Give a young child a chalkboard and they will have a scribble or maybe practice their A, B, Cs. When Luke’s mum, Katherine, handed him a chalkboard at age 4, he drew music notes.
“I’ve always known he was creative musically. I’m a musician and I also teach music theory and from a young age he would use my notation software to try and write out film scores from memory,” she says.
Now a Year 9 student at Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School, 15-year-old Luke has a broad range of musical passions and film interests.
A talented cellist, Luke achieved an A for Grade 6 AMEB cello and a 96% for Grade 3 Music Craft. He plays cello in the Western Sydney Youth Orchestra and was also an ambassador for the Sydney Youth Orchestra during the 2021 Covid-19 lockdown, helping to develop their online programs.
Luke is also passionate about stop motion animation and film music composition, studying the latter with Professor Ken Lampl from the Australian National University School of Music.
“Ken is the Convenor of Composition for Film and Video Games and he studied with John Williams, who has composed some of the most popular and acclaimed film scores in cinematic history,” says Katherine.
“I asked Ken if he consider giving Luke online lessons and when they started working together, he told me he’s one of the most amazing students he’s ever seen.”
When he’s not playing the cello or studying music notation and composition, Luke also attends courses at NIDA to further develop his love of singing, acting and directing.
He has performed on stage in the Zodiac Opera by Judy Clingan and in the Victorian Opera’s Pied Piper at the Victorian Arts Centre.
Luke was diagnosed with severe developmental motor dyspraxia in 2010 but thanks to ongoing occupational therapy, exercise physiology and assistive technology, it comes as a surprise to most of his teachers and his friends that he lives with a disability.
His Mum describes Luke as being full of ‘patience, grit and determination’ which has enabled him to overcome any adversity faced and also stands him in good stead to achieve his dream of being a film director.
“I love being behind the camera and experimenting with colour, light and music. I also watch a lot of films and can always tell when a director has thrown in a pretty basic soundtrack and been very lazy with the film scoring,” he says.
As a Variety Heart Scholarship in 2021, Luke is grateful to Variety and encourages others to stay true to themselves.
“It is always great to get support, especially in places where you may not have known that support existed.”
“To other kids I would say – if you have a passion, stick to it. Don’t let people talk you out of it and one day, you’ll be at the point where eventually you can say you’ve achieved your passion and your goals.”
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