Martin Palmer Returns for a First Look at the New Music Centre

It was wonderful to welcome Mr Martin Palmer (Director of Music 2004-2022) back to view the new Music Centre where the Music Department will now be based, for the first time. Martin was toured by the Head, Mr Johnson, and the current Director of Music, Mr Osmond.

Martin Palmer retired as Director of Music at Truro School in 2022, leaving behind a department he transformed into one of the largest and busiest in the South West. He arrived in 2004 from Forest School in Snaresbrook – and over the years, was also joined by his children at the School: his daughter Sofie CO22 and sons Thomas CO24 and Benjamin CO26 are all Old Truronians.

Back in 2022, as he was preparing to move on, Martin looked back on the path that brought him to Truro School.

A Musical Education

Martin’s own school days were spent at Wellingborough Grammar School in the 1970s, as part of the final grammar school intake – a “pretty rough” environment, he recalls, by today’s standards, but one he thoroughly enjoyed. Music and electronics were his twin passions as a teenager; he even joined the school radio club and earned his amateur radio licence, becoming a licensed radio ham under the callsign G8PDZ.

But it was the cello, not the radio set, that set the course for his career. Playing with the Northamptonshire Youth Orchestra took him touring across Europe and gave him what he describes as his real introduction to a life in music. An enduring love of the organ, which Mozart once called “the king of instruments”, led him to spend a year working for an organ-building company to hone his playing before earning a place at the Royal Academy of Music, an experience whose influence, he says, has lasted a lifetime.

Finding His Way to Cornwall

After training, Martin worked across three well-regarded London schools. The Royal Grammar School Guildford, King’s College School Wimbledon, and Forest School, before the pull of open countryside brought him west. Meeting then-Head Paul Smith (TS 2001–2012) during an interview sealed the decision, and Martin arrived at Truro School in 2004, sensing an opportunity to build something of his own.

He admits he can’t recall his actual first day. By the time he started, he had already made several visits to meet the county’s musical figures. His early impression of the school was of an institution still finding its modern footing, “run by many grumpy, male Heads of Department.” A marked contrast, he says, to the “lovely, dynamic and impressive staff” around him later on.

Two Decades of Highlights

Asked to pick out standout memories, Martin struggles to narrow the list. Among those that rise to the top: the atmosphere at Hall for Cornwall concerts, the choral concerts and services in Truro Cathedral, the Chamber Choir’s run as semi-finalists on BBC School Choir of the Year, the Chamber Orchestra’s appearance at Birmingham’s Music for Youth Festival, the Cathedral Choristers performing on Britain’s Got Talent, and tours with the Chamber Choir to Venice and the Wind Band to Spain and Italy.

Add to that six school musicals: including two productions of Les Misérables and a staging of West Side Story, plus, towards the end of his teaching years, Year 7 and Year 8 Hymn Practices that he says regularly, “raise the roof,” and a rather more unconventional tradition: his Year 7 boys’ Donut Club, which he calls “a wonderful (unhealthy) joy to work with.”

Still, he says the real highlights have always been the quieter moments such as pupils nailing a concerto or a song in performance. “Unforgettable,” he calls them.

What Happened Next

Since leaving, Martin has continued his organ playing and conducting, alongside more cycling, running and sea swimming, and brushing up his German and French.

A Department Transformed

Reflecting on his time at Truro School, Martin takes pride in leaving behind a music department rebuilt after the disruption of Covid and thriving in every sense: bands, choirs and orchestras in safe hands for the future, 317 individual music lessons taking place every week across instruments from flute to guitar to piano, some of Cornwall’s best individual music teachers on staff, and a Steinway Grand and Mander Organ housed in the Chapel.

Martin’s visit to view the new Music Centre in 2026 highlights a fitting next chapter for the department he led for almost 20 years.

Martin’s Advice to Pupils

Whilst Martin says he’s always delighted to see students go on to study music at college or university, he hopes that for most, the Music Department has given them something just as valuable: “a great hobby for life.”