Todd Palmer

Clarinet

Todd Palmer's virtuosity, art of phrasing and ebullient stage presence have brought him a stellar reputation as a solo and chamber music clarinetist that is attained by few artists on his instrument. Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, he began playing the clarinet at age 16 following seven years of study on the trumpet. In New York, he studied at the Mannes College of Music under the tutelage of Gervase de Peyer, and received the Outstanding Performance and Academic Excellence Awards upon graduating. He made his NY recital debut at Weill Hall and his concerto debut with the Houston Symphony as the first wind player ever to receive the Grand Prize in the Ima Hog Young Artist Competition.

Since winning the 1990 Young Concert Artist International Auditions, Mr. Palmer has appeared as recitalist, concerto soloist and clinician at major performing arts centers and universities in 47 States and has been given virtually unanimous praise for his supreme mastery of his instrument and unerring musicianship. He has also been consistently lauded for his engaging and inspirational outreach programs for young audiences. His appearances abroad have included concerto, recital and chamber music performances in Germany, France, Italy, England, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, and Japan where his performance with pianist Ignite Solzhenitsyn was broadcast nationwide.

Mr. Palmer is in great demand as a chamber music performer and has appeared at many music festivals including nine years at Spoleto USA, Tanglewood, Ravinia, La Jollier SummerFest, Bravo!, the Caramoor, Bridgehampton, Portland, and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festivals. In addition, he participated for five summers at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, as well as the Tanglewood Music Festival where he received the Leonard Bernstein Fellowship. He has also toured throughout the years with Musicians from Marlboro and annually with Spoleto USA Chamber Music and can be heard on National Public Radio's Performance Today annually. He has been a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and has collaborated with the Brentano, Borromeo, Colorado, St. Lawrence and Orion Quartets. He has also been clarinetist of choice in Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock with sopranos Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Roberta Peters, and Dawn Upshaw. Mr. Palmer has had a close association with composer Osvaldo Golijov since 1997 and was named editor-in-chief of his Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for publication. In addition to Mr. Golijov, Mr. Palmer has also worked directly with composers Richard Rodney Bennett, Kenji Bunch, John Corigliano, Aaron JayKernss, Oliver Knussen, Steven Mackey, Stephen Prutsman, Kevin Puts, Ned Rorem, George Tsontakis, and Ricky Ian Gordon, who composed the monodrama Orpheus and Euridice for Mr. Palmer which was premiered in October, 2001 at Cooper Union in New York City. This season he will premiere a new concerto by Jeffery Cotton with the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra in Jordan Hall, Boston.

Mr. Palmer has also served as principal clarinetist of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Grand Teton Festival in Wyoming. His first CD, Hermit Songs , was released in 1995 by Koch International Classics and was praised by Fanfare and American Record Guide for "remarkable music making" and as "extraordinary in its range and emotional depth." A CD of Mozart and Tchaikovsky was also featured on the cover of the Feb. 2001 issue of BBC Music Magazine. In November 2001, Mr. Palmer was awarded a $20,000 grant by The National Foundation for Jewish Culture for the recording of chamber music by Osvaldo Golijov with the St. Lawrence Quarter for EMI Classics. This CD entitled Yiddishbbuk was one of the top-selling recordings of 2002 and received two Grammy Award nominations.