Contact Details:

Professor of Music and Head of Department

Room 119
Logic House,
South Campus

Tel: (+353 1) 708 3733
E-mail: fiona.palmer@nuim.ie

Biography:

Fiona M. Palmer has been Professor and Head of NUI Maynooth's Music Department since 1 October 2007. Stemming from her dual background as a musicologist and professional performer Fiona’s publications primarily focus on music and musicians in the marketplace in the long nineteenth century. During her Headship the Music Department has continued to develop and refine its programmes and resources across the full range of provision. 

Recent Departmental highlights include the conferring of an honorary DMus on the eminent Polish composer Prof. Krzysztof Penderecki (September 2010), and the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Department's Chamber Choir in the presence of President Mary McAleese (May 2011).

Fiona currently supervises four doctoral students, convenes the MA in Performance and Musicology Programme, and is co-mentoring an exciting IRCHSS-funded Postdoctoral project with Dr Terence Dooley of the Department of History focusing on music in the Irish country house.

Current Research Projects

Fiona's current research projects draw directly on her interests as music historian and orchestral player. Work in progress includes a study of the emergence of orchestral conducting and institutional hierarchies in 19th-century Britain. She is also engaged in researching the first one hundred years of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society’s history (1840-1940).  Articles currently in the press include: an examination of the inauguration of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society's Hall (1849).  Other focal topics include a reevaluation of Max Bruch's short-lived reign as conductor of the LPS (1880-1883); a comparison of the  roles of Sir Michael Costa and J. Zeugheer Herrmann, as director/conductor figures in mid-nineteenth century Britain (London/Liverpool).  She has recently participated in a EU-funded project on choral movements and nationalism (Antwerp 2011). Recent invited lectures include events at the Royal College of Music (London) Grove Forum and participation in the AHRC-funded Orchestra as Global Phenomenon project.  Conferences during 2012 include the Annual SMI Plenary and the Seventeenth Biennial International Conference on Nineteenth Century Music in Edinburgh.

Publications Summary

Fiona’s most recent monograph is Vincent Novello (1781–1861): Music for the Masses (Ashgate Publishing, December 2006). This is the first large-scale reappraisal of the career of the pioneering London-based editor and publisher. It follows on neatly from her book Dragonetti in England (1794-1846): the Career of a Double Bass Virtuoso (Oxford University Press, 1997). The life and work of both these musicians illuminates our understanding of the marketplace for musicians in London during the nineteenth century. Fiona is also the author of a history of concerts at Birmingham’s Barber Institute of Fine Arts, and has written entries for New Grove 2, the New Dictionary of National Biography, Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, the Dictionary of Hymnology and the forthcoming Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland. Published articles can be found in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 19th-Century British Music Studies 3,  The Strad, and Muzio Clementi: Studies & Prospects. Reviews and review-articles can be found in the Musical Times, Handel Association Newsletter, Early Music, and the Journal of the Society for Musicology Ireland. Recent conference papers and invited lectures have been delivered in Liverpool, the USA, Italy, London, Bristol, Birmingham, and Dublin.

Performing Background & Overview CV

Fiona is a double bassist, mezzo soprano and flautist. From an early age she was lucky enough to be trained via the Northamptonshire Music Service 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 from 1989 until 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 New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Fiona undertook her doctoral work, on Dragonetti, at Birmingham University (1990-1993) and was fortunate to enjoy the mentorship of Professor Cyril Ehrlich alongside supervision from Professors Basil Deane and Colin Timms.  From 1997 to 1999 she was Manager of the Examinations Department at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London. During this time she project-managed the groundbreaking Diploma 2000 Syllabus and liaised with educational agencies (such as QCA) over matters of comparability. She moved to Northern Ireland in July 1999 to work at Queen's University Belfast becoming Senior Lecturer in 2002. During her eight years at QUB she reformed the Performance Programme, convened the BMus degree, taught modules across the curriculum (at undergraduate and postgraduate levels) 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 London Proms.

Outreach

Fiona is currently a Councillor of the Society for Musicology Ireland (Chair of Grants' Subcommittee) and represents the SMI on the Council of the Royal Musical Association. She also serves on the Boards of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and the Humanities Research Institute An Foras Feasa

She is currently acting as an External Examiner for Dundalk Institute of Technology, is a member of the Council of Heads of Music in Higher Education and has recently served as Chair for HETAC and been involved in inter-institutional curricular discussions. She is also a member of the International Advisory Board for the Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle.