David Palmer (b. 1997) is a London-based composer and pianist specialising in 20th- and 21st-century repertoire. He is in demand as a soloist and collaborative pianist, and has a particular interest in song accompaniment. David was a 2022-23 Britten Pears Young Artist, a 2024 Leeds Lieder Young Artist, and attended the Ensemble Modern Young Ensemble Academy 2024. He is generously supported by Help Musicians.

David studies piano with Rolf Hind and Ronan O’Hora on the Artist Diploma course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, having received a Master’s of Performance with distinction and a Concert Recital Diploma for exceptional performance. David read music at the University of Oxford, where he was president of the music and chamber music societies, graduating with a first-class BA in 2019.  He now teaches undergraduate modules in stylistic composition, arrangement and transcription, keyboard skills and composition at Oxford. David was a composer for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and attended the Junior Royal Northern College of Music. David has studied composition with Richard Barrett, Robert Saxton and Matthew Sergeant.

David is a member of two contemporary music ensembles: Mad Song and Constellation 15. Notable recent performances include the complete solo piano works of Thomas Metcalf at the University of Edinburgh; Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at TU Conservatoire Dublin; Saariaho and Nono spotlight concerts for BBC Radio 3; song recitals at the Broadway Arts Festival, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, and Stoller Hall, Manchester; various performances with Roderick Williams, Clifton Harrison and the Britten-Pears Contemporary Ensemble at the Aldeburgh Festival; Bartok’s Contrasts with Andrew Marriner at the GSMD Chamber Music Festival; Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with Mad Song at the High Barnet Chamber Festival and again at Heath Street Baptist Church; a performance in the St Pancras Clock Tower with Mad Song; and a recital for City Music Society celebrating the 70th birthday of composer Robert Saxton. David has appeared as soloist with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Ubu Ensemble in Berg’s Kammerkonzert, Finnissy’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and Xenakis’s A l’île de Gorée. 

Upcoming projects include performances of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with Oxford Sinfonia and City of Southampton Orchestra, and a solo album release with Divine Arts / Metier featuring new works by Robert Saxton and Thomas Metcalf.

[Updated: 31 August 2024]

Photo 1: Andrew Mason Photography
Photo 2: Walter Vorjohann / Ensemble Modern