IMRE PALLÓ was born in Budapest, Hungary and is the godson of Zoltán Kodály. Kodály was very influential in his early musical training and education. After studies majoring in piano, composition and percussion at the Budapest Conservatory, Maestro Palló graduated from the Vienna Academy of Music with two diplomas – in orchestral and choral conducting. As a student at the Academy, he served as a musical assistant to Herbert von Karajan and Professor Karl Böhm at the Vienna and Salzburg Festivals.

Directly after graduation from the Academy in 1964, Maestro Palló joined the Wuppertal Opera as conductor and remained with that company until 1968 when he joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf where he conducted over 100 performances a year. During this time, he also became involved as the assistant to Maestro Antal Doráti in the highly acclaimed recording of the entire symphonic and operatic works of Haydn. 

Maestro Palló made his American debut in 1973 with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In 1974 he was invited to join the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center and served as one of the Principal Conductors with that company for over two decades.. Simultaneously Maestro Palló was appointed Music Director of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. 

In 1984, he toured with international stars Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry, appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, San Francisco Opera, and the New Jersey Arts Center among others. 

From 1987 to 1991, Maestro Palló joined the Frankfurt Opera Company in Frankfurt, Germany as Principal Guest Conductor, where among other performances he conducted the new production of Dvorak’s Rusalka to great international acclaim. 

Maestro Palló appeared as a guest conductor with the following orchestras and opera companies: Brooklyn Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Lisbon Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic, Budapest Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra Munich, Budapest Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio and Television, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Staatskapelle Weimar, Canadian Opera Company, Cincinnati Opera, Cleveland Opera, Connecticut Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Philadelphia Opera, Portland Opera, St. Louis Opera, San Francisco Opera, Vancouver Opera, Manitoba Opera, New Israeli Opera, Den Norske Opera Oslo, De Vlaamse Opera Antwerp, Budapest State Opera, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Berlin State Opera, Leipzig Opera, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar.

In 1994, Maestro Palló joined the faculty of the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he was the Chair of the Instrumental Conducting Department.

Imre Palló moved to Australia in 2005 as Pro-Dean of Performance, Professor and Chair of Conducting and Chair of Opera Production at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, USYD until his return to the U.S. in November 2012. While in Australia his engagements included performances with Opera Australia, Orchestra Victoria and West Australian Opera.