Gilbert Spencer

Gilbert Spencer is a conductor and baritone specializing in new music and works from the baroque era and earlier. In the greater Washington area, he can be heard singing with the choirs at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and Washington National Cathedral, as well as with other professional ensembles such as Cathedra, The Choir of St. John’s in the Village, The Folger Consort, Chantry, and Third Practice.

As a conductor, he has led world premieres of  works by Jenny Olivia Johnson, Michael Rickelton, Ledah Finck, and Frances Pollock. Additionally, he has prepared choruses for renowned film composer Hans Zimmer, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Jack Everly. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Bridge, a vocal chamber music collective that specializes in contemporary music.

As a soloist, Gilbert is frequently heard on the concert stage. He has concertized as a soloist with The Folger Consort, REBEL Baroque Ensemble and Owen Burdick, Musica Spira, and Concert Artists of Baltimore with Edward Polochick. Recently he was in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta, where he recorded a new opera by Jenny Olivia Johnson (release tba 2020).​

Gilbert is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he worked closely with Donald Nally, Alan Darling, and W. Stephen Smith.