Olivia Palmer-Baker is an Irish musician based in Berlin who specializes in contemporary, historical, and improvised music.

In her work, she explores the physical, social, and temporal experience of making music and sees herself as a performer who probes the volatile, chaotic, and vulnerable extremes of her instrument—the bassoon. Her artistic practice is characterized by an exploration of boundaries and uncertainty, as well as the juxtaposition of different aesthetics and media.

To date, Olivia has performed as a soloist and improviser in many contexts, including Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), Echoraum (Vienna), Collegium Helveticum (Zurich), Transparent Sound (Budapest), Double Reed Days (Bern), 48 Stunden Neukölln (Berlin), the Aldeburgh Festival (England), Rondò 2021 (Milan), SONify (Graz), and at Berliner Dom. She enjoys working closely with composers and musicians and has premiered numerous works for bassoon and contraforte. She also performs with various ensembles throughout Germany and Switzerland, primarily focusing on contemporary music but sometimes also as a baroque bassoonist.

Recent and upcoming projects include the Berlin revival of je mets mon scaphandre for bassoon, ambisonics, and sound-reactive light design at 48 Stunden Neukölln Festival, a solo recital at Unerhörte Musik, Berlin, concerts in Germany and Switzerland with the improvising Stegreif orchestra as well as with Basel Sinfonietta and Ensemble Tzara, upcoming concerts in Germany, Spain and Serbia with her ensemble Kollektiv UNRUHE, and a collaboration with composer Michelle Lou in 2027 with Kontraforte and live processing.

As a member of the Berlin-based group Kollektiv UNRUHE, Olivia is jointly responsible for the creation and curation of concerts in Germany and abroad and is also active as a performer, improviser, and composer.

Olivia previously studied bassoon in London (Royal Academy of Music), Berlin (University of the Arts), and Frankfurt (International Ensemble Modern Academy), and is currently studying part-time at Freie Universität (Music, Sound, Performance).

In her free time, she enjoys film, spending time with her friends, and simply enjoying the surprises life has in store.