Fiona M Palmer

Summary Biography

Fiona M. Palmer is Professor of Music and Director of Research in the Department of Music. A musicologist and a performer, her research focuses on music in Britain (1780s–1940s), particularly in relation to the music business. She is fascinated by issues of professionalization, networking, reception and performance practices and her publications include studies of soloists, orchestral and choral institutions, conductors and music publishers.

A double bassist, mezzo-soprano and flautist, Fiona is a first-class hons graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire and undertook her PhD in Musicology as a British Academy Scholar at the University of Birmingham. Aside from academic posts, her career has included work as a professional orchestral player, as the Manager of the Examinations Department at the ABRSM (London), and as a peripatetic instrumental and vocal teacher and conductor. 

Fiona's most recent monograph is Conductors in Britain,1870–1914: Wielding the Baton at the Height of Empire (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2017). This book contextualizes and reconsiders the emergence and reception of the role of conductor in the late Victorian age. It examines evolving institutional and professional opportunities during this dynamic period. The conductors at the heart of this re-evaluation include Julius Benedict, William Cusins, Arthur Sullivan, Joseph Barnby, Alexander C. Mackenzie, Frederic H. Cowen, Dan Godfrey Jr and Landon Ronald. Their varying experiences, contributions, networks and opportunities combine to reflect the progress of the emerging conducting profession. This large project draws on detailed research into British concert-life and sheds new light on the histories of organizations such as the Philharmonic Society of London, the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, Manchester's Hallé Orchestra, the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, the Royal Choral Society, Birmingham Promenade Concerts and music festivals nationwide.    

Fiona’s previous books include: Vincent Novello (1781–1861): Music for the Masses (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006) — the first large-scale contextualized reappraisal of the career of the pioneering London-based editor and publisher. This monograph complements her earlier book which repositioned one of the most influential, well-connected and successful virtuosi in nineteenth-century London: Dragonetti in England (1794–1846): the Career of a Double Bass Virtuoso (Oxford University Press, 1997). 

Other Research Outputs
Fiona is an action editor, with Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey and John Traill, of a special edition of the online peer-reviewed journal Music Performance Research dedicated to Conducting Studies (2019). Other recent publications include: An evaluation of Paganini and the 1831 Dublin Music Festival through the papers of Sir George Smart (Irish Musical Studies 12, 2019); a detailed analysis and contextualization of the socio-economic and professional underpinnings of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society’s development in the mid-19th-century (New York: OUP, 2018); an interrogation of the value and exploitation of pedigree, networks and marketing in the careers of conductors in 19th-century Britain (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2016); an appraisal of the role of Handel’s Messiah in 19th-century Britain in relation to wider European nationalism and choral power (Leiden: Brill, 2015); and a contextualization of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society's conductors in the second half of the nineteenth century (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014). 

A chapter examining the inauguration of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society's Hall (1849): 'A Home for the 'Phil': Liverpool's First Philharmonic Hall (1849)' appeared in P. Rodmell ed., Music and Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Ashgate, 2012). Other published articles and reviews can be found in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association; 19th-Century British Music Studies 3; The Musical Times; The Strad; Muzio Clementi: Studies & Prospects; Early Music; the Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland; and the newsletters of the North American British Music Studies Association and of the Handel Society.  Fiona has written and revised entries for New Grove 2; the New Dictionary of National Biography; Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart; the Dictionary of Hymnology; the Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland; and the Encyclopaedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe. 

Recent international conference papers and invited lectures include locations such as Switzerland, Finland, the USA, Italy, Croatia, and the UK (Oxford, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and Cambridge).  

Outreach
Fiona currently serves on the Board of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (2007—); as External Examiner for the BA Music programme at the University of Liverpool (2018–20); and on the founding editorial board for the Studies in British Musical Cultures Series (NABMSA/Clemson University Press) (2019–21). She is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, serves on the editorial board of the OJBR and and acts as a peer reviewer for a range of publishers. She is serving as a juror for the ISB Research Competition 2019. Fiona has contributed to radio documentaries and discussions on Bayerische Rundfunk Klassik; BBC Radio Ulster; RTÉ Radio 1; and RTÉ Lyric FM; she also served as an adjudicator and chair for the televised UTV Choir of the Year competition.

Formerly a Councillor of the Royal Musical Association (2002–05), Fiona was an elected Councillor of the Society for Musicology in Ireland for three consecutive terms (2006-15); she also served on the Development Committee of the North American British Music Studies Association (2016–18). Fiona has chaired for HETAC and participated in inter-institutional curricular discussions; she also chaired the finals of the Catherine Judge Memorial Award (2014; 2015) and acted as a juror for the ISB Research Competition (2018). She previously served as an external examiner for programmes at Liverpool Hope University, the Royal College of Music and at Dundalk Institute of Technology, and for doctoral and MPhil dissertations at the Universities of Melbourne, Birmingham, Leeds, Canterbury Christchurch College, Edinburgh, and Queen’s Belfast; and at the Royal College of Music (London) and Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester).

Memberships
American Musicological Society; International Musicological Society; North American British Music Studies Association; Royal Musical Association; Society for Musicology in Ireland

Performing Activities
Fiona was very lucky to be trained via the Northamptonshire Music Service from a young age and participated in multiple ensembles, recitals, international tours and residential courses.  As a first-class graduate of the Birmingham Conservatoire, with double bass as her first study, she freelanced with many ensembles, especially the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1989–1997).  During these years the CBSO enjoyed the stewardship of Sir Simon Rattle and Fiona was involved with recordings under the direction of such maestri as Walter Weller and Paarvo Jaervi; she also spent some time as a member of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (NZ).  

Synopsis of Training and Employment
Fiona undertook her doctoral research at Birmingham University (1990–93) where she was fortunate to enjoy the mentorship of Professor Cyril Ehrlich alongside supervision from Professors Basil Deane and Colin Timms. She was Manager of the Examinations Department at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London (1997–99). During this time she project-managed the ground-breaking Diploma 2000 Syllabus and liaised with educational agencies (such as the QCA) over matters of comparability. In July 1999 she moved to Northern Ireland to work at Queen's University in Belfast and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002. During her eight years at QUB she transformed the Performance Programme, convened the BMus degree, taught modules across the curriculum (undergraduate and postgraduate) and served on committees at School, University and national level. She also regularly played the double bass on a freelance basis with the Ulster Orchestra, travelling with them to New York and to perform at the BBC London Promenade Concerts.