“Ideas and methods to the left of normal”
— The Los Angeles Times

“A postmodernist with a conscience”
— The Listener

Biography

Moving from New Zealand to New York in 1990 to work with composer-performer Meredith Monk, Juliet Palmer completed her PhD at Princeton University in 1999. Based in Toronto, Canada she works in diverse media, from chamber music to multimedia installations, dance, music theatre, opera and symphonic works.

Palmer’s music has been featured at the New Zealand Festival and Australia’s Adelaide Festival; Bang On A Can Festival (New York); Angelica Festival and Festival Nuovi Spazi Musicali (Bologna & Rome, Italy); the Huddersfield and Bath Festivals (UK); Ars Electronica (Austria); Royaumont’s Voix Nouvelles and Décadanse’s Electrolune (France); Tot En Met XXII (Amsterdam); SoundCulture (Japan); Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, The Sound Symposium, Art in Open Spaces, VOICE++ and Open Ears (Canada). Performers of her music include the NZ String Quartet, 175 East and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (New Zealand); the Penderecki String Quartet, Patricia O’Callaghan, Eve Egoyan, Trio Fibonacci, the Gryphon Trio, Toca Loca, Arraymusic, Continuum, New Music Concerts, the Windsor Symphony, l’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Tapestry New Opera Works and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble (Canada); Les Percussions de Strasbourg (France); Fontanamix (Italy); Piano Circus (UK); California EAR Unit and the Bang on a Can All-Stars (USA).

Juliet is a member of interdisciplinary collective urbanvessel. Recent works include the Dora-nominated a cappella opera Stitch at the 2008 FreeFall Festival/Harbourfront’s World Stage; and the site-specific Slip at the Harrison Baths. Their new work Voice-box, for four women vocalists who box, is a Harbourfront Fresh Ground commission and will premiere November 2010 in Toronto. Toca Loca recently toured her irreverent chamber work Five across Canada and to Berlin’s C3 festival. Palmer co-directed (with Miriam Harris) and scored the animated short film Soaring, Roaring, Diving which was named “Best Experimental Film” in the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival.

Selected Works

• Publications (2)
• Works (59)
• Awards (2)
• Resources (2)