NaperVoice’s Mission to “Sing well. Do good.”

Philip Spencer is enjoying a career spanning over thirty years as a full-time professional musician, including the roles of award-winning educator and composer, conductor of choral ensembles in the United States and Europe, church musician, and concert organist and harpsichordist. In 2021, he conceived of the idea for NaperVoice, a unique new philanthropic choir in Naperville with the mission “Sing well. Do good.”, composed of both professional and auditioned amateur singers. He is also volunteering two days per week as a pianist performing on the grand piano in the lobby of Edward Heart Hospital.

Mr. Spencer was recently named Professor Emeritus of Music at Joliet Junior College, where for twenty years he conducted both of the college’s choral ensembles. In addition, he was Founding Conductor of the Lutheran Youth Choir International; Founding Artistic Director of the Festival of Global Vocal Music at Mansfeld Castle in Mansfeld, Germany; and Founding Conductor of the Edina Chorale, one of the Minneapolis area’s finest community-based choral ensembles. In 2011, he was named recipient of the annual Saint Genesius Award by Lewis University “for extraordinary achievement in choral music and music education.” Mr. Spencer earned the Master of Music degree from the Yale University School of Music; completed one additional academic year of music study in Berlin, Germany; and pursued doctoral work in choral conducting at the University of Iowa. As a composer, he was awarded First Prize in the prestigious Roger Wagner International Choral Composition Contest at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles and was the winner of the Illinois Chapter, American Choral Directors Association Choral Composition Contest. His compositions have been published by Augsburg Fortress Press and Choristers Guild.

Shelley May Hutchinson is a National Board-Certified music educator in Naperville District 204, teaching general music and chorus at the elementary level. She is also a percussion specialist in the district, teaching at yearly festivals and summer programs. At Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Naperville, she is the director of the handbell choir Bach Ringers. In the community, Shelley plays in the marimba quartet Rosewooden Carols, and performs as a percussionist with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the Naperville Municipal Band, and the Agape Ringers. She can also be seen leading drum circles in the Chicago area. Shelley holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Iowa in Percussion Performance and Music Education and a Master of Education degree from Benedictine University.