Luke
Gullickson,
shown here during the legendary premiere performance of Taco's
First Puppopera, is
a composer, pianist, and writer based in Austin, Texas. Born
in 1985 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he holds a BA in Music and
History from Illinois
Wesleyan University, and is currently pursuing an
MM in Composition at the University of Texas. Luke’s music
reflects his interest in contemporary classical music as well as jazz,
rock, and the American tradition.
Luke's compositions have won numerous honors and received performances around the U.S., as well as a couple odd times in Europe. Recent performance venues include the Society of Composers National Conference and Florida State University's CHASM Student Music Festival. His composition teachers include Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and David Vayo. He also trained with the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, where he worked with Philip Lasser and Claude Baker and ate a lot of pastries whose names he didn't understand.
Luke is active as a multifaceted performer of classical, jazz, and new music. Highlights include playing Liszt's Piano Concerto in Eb with the Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra, serving as pianist and Assistant Music Director for Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre in Grand Lake, Colorado, and collaborating with the Chicago-based Sissy-Eared Mollycoddles new music group, for whom he also serves on the Board of Directors. He currently plays piano for the University of Texas New Music Ensemble.
Aside from his musical activities, Luke is an avid traveler, and has recently had the good fortune to hang about in such locales as Wisconsin's Apostle Islands, Alaska's Denali National Park, and the Northern California coast. As a writer he has been responsible for numerous articles and short stories, one ludicrous play, and three delightfully unpublished novellas. He writes about music regularly on his blog, Sonatas and Interludes.
Luke is a member of the Society of Composers, Iowa Composers Forum, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the Seven Titans Compositional School.
Luke's compositions have won numerous honors and received performances around the U.S., as well as a couple odd times in Europe. Recent performance venues include the Society of Composers National Conference and Florida State University's CHASM Student Music Festival. His composition teachers include Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and David Vayo. He also trained with the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, where he worked with Philip Lasser and Claude Baker and ate a lot of pastries whose names he didn't understand.
Luke is active as a multifaceted performer of classical, jazz, and new music. Highlights include playing Liszt's Piano Concerto in Eb with the Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra, serving as pianist and Assistant Music Director for Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre in Grand Lake, Colorado, and collaborating with the Chicago-based Sissy-Eared Mollycoddles new music group, for whom he also serves on the Board of Directors. He currently plays piano for the University of Texas New Music Ensemble.
Aside from his musical activities, Luke is an avid traveler, and has recently had the good fortune to hang about in such locales as Wisconsin's Apostle Islands, Alaska's Denali National Park, and the Northern California coast. As a writer he has been responsible for numerous articles and short stories, one ludicrous play, and three delightfully unpublished novellas. He writes about music regularly on his blog, Sonatas and Interludes.
Luke is a member of the Society of Composers, Iowa Composers Forum, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the Seven Titans Compositional School.