Donald Palumbo

Donald Palumbo is an American choral conductor and vocal coach. He is the former chorus master of the Metropolitan Opera based in New York City and a member of the Vocal Arts faculty at the Juilliard School.

Palumbo is from Rochester, New York and graduated from Boston University with a BA in chemistry (1970). He did not attend a conservatoire but learned his skills by singing in opera choruses in Austria under conductors including Herbert von Karajan and Karl Böhm, accompanying opera rehearsals on the piano, and working with other chorus masters: "every time I had the opportunity to do something — say, play rehearsals for a small opera company or prepare a small chorus for a regional opera company — I just said, 'Yes, I'll be glad to do that.' " He and his husband, John Hauser, split their time between homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Wildwood Crest, New Jersey.

On June 3, 2025, Palumbo was named as the next director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, beginning July 1, 2025.