About Emily
Emily has appeared as a concert soloist with several professional and community orchestras, including the prestigious Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. A lyric soprano, she focuses especially on the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. Solo concert credits include J.S. Bach's St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Mass in Time of War, Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore, and Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder.
A frequent recitalist and speaker, Ms. Spencer has been featured in concerts, programs, and workshops presented by numerous church, community, and academic arts organizations, including the Rosa Ponselle Foundation, Supporters of Opera Singers, Milwaukee Civic Arts Association, Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale, James F. Jakobsen Graduate Conference, Portland Regional LDS Music Workshop, Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Fine Arts Commission, St. John's on the Lake Chapel Music Series, Provo City Arts Council, Brigham Young University, and the University of Iowa. In the summer of 2012 she presented programs on the music of the early Latter-day Saints in both historic Nauvoo, IL and "Winter Quarters" in Council Bluffs, IA. The mother of a son with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ms. Spencer has also presented musical programs featuring singers with ASD and stories of faith and inspiration that demonstrate what can be accomplished in spite of our challenges. These programs have been sponsored, hosted, and/or promoted by The University of Iowa Foundation, The University of Iowa Children's Hospital, The Old Capitol Museum, KCRG-TV9, and the Historic Nauvoo Visitors' Center.
Ms. Spencer's greatest loves are vocal and conducting pedagogy, sacred choral literature, and sacred choral composition. She has directed numerous choirs, taught private voice and piano lessons, adjudicated vocal competitions, and accompanied in choral, solo, and liturgical settings for many years. Ms. Spencer has written for the web magazine LDS Music Universe, the More Good Foundation, and was also profiled by The Mormon Women Project. She received her Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University in 2000 and her Master of Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa in 2013. She resides in Iowa City with her husband and four children.
