St. Luke’s ministry of music exists to enhance the worship of the church, to enable people to offer themselves in service to God, and to reach out to the wider community. The music program has always played a vital part in the life of St. Luke’s.In the past, the parish was known for The St. Luke’s Choristers, a Men and Boys Choir that flourished for over 60 years. Today, the church has a mixed-gender choir with professional-quality soloists and instrumentalists accompanied by an Austin pipe organ and/or piano.
Music at our Sunday liturgies is primarily classical and embraces the best of the Anglican choral tradition, but also includes music from many centuries and cultures. We are often joined by guest instrumentalists such as brass quartets, drums and chamber orchestras.
St. Luke’s outstanding acoustics make the church a favorite performance venue for local musical organizations, such as The Long Beach Chorale, Women of Note and The Long Beach Classical Guitar Society.
Music Staff
Georgia Atkins, InterimDirector of Music/Organist Victor Vento, Director of Music, Spanish
Megan Lyne has served as a soloist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Long Beach for the past 6 years. Megan received her Bachelors Degree in 2007 from Carthage College (Kenosha, WI) where she earned her degree in Voice Performance and studied with Dr. Richard Sjoerdsma, editor of the National Journal of Singing. During her four years there she enjoyed performing roles such as Depsina in Cosi fan tutte, Monica in The Medium, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and Angelina in Trial By Jury. Megan studied for her Masters Degree at the Bob Cole Conservatory, California State University, Long Beach in Opera Performance where she studied with Shigemi Matsumoto. While completing her degree at the Cole Conservatory, Megan performed as Servilia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Megan also had the honor of winning the Cole Conservatory Concerto Competition and performed Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the University Orchestra. In addition to Megan’s operatic interests, she also enjoys the world of Musical Theater, both in performing and teaching. Megan performed during the summer of 2010 at the Redlands Bowl as Marian in a production of The Music Man. She has directed numerous children’s theater shows including Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, 42nd Street, Charlotte's Web, and Annie. Megan is proud to have touched the artistic lives of hundreds of children since she began teaching 14 years ago and has been blessed to work with privately trained students in her own studio. Megan currently is working as a sales representative for My Saint My Hero, a faith-based jewelry company located in San Pedro, CA.
Rebecca Hasquetholds a Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. At CSULB, Rebecca was a student of Brian Farrell and the soprano section leader of the Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Talberg. She was also a member of the Opera Institute: performaces include Mozart's Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (Marcellina), as well as scenes from Puccini's La Rondine (Magda de Civry) and Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier (The Marschallin). Campus highlights include being a soloist for BCCM's Celebrating Music of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor, performing with the live and virtual choir at the TED Conference 2013 for composer Eric Whitacre, as well as singing a sold-out performance with the Rolling Stones for the opening night of their “50 and Counting” tour at The Staples Center in Los Angeles. Prior to CSULB, Rebecca was a soprano in the Santa Clarita Master Chorale directed by Allan Petker, as well as a member of Lori Marie Rios' Chamber Choir at College of the Canyons. During the entirety of her undergraduate studies, she was a staff singer at Idyllwild Arts Academy, working as a section leader for the Summer Festival Choir. Through this program, she has had the opportunity to perform such pieces as Bach's Mass in B minor and Morten Lauridson's Lux Aeterna at prestigious venues like UCLA's Royce Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Rebecca is currently a staff singer with Pacific Chorale, provides vocal coaching at Canyon High School in Anaheim, and creates commissioned music arrangements and transcriptions in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.
Harlee Balajadia is currently completing his Bachelor Degrees of Music in Vocal Performance and Choral / Vocal Music Education at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. He is a student of Timothy MacDougall and has had the opportunity to sing in Masterclasses of Nina Edwards and Roberta Alexander. Aside from his Personal Voice Studies, he is currently the Tenor Section Leader of the Bob Cole Chamber Choir he is under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Talberg. He serves also as the Choral/Vocal/Opera Assistant. He is also a member of Pacific Standard Time under the direction of Christine Guter. He is very excited to begin his work at the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Community as the Tenor Section Leader.
Malek Sammour is a Senior at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach studying Voice Performance (BM), and he is currently a student of Timothy MacDougall. Malek has sung in ensembles such as the BCCM Chamber Choir, the CSULB University Choir, the BCCM Opera Institute, and the jazz choir “Jazz n’ Tonic”. This past summer he attended the Songfest L.A. 2018 Young Artist Program as well as the Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute at Aspen Music Festival. Recent performances include the Baritone solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Celebrating Music 2018, “A Bernstein Recital of Songs” hosted by Jamie Bernstein, and the roles of Pangloss and Voltaire in the BCCM Opera Institute’s production of Candide. Malek is very excited for his first season at St. Luke’s.
