David Palmer (b. 1997) is a London-based composer and pianist specialising in 20th- and 21st-century repertoire. Alongside a busy performance schedule, David teaches at the University of Oxford, where he is a College Lecturer in Music at Keble College, and at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. He is also a Junior Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

David read music at Oxford, where he was president of the music and chamber music societies, graduating with a first-class BA. He now teaches undergraduate modules in stylistic composition, keyboard skills, arranging, techniques of composition, orchestration and composition at the University. He studied piano with Rolf Hind and Ronan O’Hora on the Master’s and Artist Diploma programmes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he received the Deputy Chair’s Prize and a Concert Recital Diploma for exceptional performance. His postgraduate studies were supported by Help Musicians and the Norman Gee Foundation. David was a composer for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and studied at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music. He has studied composition with Richard Barrett, Robert Saxton and Matthew Sergeant.

David was a 2022-23 Britten Pears Young Artist, a 2024 Leeds Lieder Young Artist, and participated in the 2024 Ensemble Modern Young Ensemble Academy with Mad Song. David’s repertoire includes concertos by Berg, Finnissy, Stravinsky and Xenakis, as well as major 20th-century piano works such as Boulez’s Second Sonata, Nono’s ….. sofferte onde serene …, and Murail’s Territoires d’oubli. David has performed multiple times on BBC Radio 3.

Upcoming projects include premiere recordings and performances of solo piano music by Michael Finnissy and Thomas Metcalf (funded by the Vaughan Williams Foundation, the Oxford University Faculty of Music, and the Francis Routh Trust); an album with Mad Song (funded by the Marchus Trust) featuring music by Weir, Grisey, Metcalf and Agobet; and a solo album recording for Métier featuring new works including a commission by Robert Saxton.

[Updated: 18 July 2025]

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