Dare to Dream

George Palmer is one of the most intriguing figures in Australian music. During a 35-year-career as a barrister and later a Supreme Court judge, he harboured a private passion as a composer. But the music he wrote was never performed or recorded until finally, in 2004, he released an album of orchestral work, which was also performed at a concert in Sydney’s Eugene Goosens Hall. After the success of this project, he was commissioned to write more music including the mass for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Australia in 2008. Now George Palmer has quit the law to concentrate on a new challenge – an operatic version of Tim Winton’s renowned novel Cloudstreet.