Nick Palmer has been widely recognized for his compelling performances, visionary leadership and emotional connection to audiences. Maestro Palmer is Music Director of both the North Charleston Pops (SC), where he is starting his 10th season, and the Altoona Symphony (PA), where he has had a four-decade association. Nick is thrilled to have been the conductor of the Evenings Under the Stars Orchestra concerts since the festival’s inception in 1997 and has been associated with SSC for over 50+ years as a student, educator, and conductor.
Nick was a recipient of the Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras as the nation’s most outstanding young music director. He has had an extensive recording career including recent recordings with the London Philharmonic at the Abbey Road Studios which have garnered several Gramophone and Billboard awards. Mark Medwin noted in the May/June 2024 issue of Fanfare Magazine: “Nick Palmer and the London Philharmonic play every piece with clarity, contrast and deep feeling born of an obvious dedication to these powerful scores.”
Nick has won rave reviews with the Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Louisville Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Salt Lake Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Greenville Symphony and other orchestras across the nation. Nick has also been a frequent guest conductor for the Springfield (MA) Symphony during the past decade.
A favorite guest conductor in Europe, Mexico and Latin America, Palmer has led the Europa Philharmonie, Czech Radio Orchestra, San Remo Symphony, West Bohemia Symphony, Sophia Symphony, Milano Classico Orchestra, Lausanne Symphony, the OSSLA and Monterrey Symphony in Mexico, National Orchestra of Bolivia and the Medellin Symphony in Columbia.
A native of Hingham, Dr. Palmer graduated cum laude from Harvard University and received his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Iowa, respectively. He also studied at the Juilliard School, Pierre Monteux Domaine School, Aspen Music School, the Festival at Sandpoint, and the Accademia Chigiana in Italy, where he was a student of Franco Ferrara and Carlo Maria Giulini.