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

“A postmodernist with a conscience”
— The Listener

Biography

Juliet Palmer moved from New Zealand to New York in 1990 to work with interdisciplinary pioneer Meredith Monk, completing her PhD at Princeton University in 1999. Based in Toronto, her work has been featured around the world, from New York’s Bang On A Can Festival to Italy’s Angelica Festival and Australia’s Adelaide Festival. Performers of her music include the Penderecki String Quartet, Trio Fibonacci, the Gryphon Trio, Toca Loca, Continuum, l’Orchestre Métropolitain conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Tapestry New Opera Works (Canada); Les Percussions de Strasbourg (France); Fontanamix (Italy); Piano Circus (UK); California EAR Unit and the Bang on a Can All-Stars (USA); and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Juliet co-founded the interdisciplinary collective urbanvessel in 2006. Stitch — for three women and three sewing machines — garnered Dora nominations for Best New Opera and Best Production. The site-specific performance Slip at the Harrison Baths inspired a short film (director Chelsea McMullan) screened at festivals in Europe and North America. Palmer co-directed (with Miriam Harris) and scored the animated short Soaring, Roaring, Diving, named “Best Experimental Film” in the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival. Urbanvessel’s 2010 work Voice-Box, a Harbourfront Fresh Ground commission, was acclaimed as “a performance piece that smashes the boundaries between disciplines and leaves them sprawled out on the mat, down for the count” (MusicworksMagazine). Upcoming projects: Sweat, an a cappella opera for 12 voices, with writer Anna Chatterton and director Tim Albery for Soundstreams Canada; Like an Old Tale for Jumblies Theatre; and Leonora, an opera-cabaret featuring counter-tenor Scott Belluz, actor Carlos Gonzalez-Ruiz, and dancer Danny Wild, directed by Guillaume Bernardi. Palmer is currently the Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music.

Selected Works

• Publications (2)
• Works (67)
• Awards (4)
• Resources (2)