Amanda Palmer is a performer, director, composer, and musician, who is best known for her role as front woman and keyboardist for the internationally acclaimed punk-cabaret band The Dresden Dolls, founded nearly a decade ago with drummer Brian Viglione. In September 2008 Amanda released Who Killed Amanda Palmer, her debut solo album, which was produced by indie pop pianist Ben Folds. To complement her solo album, she created a beautiful storybook with acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, and produced an ambitious 12-video DVD project with filmmaker Michael Pope. Recently Palmer collaborated with mentor Steven Bogart to run an original workshop at her alma mater Lexington High School. A cast of twenty teenagers wrote and performed a play entitled “With The Needle That Sings In Her Heart,” based on one of Palmer’s favorite albums, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel. In addition, she stole the spotlight at the Coachella Music Festival in mid-April and toured the United States, Russia, and Eastern Europe to promote her new DVD and the Palmer/Gaiman Who Killed Amanda Palmer book project. Her past work includes a residency at the Famous Spiegeltent at Edinburgh, for which she garnered two five-star fringe reviews; a nearly-sold-out American Repertory Theatre run of The Onion Cellar, an original piece spearheaded by Amanda and featuring The Dresden Dolls; and her debut in Symphony Hall with the legendary Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart. Palmer keeps in close contact with legions of loyal friends and followers through her blog, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, her own amandapalmer.net, and a dedicated discussion forum called TheShadowbox.net.
