Michael Palmer (born 8 May 1945, Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American orchestral conductor. Since 1993 he has served as Artistic Director of the annual Bellingham Festival of Music (

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, United States). After receiving his bachelor of music from

Indiana University School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

in Bloomington, Palmer began his professional career at age 21 when he became Assistant Conductor of the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the sam ...

in 1967, for which he was later named Associate Conductor.Jacobi, Peter
"Powerful "War Requiem' set to move audiences on Tuesday"
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The Herald-Times ''The Herald-Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Bloomington, Indiana and surrounding areas. The newspaper won the Blue Ribbon Daily award in 1975, 1984 2007, and 2014, naming it the best daily newspaper in the state of Indiana in those years. ...

'' online, 2 November 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2024. In that capacity he also became the first director of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra in 1974. In 1975 he was one of the first young conductors to be selected as an EXXON/Arts Endowment Conductor by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. He left the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1977 to become Music Director of the

Wichita Symphony Orchestra The Wichita Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is the oldest professional symphony orchestra in Kansas, performing out of Century II Concert Hall in downtown Wichita. It was founded in 1944. The Orchestra's annual activities include an 8-concert Masterwor ...

(1977–1990), followed by posts of Music Director of the

New Haven Symphony Orchestra The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert on January 25, 1894 and is the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States. Today, the o ...

(1989–1997) and the American Sinfonietta (1991–2002). Palmer also was Guest Conductor for three seasons for the

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

(1978–1981) and a Co-Principal Guest Conductor of the

Denver Symphony Orchestra The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a successi ...

(1979–1982). He has also held academic conducting posts as Director of Orchestras for

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

(1999–2004) and

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

(2004–present) where he is the Charles Worm Distinguished Professor of Orchestral Studies.

References

External links

Bellingham Festival of MusicMichael Palmer websiteFaculty page at Georgia State University, school of the Arts
1945 births Living people 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians Musicians from Indianapolis Jacobs School of Music alumni American male conductors (music) {{US-conductor-stub