attended Eastman School of Music and Boston Conservatory of Music, where he studied under Rebecca Penneys and Michael Lewin in piano performance. He also earned degrees in music composition at Lynn University under the tutelage of Thomas McKinley. As a pianist, Luke has had a variety of experiences ranging from orchestral and chamber settings to soloistic performances. He is a commonly commissioned composer in the South Florida area, and has performed and toured his own music across the United States both as a soloist, and as a part of a chamber group consisting of himself and classical guitarist Collin Holloway, in ‘The Muse Duo’.
Luke combines the musical languages of the past and present to evoke several idioms while still maintaining clarity and accessibility. These languages range from the Baroque and Classical periods, to the more modern sensibilities of Rock, Serialism, and Minimalism. While rhythmic drive is a prominent force in his works, it is still paired alongside unique and coloristic instrumentation, pointed motivic direction, and memorable melodic content, ensuring an artistic voice that is entirely his own.
A focus on collaborative efforts is also a central component of Luke’s artistic vision. Recently, his music was featured as a part of Oklahoma City University’s 2023 Guitar Festival featuring ‘The Muse Duo’ and guitar orchestra in the work ‘from the floor’, a world premiere where he was both a soloist and the composer of the work. In 2024, he premiered his work ‘Grafico de la Petenera’, a vocal composition based on the poetry by Garcia Lorca, written specifically for ‘The Muse Duo’ and soprano Sydney Carbo. In both of these ensembles, Luke explores the idiosyncratic nature of the guitar and piano chamber ensemble both as a player and as a composer, while working to emphasize the talents of the performers his music is written for.
His works are composed for a variety of unique settings. The piece ‘Work: for Harpsichord and mixed ensemble’ was premiered at a church during St. Mary’s Baroque Candlelight Series in the summer of 2023. As a part of ‘LOOP Art Critique’, his music was included as a part of a public art gallery, ‘Composers in the Metaverse’, that accented experimental exhibitions in an online environment. Completed by ‘The Muse Duo’, ‘Experiments’, released in the summer of 2023, is an album in which the entire track list is composed entirely of Luke’s original compositions. All of these different artistic avenues express Luke’s compositional language in different ways, and work towards making him a multi-faceted musician built for the modern age of classical music.
