Luke Vandermyde

Luke Vandermyde comes from a small community about 50 miles southwest of Chicago called Braidwood, Illinois. He turned 16 this past August and is a junior at Reed-Custer High School. Luke began playing piano at age 6 and started using his talents in local competitions when he was 12. Luke has performed at the World Old Time Piano Music Competition in Peoria the past three years. Last summer he participated in the Scott Joplin Rag Festival in Sedalia, Missouri.

Luke has been blessed with a rare talent for playing the piano and he was further blessed with teachers who stressed that playing for and entertaining people were as important as advancing his skills as a pianist. He loves a crowd and will play for you as long as you are willing to listen. How did that desire to play get started? Luke heard his dad play the “Gladiolus Rag” in the basement on a broken down old upright one night and said, “Wow, if you can do that, so can I.”

Luke participates in many sports including football, wrestling and track. He plays saxophone in the high school band as well as piano in the jazz combo. He sings in the chorus and madrigals as well and he even picked up the church service in Braidwood when the regular piano player was unable to perform.