PALEN, Emily

Emily Palen, a professional violinist, composer, pianist and singer from Midland, MI has led a lifelong career of avant-garde adventurism spanning the genres of classical, jazz, electronica and metal. As a born leader she has spearheaded her own musical groups with command and a firm understanding of compassionate and inspiring leadership. She stands on afirm and thorough foundation of exquisite classical performance and soars in experimentation and musical bravery, grounded in the deep knowing of music’s power to transform our lives and beautify the world around us. Her primary musical project is KnightressM1, an expansive violin-fronted metal band she founded in 2011. The genre-bending outfit fuses the raw power of metal, classical harmonic beauty, crushing violin tones, raw and versatile vocals and consciousness theory to create a fresh voice in a sometimes monotone genre. Driven by a relentless need for emotional freedom, her lyrics bare witness tolife’s cruelties while musically transmuting human suffering into transformation. Music plays a profound role as humanity teeters at the crossroads between ultimate destruction and radical evolution, KnightressM1 strives to be a powerful voice for those oppressed either by country or lover.Emily recorded and produced KnightressM1’s debut album “Dreams & Devastation” at Studio 606, home of the Foo Fighters.John Lousteau engineered and co-produced the album. The 12 song concept album was released alongside three self-produced music videos to worldwide acclaim in September 2020. Emily was born in Midland, MI to cellist Lois and poet John Palen. She began to study classical violin at the age of 4 and piano at 5. She studied in her formative years with her mother, a serious musician in her own right and an experienced string teacher in the modalities of Suzuki, Traditional, Eurythmics. Lois Palen studied with John Kendall, a string educator knownfor fundamentally changing and improving music education. Emily then went on to study violin with Lyman Bodman, Michael Avsharian, himself a student of Ivan Galamian and Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan School of Music. She studied piano with Dottie Canfield and Patricia Willwerth at Central Michigan University. Emily moved to San Francisco and studied Creative Writing with a focus in poetry at San Francisco State.