David Palmer is one of Canada’s best-known recitalists, having performed in the United States, England, France and Germany, as well as from coast to coast in this country. He soloed in numerous concertos with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and frequently played for broadcasts on CBC-Radio. A specialist in the music of Olivier Messiaen, he recorded that composer’s Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité in Montreal in 1998. Among his other CD’s is Double Exposure, music for organ and piano with colleague Gregory Butler, recorded in Toronto in 2007.
David particularly enjoys creating music with parishioners in a church setting, following on his 52-year tenure as Organist and Choirmaster at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Windsor, Ontario. He has given many workshops across Canada in hymn playing, basic improvisation, arranging keyboard accompaniments for organ, and other topics.
A native of Victoria, BC, David began his musical life as a chorister in the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, where he studied organ with Graham Steed and Richard Proudman. In his teen years, he served as Organist of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in Esquimalt. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, where his teacher was Robert Glasgow. Past-President of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, he is a Professor Emeritus in Music at the University of Windsor, and a former Director of the School of Music. As of 2023, he is President of the Victoria Centre of the RCCO.
David is excited to serve as Music Director at St. Michael and All Angels’ Anglican Church. He and his wife Lonnie are thrilled to be living again in Victoria, closer to family and their many friends