BIO

Luke is always on the lookout for a good tale! When he was a kid, he could never tear himself away from books like The Chronicles of Narnia, or from games like The Legend of Zelda, and as an adult he still can’t! Immersion in so many narratives seems to have had an effect on his ability to create his own; when he tells one by way of music, people listen: he won the 2016 Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Young Composer’s Contest with his orchestra piece “The Day Draws Near,” and took third place in the 2019 Rachel Moore Composition Contest with a choral work entitled “Daybreak.” He also earned regional and national prizes in the 2014 NFMC Junior Composer’s Contest with his symphonic band composition “Fruition.” His more recent compositional achievements also include “Therefore Prophesy,” a 2022 commission with the Cathedral of St. Paul for the Vigil of Pentecost.

His composition portfolio includes everything from the score for ProsopAnonymous (a YouTube series about face blindness) to works for solo piano, organ and solo voice, unaccompanied flute, mixed ensemble, folk band, string quartet, choir, and orchestra. Though able to make musical stories in several styles and for a vast array of instruments, Luke’s greatest love and highest skill unite when he composes sacred music to give voice to the stories most dear to him.

Luke not only writes powerful musical stories, but he also performs them. He has fostered his vocal talent since high school, performing in ACDA and MMEA honor choirs, and later as a member of the University of St. Thomas Chamber Singers, a section leader for St. Mary’s Catholic Church in St. Paul and St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis. He was the tenor choral scholar at White Bear Lake United Methodist Church, the Interim Director of Music and Liturgy at Nativity of Mary Catholic Church in Bloomington, MN, the Director of Music at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Eagan, MN and the PreK-8 Music Teacher at Frassati Catholic Academy in Thornton, CO. He currently is the Director of Music and Liturgy at the Church of St. Peter in Forest Lake, MN.

Luke lives in St. Paul, MN, and is an active member of his local parish. He enjoys tabletop and video gaming, and studies martial arts when he isn’t playing or singing a weekend gig. Luke has completed the Catholic Educator and Formation Program through the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition and Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.