Williametta Spencer (born August 15, 1927) [1] is an American composer, [2] musicologist, and teacher [3] who plays harpsichord, organ, and piano. She is best known for her award-winning choral work At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners. [4]
Spencer was born in Marion, Illinois, to Viva Jewell and Samuel Joseph Spencer. The family moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where her father was a minister of music at several different Baptist churches during her childhood. [5] Spencer earned a B.A. at Whittier College and a M.Mus. and Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation was entitled The Influence and Stylistic Heritage of André Caplet. [6] In 1953, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Paris. Her teachers included Pauline Alderman, Tony Aubin, Alfred Cortot, Ingolf Dahl, Ernst Kanitz, and Halsey Stevens. [4] [7]
Spencer has won several awards, including the Southern California Vocal Association National Composition Award for At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners; Alumni Achievement Awards from Whittier College in 1995 and 2008; [8] and the Amy Beach Award for her orchestral overture. [4] I Cantori commissioned and premiered her choral work, And the White Rose is a Dove. She is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon and the International Alliance for Women in Music. [9]
Spencer’s works have been published by Associated Music Publishers Inc., [10] Mark Foster Music Co., [11] Orpheus Publications, [12] Shawnee Press, [13] and Western International Music Co. [4] Her publications include:
Williametta Spencer (born August 15, 1927) [1] is an American composer, [2] musicologist, and teacher [3] who plays harpsichord, organ, and piano. She is best known for her award-winning choral work At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners. [4]
Spencer was born in Marion, Illinois, to Viva Jewell and Samuel Joseph Spencer. The family moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where her father was a minister of music at several different Baptist churches during her childhood. [5] Spencer earned a B.A. at Whittier College and a M.Mus. and Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. Her dissertation was entitled The Influence and Stylistic Heritage of André Caplet. [6] In 1953, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Paris. Her teachers included Pauline Alderman, Tony Aubin, Alfred Cortot, Ingolf Dahl, Ernst Kanitz, and Halsey Stevens. [4] [7]
Spencer has won several awards, including the Southern California Vocal Association National Composition Award for At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners; Alumni Achievement Awards from Whittier College in 1995 and 2008; [8] and the Amy Beach Award for her orchestral overture. [4] I Cantori commissioned and premiered her choral work, And the White Rose is a Dove. She is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon and the International Alliance for Women in Music. [9]
Spencer’s works have been published by Associated Music Publishers Inc., [10] Mark Foster Music Co., [11] Orpheus Publications, [12] Shawnee Press, [13] and Western International Music Co. [4] Her publications include: