaborations. In addition to my work with Palaver, I teach privately in Portland, ME as and through the Palaver Music Center, and can be found playing most weekends with someone, somewhere in New England. When not making music or teaching, you might find me behind a wheel at Portland Pottery, by the ocean, or spending quality time with my cats, Benjamin K(br)itten, and Billie.
Matthew Smith
he/him
Cello
Co-Artistic Director & Ensemble Engagement Manager
Originally from the sun-saturated desert of Arizona, I’ve loved classical music as long as I can remember and got my start playing the cello through my school orchestra. This experience showed me the importance of creating accessible musical opportunities for young people, and has shaped my role as a cellist and carrying out Palaver’s mission to make music and music education more accessible to all. Some of my most transformative musical experiences have taken place while working with members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Brentano String Quartet. I received a Master of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, studying with Andrew Mark, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Arizona State University, where I studied with Thomas Landschoot. Outside of Palaver, I perform in a duo with my long-term musical partner, pianist Pei Pei Song, where we have been guest artists at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China.
Kamyron Williams
he/him
Cello
Co-Artistic Director &
Anti-Racism Coordinator
While growing up in Florida, I became a musician almost entirely by accident. If not for a middle school friend not wanting to take orchestra class by himself, I may have never picked up the cello at all. Though it was this spontaneous entrance into music that got me started, the mentorship and educational opportunities I received afterward have led to various career opportunities as an artist, collaborator, and educator.
After completing my studies at Indiana University (B.M) and the University of Michigan (M.M), I discovered much of my personal mission while working with local arts organizations, both as a performer and community outreach leader. While I learned many of the joys of performing, I saw firsthand the challenges of equity, attendance, and enthusiasm that classical music still struggles to overcome. As a result, I began focusing on social change with the future generations of underrepresented musicians in mind, both off and on the stage.
As an educator, I brought El Sistema-style classical music instruction to the classroom during my role as a Michigan Artist Citizen, and also mentored students in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Youth Ensembles and Crescendo Detroit. After recently relocating to the East Coast, I’m currently a fellow at Community MusicWorks in Providence, Rhode Island. Aside from my active teaching and performance schedule, I enjoy keeping up with sports, exploring new cities, and the company of friends and family.
Nate Martin
he/him
Bass
Co-Artistic Director & Anti-Racism Coordinator
Nate Martin has been playing bass since he was 13. His musical journey started with a love of orchestras, playing and touring with Boston Youth Symphony and the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Diving into his studies with Boston Symphony members Ed Barker at Boston University, and Todd Seeber at New England Conservatory, Nate found inspiration from teachers like Nico Abondolo of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra, Joel Quarrington of the London Symphony and Matthew MacDonald of the Berlin Philharmonic. After a fellowship program at the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, Nate became a co-artistic director of Palaver Strings. The ensemble continues to push him musically through genre-crossing collaborations, commissioning new music, touring, and recording projects. These musical explorations have been the inspiration for his teaching - not just to encourage finer technical standards, but to adopt an attitude of artistry and humanity that prioritizes curiosity and a healthy dose of goofiness. He is faculty at Bay Chamber Music School in Rockport, where he teaches bass, cello, and recording techniques, and coaches chamber and jazz ensembles. Trees, animals, hiking, cooking, and stories in all forms sustain him. He lives in Swanville Maine.
Gwendolyn
Matias-Ryan
she/her
Education Director
Being raised in a bilingual, bicultural home that was constantly bursting with art and music led me to fall in love with artistic expression and the joy it brings from a very early age. I was a full-time ballet dancer at the age of 4 and picked up the violin and the piano very soon afterward. I was raised in two countries and have experienced both the enrichment and the heartbreak of having my heart torn between two places. This experience has felt like a continuous wave that sustained and pushed me forward throughout my life. I switched to the viola full-time in college and since then have obtained performance degrees from Baylor University, University of Michigan, and Texas Tech University, where I recently obtained my DMA. I have acted as the principal violist of the Lubbock Symphony since 2023 and recently performed Strauss’ Metamorphosen for 23 Strings as principal violist with Chamber Music Amarillo. I have performed as a guest chamber musician in the U.S., Mexico, Italy, and Belgium throughout my career and won two concerto competitions in Texas. My passion for chamber music led me to create and perform with two string quartets in the past 8 years and launch the first tuition-free string chamber music festival in southern Mexico in 2019. The SA’OAXACA international chamber music festival inspired my doctoral research, which culminated in my thesis titled SA’OAXACA: The creation of a music festival as an act of resistance within a revolutionary state in the post-colonial reality of Mexico. This thesis explores the topics of resistance and decolonization through the arts in Oaxaca and how the SA’OAXACA music festival has become a part of that collective work. As a musician raised within the Suzuki methodology and philosophy framework, I obtained my Suzuki training in violin and viola and have taught in Mexico and the U.S. for the past 18 years. I am passionate about creating spaces of enrichment, empowerment, and community engagement through the arts and using my music to bring about lasting social change. In my spare time I enjoy running half-marathons, going to coffee shops, spending time in nature, latin dancing, reading, watching movies and shows, crocheting, and being with family and friends.
Christelle Mutoniwase
she/her
Operations Manager
Christelle was born in Rwanda and moved to Portland, Maine in 2014. She completed high school at Deering High School and attended Southern Maine Community College before transferring to the University of Southern Maine where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Health Science, focusing on healthcare administration.
Christelle is passionate about helping others and making meaningful changes within her community. Outside of work, she is a member of a Rwandan traditional dancer group. Together, they perform at various events sharing the beauty and vibrance of the Rwandan culture with audiences far and wide. Whether it's through her work or personal endeavors, Christelle is committed to spreading love, culture, and positive change.
Lauren Sterling
she/her
Philanthropic Advisor
Lauren has worked in child and youth program coordination, policy, advocacy, evaluation planning, and philanthropy for almost 30 years. Appointed by former Governors Angus King and John Baldacci to manage the Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet, Lauren provided support to various cross-agency initiatives leveraging millions of private dollars to support effective state and community-based services for children and youth. A highlight was bringing the Educare early childhood education program model to Maine. As a consultant, Lauren was honored to work with the University of Southern Maine’s Promise Scholarship Campaign and the Youth and Family Outreach Building a Brighter Future Campaign in addition to supporting many other nonprofits in Maine. Lauren has consulted for the DC-based, nonpartisan Forum for Youth Investment.
Lauren trained and performed at the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts (PCPA) and at Circle in the Square Studios (now Tisch) at NYU, and has worked in theater, television, and film as both a performer and producer in Los Angeles, New York, and Maine. Lauren has served on boards to include the Maine Women’s Lobby, Maine Children’s Trust, Kennebec Federal Savings Bank, and others and currently serves on the Maine State Music Board and University of Maine’s McGillicuddy Humanities Center Advisory.
Lauren graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Maine with a University Studies Bachelors in Nonprofit Administration and Child and Youth Policy. Lauren and her husband enjoy living both in Maine and France where an abundance of great music and cultural arts bring them tremendous joy — including Palaver Strings.
Sampson Spadafore
they/he
Lifesongs Project Coordinator
Sampson Spadafore (they/he) is a white, neurodivergent, Queer, Nonbinary Trans man currently living on settled Wabanaki land known as Westbrook, Maine. Sampson is an actor, writer, and social media manager. He writes poetry and articles focusing on mental health, Queer and Trans identity, sex and sexuality. He was the recipient of the 2022 Bodwell Fellowship through the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and Hewnoaks Artist Residency. They’re also an organizer and theater artist with a BFA from Nazareth University. Check out what Sampson’s been up to at samspadaforeofficial.com.
Fiona Hilton
she/her
Graphic Designer
Growing up in Los Angeles, Fiona started on a very creative track with schools that encouraged and supported the arts, fostering a love of painting, drawing, music, and acting. Fiona went on to gain a BFA in Fine Arts from Boston University (grad. 2014), where she first met some of the lovely members of Palaver Strings. Post grad, she went on to work in film and tv in Hollywood furthering her my prop making and graphic design skills. During that time Fiona started volunteering with Palaver, which has been a wonderful journey since. Now multiple years and seasons later, Fiona finds it a continuousjoy to amplify and elevate Palaver’s incredible creative vision. Currently Fiona lives in the greater San Francisco area and works remote as the Graphic Designer for The Trevor Project. Fiona finds it a great inspiration to be connected to so many kindhearted individuals in so many aspects of life and be able to support them through a medium of art and design.
Haley Freedlund
they/them
Tour Manager
My approach to tour management starts with a commitment to uplifting artists, projects, and subgenres most needing that extra logistical boost. This commitment has led me to a wheelhouse dream-job built around new and experimental music, large ensembles, Jazz / Black American Music (BAM), nontraditional instrumentation, and supporting artists from all career stages and walks of life.
After growing up studying jazz trombone, I expanded my own performing scope into experimental, improvised, and avant-garde music. I figured out early in my twenties that arts admin and company management could fulfill all sorts of desires in my life: a day-job centered in the music industry that still gave me time to work on my own music; opportunities to travel; built-in friendships; creative problem solving; helping others. Better yet, because of my own musical background, I found it came naturally to anticipate the needs of touring artists and their support teams, getting ahead of issues that might arise while navigating logistics, and advocating for everyone under my wing. I'm very proud of forging my career path through a care-first approach.
When I'm not touring with my Pal-avers, I'm also lucky to work with artists like Roomful of Teeth, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and The Westerlies. I love production work and regularly get my hands dirty producing festivals and events with Earshot Jazz, TARBOO Fest, and the Seattle Improvised Music Festival, the longest-running improvised music festival in the US. I also love my life on the west coast in Seattle, where I live with my partner and our greyhound, Green Bean Casserole. I live for a good meal, a cold swim, and some free time in the garden.tourmanager@palaverstrings.org
