Music

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, Interim  Director of Music & Organist
Victor Vento,  Director of Music, Español

SECTION LEADERS: 
Rebecca Hasquet, Soprano 
Blair Webb, Alto 
Harlee Balajadia, Tenor 
Malek Sammour, Bass

CONTACT
 Email: office@stlukeslb.org
Phone: (562) 436-4047

About Our Section Leaders:

Rebecca Hasquet holds 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.

Blair Webb (they/them) is a classically trained vocalist with experience in opera, art song, musical theatre, rock, pop and experimental vocals. In 2019, Blair sang in the chorus for Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. A recording of this performance will be released by classical music label Deutsche Gramophone. Blair also sang backup for cross-genre artist Sarah Brightman on Sarah’s 2019 Hymn tour through Southern California. Blair received a BM in Operatic Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach. While in school, they sang with nationally renowned choirs including the Riverside City College Chamber Singers and the Bob Cole Chamber Singers. They have performed the role of First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, covered Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and sang Chorus for Onegin, Madama Butterfly, Le Nozze di Figaro and various other operatic productions.

They have been training in voice for over 15 year with various teachers including Brian Farrell, Fred Carama, and Rebecca Tomlinson. In addition to voice, Blair has studied clarinet, ukulele, and piano. They currently teach piano, ukulele, and voice at Huntington Beach School of Music. They sing with the Pacific Chorale and gig in LA county with original music. Blair has a multitude of creative business ventures including writing, crochet design and jewelry making.

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. After having been away from church for a while, we came to St. Luke’s seeking God, to grow our family, & gain friends. We believe in the ministries & programs that St. Luke’s supports, and so, we continue to pledge to help support those ministries & programs. We hope you will join us. 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.