Baroque Violin and Artistic Director
New-Zealand born violinist Penelope Spencer is one of the leading baroque
violinists of her generation. She studied with Sigiswald Kuijken, the founder
of the baroque violin revival, and in 1998 graduated with the highest
performance diploma from Utrecht and The Hague Conservatories, one of only a
handful of baroque violinists ever to do so.
As a member of Kuijken's renowned orchestra La Petite Bande, she regularly recorded and toured internationally, playing alongside leading figures of the Early Music movement such as Gustav Leonhardt, Francois Fernandez, and the Kuijken brothers. She was also a member of the Nederlandse Bach Vereniging for 10 years. In 2000, Penelope joined the English Baroque Soloists, directed by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and participated that year in over 80 concerts and CD recordings across Europe and in the United States, comprising a landmark project to perform and record all of Bach's 200 cantatas in one year. In 2007, Penelope was invited to become the concertmaster of the New London Consort, and has performed in many festivals and concert halls throughout Europe and Asia in this role. Since then she has also performed regularly as concertmaster and solo violinist with the Sinfonia Verdi and the Armonico Consort.
Penelope's passion for chamber music inspired the Realm of Music and has also led to successful collaborations with Musicians of the Globe, Folk-Rock legend Richard Thomson, and the brilliant Galician Folk-rock Piper Carlos Nunez.