Thomas Luke is a young pianist from the Isle of Wight. His career as a pianist took off in 2020 when he won the keyboard category of BBC Young Musician 2020.
Since then, he has been regularly invited to perform all around the country.
Island concerts
Closer to home, he frequently performs for the West Wight Arts Association at the Freshwater Memorial Hall, most recently joining the Piatti String Quartet to play Dvorak’s Piano Quintet Op. 81 with them there.
He has also performed with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra at Medina Theatre, last year performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 to a sell out audience.
Royal College of Music scholarship
Thomas studies piano on a full scholarship at the Royal College of Music in London as a Margaret Mount Scholar. He studies with Professor Vanessa Latarche and receives further guidance from Alim Beisembayev. He has just completed the second of four years for his undergraduate degree there.
Collaboration with Steinway and Sons
May 2023 saw Thomas make history in a collaboration with Steinway and Sons, performing the inaugural Steinway Spiriocast between two UK institutions.
This involved Thomas performing music by Rachmaninoff on a Spirio piano in London, whilst simultaneously, miles away in a Nottingham concert hall, an audience witnessed another Spirio piano relay Thomas’s performance in real time as he played live from London.
Wigmore Hall concert
In June 2023 Thomas performed at the celebrated London concert venue Wigmore Hall, playing Messian’s “Quartet for the End of Time” to great acclaim.
Masterclass with Lang Lang
Thomas has taken part in many masterclasses, notably performing for Lang Lang in November 2023.
He performed the first movement of Saint Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 2, the concerto that Lang Lang was himself performing at the Albert Hall that week.
‘Little Blue’ arrangement catches Jacob Collier’s eye
In March this year, Thomas arranged the English musician and producer Jacob Collier’s song ‘Little Blue’ for several pianos. He recorded and produced it all in the space of a couple of days and uploaded it to YouTube.
Within days, the video had found its way to Jacob Collier himself, who was so impressed with it that he asked to meet Thomas at his new album release concert in London a few days later.
Performing in Texas
Thomas is currently in Texas for a month as a Young Artist Performer at the PianoTexas international festival, where he is performing recitals and taking part in masterclasses. He secured his place there through tough international competition to be one of only 24 young pianists selected from around the world.
In September, Thomas will play a recital in Leipzig, Germany, as part of the Bluthner Piano Masters concert series.
In October, Thomas will be flying out to China to compete in the Xiamen International Piano Competition. He secured his place in the competition by becoming one of just 30 pianists from around the world selected from the preliminary round to go through to the main rounds of the competition in China.
Symphony Orchestra concert
Thomas returns from Texas on 2nd July, just in time to perform with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Thomas at Medina Theatre as part of their last concert of the season.
He will be playing Party Piece by Richard Rodney Bennett and Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto.
More information about Thomas can be found on his website.
News shared by Sarah on behalf of Thomas Luke. Ed
