Dr Fiona Palmer
As an active professional musicologist and performer Fiona’s publications focus on music and musicians in the marketplace. She is currently engaged in researching the first one hundred years of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society’s history (1840-1940). Future projects include a large-scale examination of the orchestra as institution in the twentieth century.
Fiona’s most recently completed 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 both New Grove 2 and the New Dictionary of National Biography. Published articles can be found in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 19th-Century British Music Studies 3, The Musical Times, The Strad, and Muzio Clementi: Studies & Prospects.
Fiona is a double bassist, mezzo soprano and flautist. 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; she also spent some time as a member of New Zealand’s Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. She undertook her doctoral work, on Dragonetti, at Birmingham University (1990-93). From 1997 to 1999 she was Manager of the Examinations Department at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London during which time she project-managed the new Diploma 2000 Syllabus and liaised with educational agencies (such as QCA) over matters of comparability.
She joined the School of Music and Sonic Arts at Queen’s in July 1999. She is the Convenor of the BMus Pathway, directs the Performance Programme in the School of Music and Sonic Arts and plays the double bass on a freelance basis with the Ulster Orchestra.
She is currently a Member of the Society for Musicology Ireland Council and was an elected Member of the Royal Musical Association Council (2003-05). She is also an external examiner for the Royal College of Music’s postgraduate programmes.
