Meet the New Music Teacher
In addition to teaching music classes at Saint Paul, Alex Luke is the assistant choral director for the secondary level at Valparaiso High School and at both TJ and BF middle schools.
He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he received a B.A. in music, and re-cently completed a master’s degree in music education at Northwestern University. His post-secondary music studies have included jazz guitar, choral conducting, and voice.
Mr. Luke has taught both instrumental and vocal ensembles, as well as private lessons and theory/musicianship classes to students of all ages. His background in both classical and popular music gives him a unique perspective as an educator, and allows him to relate to students of diverse musical and life backgrounds in a way that might be difficult for someone who was only trained in a single style of music.
As a singer, Mr. Luke has performed with choirs all around the Chicago and St. Louis areas, including with the American Chamber Chorale in St. Louis; Winter Opera St. Louis; the Chicago Chorale; the Northwest Choral Society; the Northwestern University Opera Theater; and many churches in both cities. Recently, he has performed at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
Alex is also an active guitarist, songwriter, and arranger: he has performed in jazz ensembles, cover bands, original rock and heavy metal projects, and pit bands for musical theater productions; and he has arranged music for rock bands, choirs, wind ensembles of various sizes, and ensembles of classroom instruments. He has lately been trying his hand at audio production and studio engineering.