Originally from Cracow, Poland, Norbert Palej has been recognized for his “first-rate and genuinely original work” (American Composers Orchestra), and a musical language that generates “visceral excitement” (The Boston Globe). “Palej eclipses Lutoslawski,” writes Montreal’s La Presse, while The Gazette calls his work “riveting” and Musical Toronto “fascinating.” His recent CD was nominated for a JUNO Award, and his work has premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall. His 2021 project Return from the Stars was developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the International Space Station orbiting Earth, and is to be presented at the Expo Dubai 2021.

Norbert Palej est professeur agrégé de composition et directeur artistique du New Music Festival annuel à l'Université de Toronto. Il est titulaire de diplômes en composition de l'Université Cornell (DMA), de la Juilliard School (MM) et du New England Conservatory (BM). Il est également un pianiste de concert et chef d'orchestre actif. Ses commandes récentes comprennent des œuvres orchestrales pour l'Orchestre 21, l'Orquesta de Camara de Valdivia, l'Orchestre Symphonique de Kitchener Waterloo et le Sinfonia Toronto ; des opéras pour Tapestry New Opera et la Canadian Children's Opera Company; deux quatuors à cordes pour le Quatuor à cordes Penderecki ; un concerto pour percussions pour Dame Evelyn Glennie ; un cycle de chansons pour le Canadian Art Song Project; pièces de chambre pour les concerts NEXUS, 2X10 et New Music; ainsi qu'une œuvre chorale pour Soundstreams Canada, mettant en vedette les Elmer Iseler Singers, le Polish Chamber Choir et le Toronto Children's Chorus.

Palej’s Weronika received a performance by the Warsaw Philharmonic in 2020. His music has been heard in Canada, the USA, Thailand, Poland, Chile, Norway, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain, Costa Rica, and across China. A guest composer at the 2012 Beijing Modern Music Festival, the 2013 Thailand International Composition Festival, and the 2014 Sichuan Conservatory Sun River Festival, he is a recipient of the Toru Takemitsu Award from the Japan Society in Boston, the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the Robbins Family Prize in Music Composition, the Benjamin Britten Memorial Fellowship, the Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowship, and Ontario and Toronto Arts Council Recording and Commissioning grants.

En 2017 et 2018, Palej était conférencier invité à l’Académie de musique et de danse de Jérusalem en Israël. Il a participé au Composer-Librettist Laboratory du Tapestry New Opera, au Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, à l'American Composers Orchestra Underwood New Music Readings, à l'Academy for New Music and Audio-Art du Tyrol, Autriche, aux International Workshops for Contemporary Music Cracovie/Stuttgart, ainsi que les festivals de musique de Tanglewood, Aspen, Caramoor et Budapest. Palej est membre de l'ASCAP, du Centre de musique canadienne (CMC) et de l'Association des compositeurs polonais (ZKP).