Downers Grove Choral Society welcomes collaborative keyboardist Philip Spencer

The Downers Grove Choral Society is welcoming collaborative keyboardist Philip Spencer.

Spencer is in frequent demand as performer and accompanist on piano, harpsichord, and pipe organ. He earned the Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music; completed one academic year of church music study in Berlin, Germany; and pursued doctoral work in choral conducting and organ at the University of Iowa.

Currently, he is a full-time, tenured professor of music and director of choral and vocal music at Joliet Junior College. He conducts both of the college's choral ensembles; teaches applied and class voice, and harpsichord; designed and teaches a course in world music; and serves as coordinator of the Musica Viva Concert Series.

In addition, Spencer is founding conductor of the Lutheran Youth Choir International; founding artistic director of the Festival of Global Vocal Music at Mansfeld Castle in Mansfeld, Germany; and founding conductor emeritus of the Edina (MN) Chorale.

As a composer, he was awarded first prize in the Roger Wagner International Choral Composition Contest at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles and was winner of the 2014 Illinois American Choral Directors Association Choral Composition Contest.

In 2011, Spencer was the recipient of the 24th annual Saint Genesius Award by Lewis University "for extraordinary achievement in choral music and music education". He resides in Naperville with his wife, Pamela.

To learn more about the Downers Grove Choral Society, visit dgcs.org or www.facebook.com/DownersGroveChoralSociety/.