British-American conductor Barnaby Palmer has more than twenty years of international experience spanning symphonic repertoire, opera and film with live orchestra. He is currently Music Director of Armonia Kronstadt in Brașov, Romania. Previous principal appointments include Music Director of the Shanxi Symphony Orchestra and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra and SHIYO Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director & Conductor of San Francisco Lyric Opera, a position he held for a decade.
Palmer has conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Shanghai Philharmonic, together with professional orchestras and opera companies across Europe, China and the United States. Earlier in his career he served as Assistant Conductor to Iván Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra and to Marc Minkowski at Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble. His work with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona included substantial rehearsal preparation in advance of the principal conductor’s arrival.
Opera has remained central to his work. Palmer has conducted more than 30 complete operas, ranging from Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti through Verdi and Puccini to Wagner and Britten. His film work includes Disney and Pixar productions, including Disney in Concert with the Shanghai Philharmonic in 2025.
Born in Hong Kong, Palmer studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Michigan. His conducting mentors have included Iván Fischer, Alan Gilbert, Larry Rachleff and Michael Morgan. Alongside his professional conducting career, he has maintained a substantial commitment to conducting pedagogy and music education.