On the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, join Keith Secola and Maria Esther Pallares for a magical evening of music celebrating LIFE, LOVE, & UNITY. They will be joined by special guest @bethanyyarrowmusic, whose father, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary, collaborated frequently with both Keith and Esther. He was a great admirer of these extraordinary performers and felt a connection to the sound, spirit, and messages of their music. This performance will also feature a photo exhibit by Alon Kaplun, a New York-based photographer who extracts unique perspectives from his urban surroundings and natural landscapes.
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Keith Secola (Anishinaabe) is an Ojibwe-American folk rock troubadour and an icon of Native American Music. Maria Esther is a healer and songwriter from Brazil. Peter recorded his very last songs with Esther and Bethany, who joins the evening as host, artist, and a musical bridge between the peoples and languages of North and South America, the folk music of the past, the spirit of her father, and a shared commitment to peace and unity in the world today.
// Photo of Peter and Bethany Yarrow by Alon Kaplun.
This is a seated performance. If you require accessibility accommodations, please email boxoffice@nationalsawdust.org.
ABOUT MARIA ESTHER PALLARES
Maria Esther Pallares is a musician, composer, acupuncturist, mother, grandmother, and guardian of Brazil’s First Nation cultural traditions. She discovered music in childhood, beginning piano at eight and soon composing her first songs. In her youth, she lived briefly in the United States, performing bossa nova on television, and made her debut as a songwriter at the Ibitinga Festival (São Paulo, 1972) with Oxalém. Throughout the 1970s, she appeared on TV Cultura programs before directing her energy to life in the rainforest’s rural communities.
For decades, Maria Esther has volunteered her time in service to indigenous and quilombo communities, offering health care and counseling rooted in respect and reciprocity. Over the last 25 years, her work has centered on the Guaraní people of the Ribeira Valley, home to the “Mata Atlântica” (Atlantic Forest)—one of Brazil’s most vital and endangered ecosystems, and a region marked by profound social and economic challenges.
Her work with the Guaraní grew gradually, built on trust and deep friendship with elders, women, children, and medicine people. Honored by the community, she was baptized and recognized as a Pajé, a spiritual healer and guide.
In the forest, she holds a sacred space where diverse indigenous groups gather to pray, heal, and celebrate life’s passages—baptisms, marriages, and other rituals. In recent years, her commitment has expanded beyond Brazil, supporting indigenous and spiritual communities in the United States and Europe.
While working in the United States in 2023, Esther caught the attention of folk musician and activist, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary. Peter encouraged Esther to record her music with producer Kevin Salem in his Upstate NY studio. The raw, emotional performances embodied in the recordings—which feature guest performances by Yarrow in what would be his last recording— are equally rooted in Brazilian and indigenous traditions, but reveal Esther’s ability to synthesize elements of folk and jazz. Bethany Yarrow adds English counter-vocals.
In her music, as in her life path, Maria Esther embodies harmony, service, and the sound and wisdom of ancestral traditions.
Listen to: Uma Palavra Viva | Listen to: Na guerra da paz | Youtube | Instagram
ABOUT KEITH SECOLA
Keith Secola is a trailblazing Native American musician and cultural ambassador whose work blends rock, folk, and blues with Indigenous traditions. Best known for his anthem “NDN Kars”—the most requested song on tribal radio since 1992—Secola’s music continues to inspire across generations, recently reaching new audiences through its feature in AMC’s Dark Winds. His songs “Frybread” and “Book of Life” also appear in the series, affirming his enduring influence.
Born in 1957 in Cook, Minnesota, and affiliated with the Anishinabe, Secola is an enrolled member of Couchiching First Nation (Ontario) and a descendant of the Bois Fort Band of Chippewa. He earned a BA in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1982, grounding his artistry in cultural preservation and activism.
A seven-time Native American Music Award winner and 2011 Native Music Hall of Fame inductee, Secola has performed worldwide—from the Kennedy Center to the Olympic Games—while collaborating with legends such as Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead and The Doors’ John Densmore. His eight independent albums, including Circle (1992), Native Americana (2006), and Portals (2022), showcase both innovation and reverence for tradition.
Beyond music, Secola champions Indigenous rights and language preservation, producing works like Anishinabemoin to sustain the Anishinaabe tongue. Living in Tempe, Arizona, with his family, Secola remains a powerful voice for Native peoples. His legacy is one of cultural resilience, artistic brilliance, and a bridge between Native heritage and the global stage.
ABOUT BETHANY YARROW
Bethany Yarrow is a song keeper, earth activist, and lifelong student of the folkloric music and spiritual traditions of the Americas. She lives at the top of a 100' waterfall in the Schoharie Valley of Central New York and is the founder of the Waterfall Center For Bioregional Learning and the Waterfall Unity Alliance, which facilitated the first farm landback rematriation project in New York.
Bethany's music and advocacy journey began at an early age, when she was exposed to an eclectic mix of politics, social justice and music by her parents: Peter Yarrow of the legendary folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Mary Beth McCarthy, the niece of Eugene McCarthy, the iconic Senator from Minnesota who ran for president in 1968 as the anti-Vietnam war candidate. "Music and activism have always gone hand in hand in my life -- like an ethical, moral, spiritual and sonic compass encoded into my DNA,” says Bethany. "I grew up performing at rallies, surrounded by creative iconoclasts and grassroots activists who believed that righting wrongs and helping to create a more peaceful and just world was an essential part of being human.”
“As my dad used to say, singing folk songs together creates “a pool of peace” that is a powerful reminder of our responsibility to stand for what is right and good, see the humanity in each other, and protect what is sacred. We are a species in crisis. The task for all of us is to reconnect with our basic humanity and respect for the Earth that gives us life.”