Performer · Artistic director · Teacher
Penelope Spencer
Why Baroque Music?
Performing baroque music in a way that inspires and moves the human soul, is not only a great privilege — it is the driving force behind everything I do. The rich and multifaceted sound world of the Baroque continues to be an endless source of inspiration for me.
Sharing my passion for the Baroque violin music has also led me deeply into the world of teaching and artistic innovation. Baroque music is primarily about mutual inspiration and musical cooperation: All of my students — whether amateur or professional — take part in chamber music or orchestral projects that I, together with a growing network of visionary colleagues here in Munich initiate, direct and oversee.
I am convinced that baroque music, when presented in an inspiring and accessible way, speaks incredibly powerfully to today's audiences, and people need music as nourishment for the soul — perhaps today more than ever.
— Penelope Spencer, Munich 2026
Projects
The Soundtrack of our Lives
Two tumultuous Life Stories - connected by music
Penelope Spencer - Barockvioline | Hanna Shcherbyna - Barockcello
Two musicians—born in New Zealand and Ukraine, raised in different cultures and now both living in Germany—form a duo that tells personal stories. Each of them brings experiences that touch on many of the great social questions of our time: war, displacement, the search for home, and life within multicultural societies. In this concert, the two artists weave music, image, and word into an intense and deeply personal experience. The selected Baroque music reflects the emotions of these life experiences—grief, hope, loss, and connection. How can genuine encounter and acceptance arise without losing one’s own identity? What does Baroque music have to do with all of this? What is its power, what is its meaning? You must hear it—and feel it. New Zealand – Ukraine – England – The Netherlands – Germany War and peace, the outer world and the inner world.
J.S. Bach: Six Sonatas for Violin
and Obligato Harpsichord
Bach’s Instrumental Passions
Penelope Spencer – violin | Andreas Skouras – harpsichord
In these remarkable sonatas Bach explores the expressive potential of instrumental music with extraordinary intensity—reaching an emotional depth comparable to the most moving moments of his cantatas and passions. The extraordinary richness of expression, both sacred and secular. Joy, sorrow, hope, contemplation, stillness, and jubilation alternate throughout, make these unfortunately rarely heard works some of the most beautiful examples of the genre.
The Four Seasons Multimedia Show
Where Music unites Art, Technology and the living world
The international Baroque violinist Penelope Spencer combines her passion for Vivaldi’s music with her concern for our beautiful but endangered world to present the Four Seasons Multimedia Show. This remarkable production brings together the best of modern technology with the timeless perfection of Vivaldi’s music and with the realities of the modern world in mind, has been designed so that it can be performed in almost any space, including outdoors.
Soul Voice – Music for Solo Violin from the 17th and 18th Centuries
Penelope Spencer - Barockvioline
Beginning with an improvisation on the English ballad Greensleeves and concluding with the sublime music of J. S. Bach, Baroque violinist Penelope Spencer leads us into the fascinating world of the music and personalities of the violinist-composers of the Baroque era. Who were these virtuosos, and why did they compose music for solo violin in an age dominated by the famous basso continuo? Is a solo violin without accompaniment like a tree without roots—or perhaps not? Penelope explores the mystical world of the Jesuit brotherhoods, international virtuosos who were in fact spies, and possible hidden layers of meaning in the music of J. S. Bach. In a special programme she has developed over many years, she presents the sublime music of Bach and his predecessors.
H.I.F. Biber – The Rosary Sonatas in a New Light
A unique fusion of music, image, and liturgy—intense, timeless, and spiritually moving.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704) was the most important violinist of the 17th century. His Rosary Sonatas—musical meditations on the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary—are among the most moving works of the Baroque era, yet they remain little known even today. Originally they were performed as part of liturgical processions, accompanied by prayers and powerful paintings. Each of the fifteen sonatas illuminates one stage—from the Annunciation to the Coronation of Mary. Our project brings this spiritual art form into the present: the sonatas are performed live in the church, embedded within prayers, texts, and reflections, while the historic paintings from Salzburg, originally associated with each sonata, are artfully projected onto a specially designed backdrop. An ensemble of violin, chamber organ, lute, and viola da gamba brings Biber’s music to life in an authentic sound world.
Press
Biber: Sonatas. Ricordo
"Violinists Debretzeni and Penelope Spencer are particularly fine, deftly extracting every imaginative diabolical, fantastic, and bizarre nuance of Biber’s youthful fertile imagination."
-Classics Today, 2001
La Cité de la Musique, Paris. New London Consort.
"Il faut également rendre hommage à l’excellente prestation de l’ensemble instrumental, et tout particulièrement au premier violon, Penelope Spencer, dont l’engagement corporel a créé une cohésion remarquable au sein du pupitre des cordes. Cela nous amène au cœur de notre interrogation : la musique baroque doit-elle être dirigée?"
-Bachtrack April 2014
Vivaldi Four Seasons Multimedia Show
„Gerade die Geigerin Penelope Spencer musiziert mit äußerster Effizienz und Wendigkeit. Das Zähneklappern, die Freude beim Tanz, die wild hereinbrechenden Stürme - all das wird dramatisch und höchst expressiv hervorgekehrt.
Ein Vivaldi, der in eine fremde Welt entführt.“
-Donau Kurier September, 2021
Cheltenham Music Festival, UK. The Musicians of the Globe
"with Edward Finch’s The Cuckoo sounding out loud and clear on Penelope Spencer’s violin, complete with several intricate variations extracting every ounce of colour and expression from the score."
-Oxford Times, July 2010
Perth International Festival of the Arts. New London Consort
"Violinist Penelope Spencer added to the effect, standing centre stage for her long obbligato passages, which were expressively played from memory and in dialogue with the vocalists. This made for touching moments and a sense of engagement with the audience."
-The Australian, Feb 2008
Angels and Devils. Blasius Festival Alte Musik
"Spencer setzte ihren
anspruchsvollen Solo-Part mit atemberaubendem Können um, ließ die Engels einem extatischen Triller den Moment der Empfängnis Mariens... Spencer und ihre Kolleginnen brachten es in der Blasiuskirche betörend schön zu Gehör: mit höchster Virtuosität, durchaus diabolischen Schärfen und Reibungen, aber letztlich einfach himmlisch."
-Allgäuer Zeitung, August 2019
Sharing the passion
Sharing my passion for baroque music, instruments and historical performance practise is not only an extremely important part of my work, but also a great joy and privilege.
Since moving to Germany in 2017, I have built up a lively class of baroque violin students - both amateur and professional musicians - who come regularly to my studio in West Munich for individual lessons, and in 2023, from this group of enthusiastists, the Greifenberger Barockorchester was born - the only baroque orchestra for amatuers in Bavaria.
The Amatuer orchestra meets once per Month for a 6 hour Workshop which I coach, and perform two to three concerts per year.
In 2024 I established BarockConnections an Online Information Portal and online Networking Forum for Early Musicians, and interested parties. This online community grows, and now has a physical presence in Munich in the form of outreach projects bringing together Early Music Amateurs and Professionals. The Main outreach project for Barockconnections in 2026 is a staged performance of Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas".
OUTREACH
TESTIMONIALS
Liebe Penelope! I wanted to tell you, that I really felt free in playing the violin this weekend, and for me it was the first time I did so, because I had so bad experiences when I was young. I learned a lot in trying to copy your kind of playing. You always seem to be free and happy and concentrated when playing. Thanks for this, and your motivating manner when working with us.
Dear Penny, what a wonderful musical day—the Bach sonata is still ringing in my ears! Thank you very much for your help; you truly made this trio come alive. I very much hope that we will be able to continue working with you.
Dear Penny, the thanks are entirely on my side—I think on all of our sides! It was very exciting to see how sensitively you worked with us and how you enabled us to encounter these pieces in new ways. It was great fun and very inspiring!
Many thanks to you again, dear Penny, for taking the whole day for us and for your wonderful teaching!
Teaching
Teaching the baroque violin and coaching ensembles in an important part of my professional life and brings me incredible joy and fulfilment. My private pupils are school music teachers, (modern) violin teachers, or dedicated Amateur musicians from all walks of life. To accomodate my international students, I have made a number of teaching videos, including "play along" tracks to accompany the famous Geminiani Method "The Art of Playing on the Violin" of 1756: Usually my students come with pieces they are either preparing for a concert or simply music they love and want to play themselves. I always play the bassline of sonatas on my violin or viola to accompany my students which not only immediately teaches ensemble skills but trains the awareness of the bass and harmony, which is so important in baroque music. When a technical issue is preventing someone from playing musically, I help analyse and pinpoint what is going on. There is usually an appropriate exercise or study that can solve the problem if carefully practised. I give all my students a basic practice schedule of warm-up, technique and repertoire tailor-made to their particular needs and time available to practice. I also encourage my students to form ensembles – playing in a good ensemble is after all, one of the greatest challenges and pleasures of life!
