Overview
Biography
Barnaby Palmer comes from a family of noted musicians and artists. Born in Hong Kong, he moved to the United States at the age of 5 to pursue musical studies. Barnaby has studied conducting with Alan Gilbert，Music Director of the New York Philharmonic;Rossen Milanov， Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra;Michael Morgan, Music Director of the Oakland Symphony, Festival Opera and Sacramento Philharmonic;and as well Larry Rachleff，Music Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and San Antonio Symphony.
He attended Interlochen Arts Academy for High School, Cleveland Institute of Music for his undergraduate degree and University of Michigan for graduate studies. Having received critical acclaim both as an orchestral and operatic conductor Barnaby made his Chinese debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic conducting two programs during Spring Festival. Following his debut he was made Music Director of the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra and premiered many works with that organization.
In 2015 Barnaby was appointed Resident Conductor of the SHIYO Symphony Orchestra and lead the ensemble with performances at the Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall. That summer Barnaby traveled to Hungary to conduct the Szeged Opera at the Szegedi Szabadteri in a production of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera before an audience of 4000. In 2015, as a guest conductor, he made his successful debut with the Harbin Symphony Orchestra and Shenyang Symphony Orchestra, and as well conducted the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra in their first American program titled “Voice of America”. The highlight of this concert was the Zhejiang premiere of Copland’s “Rodeo”.
In 2014, while serving as Music Director of the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra he conducted over a dozen large concerts, expanding its repertoire and audience. In addition, Barnaby successfully conducted the world-premiere of Niels Marthinsen’s challenging new opera “Dr. Jekylls Advokat” with the Den Fynske Opera of Denmark. In January 2013, he cooperated with Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona, featuring Bruckner’s 3rd Symphony. In February, as guest conductor, Barnaby made his successful debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and in May returned to work with Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble on “Der Fliegende Holländer” and “Le vaisseau fantôme” for their tour of Grenoble, Versailles, and Barcelona. Barnaby Palmer served as Assistant Conductor for the Budapest Festival Orchestra from 2011-13 and participated in over 50 performances during their numerous European tours.
From 2002-2011 he was Artistic Director of San Francisco Lyric Opera, conducting hundreds of performances over the course of 35 new productions with that organization. From 2001 - present, Barnaby cooperated with Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Szeged Symphony Orchestra, Den Fynske Opera, Bohemian Opera, Opera San Jose, Livermore Opera, La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Bohemian Orchestra, American Philharmonic. In China, Barnaby have already cooperated with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Shenyang Symphony Orchestra,SHIYO Symphony Orchestra, Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Kunming Nie Er Orchestra, and Shanghai Oriental Orchestra. Barnaby speaks English, French, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese and can use them as working languages.
Barnaby comes from a long line of successful musicians and artists. Amongst these is world-famous concert pianist György Sándor who premiered Bartók’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, collaborative pianist Arpád Sándor who was the accompanist for the most famous violinist of the 20th century - Jascha Heifetz, and as well János Sándor, noted conductor of the Budapest Opera. Barnaby’s mother, Gladys Perint Palmer, is the most important and influential fashion illustrator of the 21st century, with exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. In addition to thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, her illustrations have been featured in advertising campaigns for designers Dior, Valentino, Chanel and Oscar de la Renta. Her published books include “Fashion People” and “Eve to Yves”.
