Spencer Martin
Spencer Martin serves as Professor of Music at Luther College, where he teaches violin and viola, conducts the Luther College Philharmonia, and teaches conducting. He performs frequently as violist of the Luther College Piano Quartet and on Baroque violin and viola with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and the Madison Bach Musicians. An active chamber musician, he has appeared as guest violist with the Harrington and Pro Arte String Quartets as well as the Amelia Piano Trio, and he currently serves as principal viola with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
As a soloist, Spencer has presented numerous recitals in the United States and abroad, including performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra in Austria, highlighted by a performance at Vienna’s Konzerthaus. He has served as Principal Violist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony and has frequently performed with the viola sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. His solo, chamber, and orchestral performances have been featured on National Public Radio, CBC, Minnesota Public Radio, and Kansas Public Radio.
Spencer’s recordings include Gems Rediscovered (Delos), praised by critics for its performances of rarely heard works for viola and piano by Ernest Walker, Paul Juon, Robert Fuchs, and Benjamin Dale, as well as Waves of Stone: Music by Brooke Joyce (Innova).
Since 2023, Spencer has served as conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Intercultural in Guatemala, where he also teaches string master classes. He has served as interim orchestra director at Valparaiso University, performed at International Viola Congresses, and presented master classes and a recital at the European Viola Forum at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy in Poznán, Poland. He is also a longtime faculty member of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy.
A former member of the music faculty at the University of Alabama, Spencer holds degrees from Butler University, Wichita State University, and the University of Minnesota, where his teachers included Korey Konkol, Catherine Consiglio, and Barbara Westphal. An avid proponent of Baroque music, he also studied with Baroque violinist Bernhard Fork in Berlin. Spencer performs on a viola made in 2024 by Jon van Kouwenhoven and a Baroque violin made in 2007 by Mark Womack.
Visit Spencer's Youtube channel.
Listen to Spencer on Spotify.
As a soloist, Spencer has presented numerous recitals in the United States and abroad, including performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra in Austria, highlighted by a performance at Vienna’s Konzerthaus. He has served as Principal Violist of the Tuscaloosa Symphony and has frequently performed with the viola sections of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. His solo, chamber, and orchestral performances have been featured on National Public Radio, CBC, Minnesota Public Radio, and Kansas Public Radio.
Spencer’s recordings include Gems Rediscovered (Delos), praised by critics for its performances of rarely heard works for viola and piano by Ernest Walker, Paul Juon, Robert Fuchs, and Benjamin Dale, as well as Waves of Stone: Music by Brooke Joyce (Innova).
Since 2023, Spencer has served as conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Intercultural in Guatemala, where he also teaches string master classes. He has served as interim orchestra director at Valparaiso University, performed at International Viola Congresses, and presented master classes and a recital at the European Viola Forum at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy in Poznán, Poland. He is also a longtime faculty member of the Lutheran Summer Music Academy.
A former member of the music faculty at the University of Alabama, Spencer holds degrees from Butler University, Wichita State University, and the University of Minnesota, where his teachers included Korey Konkol, Catherine Consiglio, and Barbara Westphal. An avid proponent of Baroque music, he also studied with Baroque violinist Bernhard Fork in Berlin. Spencer performs on a viola made in 2024 by Jon van Kouwenhoven and a Baroque violin made in 2007 by Mark Womack.
Visit Spencer's Youtube channel.
Listen to Spencer on Spotify.