This month, our Springboard SPOTLIGHT shines on Composer/Pianist, Luke Christopher Baron, one of our 2023 Springboard Grant Winners.
Luke Christopher Baron, Composer/Pianist
At what age did you begin performing and what inspired you to do so?
I started performing when I was 6 and composing when I was 13. I have many musical family members and it was always expected that I would learn an instrument. I fell in love with it under their guidance and support and I’ve never looked back.
What was the most exciting thing that’s happened to you as you’ve pursued the performing arts?
I think it’s a toss up between getting into Juilliard and winning the Sound Symphony concerto competition. I can’t choose between them because they were both dreams come true. I’ve always wanted to go to Juilliard, and I’ve always wanted to play with a live orchestra. They were both moments I’ll never forget.
What are some stumbling blocks you’ve encountered along the way?
I have been lucky not to have stumbling blocks!
Dream big … If you can envision achieving great success in the performing arts, describe what that would that look like?
I think that success in performing arts can look many different ways for me. My dream is simply to live in the arts and make a living doing what I love. I would love Carnegie premiers and to teach at a top NY institution but as long as I’m living in the world I’ll know I’ll be happy.
What’s your favorite genre of music and why?
Naturally being a classical composer the modern composition world is probably my favorite. However, my compositions take inspiration from all sorts of music and I love pretty much any music I hear.
Have you ever met a really famous performing artist and if so, who was it and what was your interaction?
A year or so ago I had an interaction with David Robertson that I will never forget. I was having dinner with him and my best friend who happens to be his son, and I was expressing my dislike for a certain composer’s music. He sat and listened to me explain what I disliked about it and when I finished he said something I’ll never forget. He told me that whenever there was music he didn’t like, he didn’t feel annoyed but remorseful. Naturally, there are people who like it, and he felt remorse that he couldn’t enjoy it as they did because he didn’t understand why it was good. It really stuck with me and I try to keep it in mind whenever I come across music I don’t instantly like. As it happens that same composer who I disliked is now one of my favorites.
Describe what you think would be the most useful or beneficial thing to you, if given the opportunity to mentored by a successful artist?
I think anyone who is a brilliant orchestrator would be enormously beneficial. I want to improve the colors I can get out of the orchestra and I would love to work with someone who knows the orchestra inside and out!
As a performing artist, what stands in the way of fulfilling your dreams?
Honestly, I feel that the only person who can stop me from achieving my goals is myself. As long as I believe in myself and continue to work, none of my dreams are unobtainable.
If you could have lunch with an A-list performing artist, who would that be?
I would love to have lunch with Igor Levit. He’s one of the most unique pianists I’ve ever seen and I’d love to pick his brain and get to know him.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
I make the correct connections, write a wonderful piece and achieve enough success in my field to have Carnegie premiers.
Favorite Musician: Manny Ax
Favorite Musical Instrument: Piano
Favorite Actor: Pedro Pascal
Favorite Actress: Tilda Swinton
Favorite Comedian: Jim Gaffigan
Favorite Dancer: MJ
Favorite Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Favorite Show: The Boys
If you couldn’t be a performing artist, what would you like to do?
I’d probably be a history or English teacher. Teaching is definitely in my future and if I couldn’t teach music I might as well teach something else!
Biography
Luke Christopher Baron, age 19, is a composer and pianist currently attending the Juilliard School for composition. There he studies with Professor Valerie Coleman. Recently, Luke was commissioned by Carol WIncenc, becoming the inaugural composer of the MXE 35th Anniversary commissioning initiative, to create a new work for Sextet. This new work “Silver Flares” was performed at the Juilliard School alongside works by Claude Debussy, Toru Takemitsu, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Luke will have two new works premiered this year at the National Flute Association Convention in Atlanta. In 2025, he founded The Sisu Project, an initiative bringing Finnish cultural music to life. To further this initiative, he shot a documentary in partnership with NYCL Films, which is premiering in the fall of 2025. The documentary contains meaningful messages about the importance of sharing culture and telling stories, the need for a spiritual connection and the liberation one feels in discovering their heritage.
In 2023, Luke was awarded the New York Youth Symphony’s “Dean’s Award”. Whilst at NYYS, he had numerous works read and performed in his time at NYYS. Some of which include readings from the DeCoda and the Grammy-award-winning New York Youth Symphony orchestras and chamber works performed by the Traumerei Clarinet quintet, Esprit Piano Quartet, and organist Jae Lee. In 2024, Luke was awarded “From The Top Finalist” honors. He also won the Ballora-Wang Young Composer Prize from Penn State and placed as a finalist for the Ruth Crawford Seager prize. Luke attended the Young Artist Program for Composition at BU Tanglewood Institute in summer 2023. In the same summer he was announced as a Springboard Grant Winner by the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts. Luke has also had success as a pianist. In 2022 he won the Sound Symphony Concerto Competition where he made his solo debut playing Mozart Concerto No. 13, for which wrote and performed original cadenzas.
Luke is not only a composer but an avid performer. In addition to his classical piano studies, Luke has gained much experience as a rock keyboard player. This summer, he will be touring Europe with Banned from Utopia, a rock group containing members of Frank Zappa’s original band, The Mothers of Invention. He will be headlining at Zappanale with them in Bad Doberan, Germany, before leaving to tour with Gibby Haynes of the Butt-hole surfers. With Gibby, he will perform in Helsinki, Tallinn, Prague, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Manchester and Dublin for thousands of people each night.
