Luke Balslov, a native of Long Island, New York, regularly performs around the country on both modern and baroque trumpets. While in New York, Luke performed under renowned conductors such as Rossen Milanov, Edwin Outwater, George Manahan, and Jeffrey Milarsky while also maintaining a large private teaching studio. More recently, he moved to Miami, where he began regularly performing with the New World Symphony and played under conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, and Matthias Pintscher. He has also played concerts with the Miami Symphony Orchestra and the South Florida Symphony Orchestra. When not performing, he works as a teaching artist with the Miami Music Project, where he enjoys teaching under-resourced children the power and beauty of music.
Luke received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music performance at Stony Brook University, where he studied privately with Kevin Cobb. During his Master’s degree at Stony Brook, he began studying baroque trumpet under the guidance of Kris Kwapis and Arthur Haas. These studies sparked a passion for early music, and in 2016, he attended the American Bach Soloists Academy in San Francisco, where he studied with John Thiessen and played under director Jeffrey Thomas. Luke has since performed on baroque trumpet with Portland Baroque Orchestra, Staunton Music Festival, Sonnambula, Upper Valley Baroque, Cantate Chamber Singers, Oklahoma Bach Choir, and others, including as a soloist with Mercury Chamber Orchestra and American Bach Soloists.
Aside from music, Luke is extremely passionate about meditation and mindfulness, and during the pandemic, this passion inspired him to start a podcast and blog with his wife Yankı called Exploring Kodawari. On the podcast, they have conversations with each other and with guests about music, artistic excellence, psychology, philosophy, and various other topics. For the blog, Luke loves how writing helps to clarify thoughts and connect him more deeply to the meaning of life.