About
Australian composer George Palmer (b.1947) studied piano with several eminent teachers and has been composing since he was a teenager. However, he graduated in law, practiced as a barrister, and in 2001 was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He retired as a Judge in 2011 to devote himself entirely to composition.
By chance, in 2003 his music came to the attention of the ABC (Australia’s National Radio and TV broadcaster), resulting in a live national broadcast of a concert of his orchestral music, the release on the ABC Classics label of a CD of his music, Attraction of Opposites, and a feature episode in the TV series, Australian Story.
Since then, Palmer has received many commissions for orchestral, chamber, choral and vocal works and his music is performed around the world. His works include a Concerto for Two Clarinets and Chamber Orchestra, It Takes Two, premiered by the Omega Ensemble in 2007 and released on ABC Classics, and in 2022 performed at the 11th European Clarinet Conference in Cracow, Poland.
In 2007, Palmer was commissioned to write the Papal Mass for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney. The Mass, Benedictus Qui Venit, for soloists, large choir and orchestra, was performed in the presence of the Pope and an audience of 350,000.
In 2016, Palmer’s opera, Cloudstreet, adapted from Tim Winton’s classic novel, was premiered by State Opera South Australia, directed by Gale Edwards. The opera was hailed as ‘a resounding triumph’ (The Australian) and played to rave reviews and standing ovations from capacity audiences. His opera The Drover’s Wife, adapted from a play by Leah Purcell AM and directed by her, has been commissioned by Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Opera Australia to open the new Glasshouse Theatre in Brisbane in May 2026 before coming to the Sydney Opera House in August 2026.
The Faces of Mercy, Palmer’s setting for soprano, choir and chamber ensemble of poems by Australian poet, Kevin Brophy, and a selection of Psalms, was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Sydney and performed in 2016 in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, and later that year in Rome as an offering to Pope Francis.
Commercially released CDs of Palmer’s music include Attraction of Opposites (works for string orchestra – ABC Classics), Exaltate Dominum (choral works – ABC Classics), Mozart, Munro and Palmer (Double Clarinet Concerto – ABC Classics), Breaking the Silence (Cello Concerto and chamber works – Navona) and Letters from A Black Snake (various song cycles and arias from Cloudstreet– Wirripang).
From 2004 to 2015, Palmer was Chair of Pacific Opera Company, a not-for-profit company established to give Australia’s best young singers professional development and exposure. From 2004 to 2011, he was President of the Arts Law Centre of Australia, a government funded body which provides free legal and business advice to artists in all media throughout Australia, with particular focus on Indigenous artists.
For services to music and the law, Palmer was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2010 and in 2020 he was created a Knight in the Order of St Gregory the Great (KSG). He is married with 3 children and 5 grandchildren, and lives in the Sydney area.
