Sussex-born recorder player Luca J. Imperiale is a third-year undergraduate currently studying at the Royal College of Music, London. An enthusiast for historical performance, Luca studies recorder under Professor Ashley Solomon as a distinguished Victor and Lilian Hochhauser Scholar. He also receives frequent tuition and coaching from many other prominent historical performance practitioners such as Maria Martinez Ayerza, Sarah Jeffery, and Tabea Debus, amongst others.

Championing music new and old, Luca has premiered many new compositions written by his fellow RCM colleagues. This includes a new recorder concerto dedicated to him in an ongoing collaboration with composer Thomas Shorthouse. Luca will debut as the concerto’s soloist alongside the Horsham Symphony Orchestra in March 2025. In the world of early music, Luca was the 2024 winner of the RCM Historical Performance Competition and one of the (Spring) 2024 RCM Concerto Competition winners; culminating in a performance with the RCM Baroque Orchestra of Telemann’s Double Concerto for Recorder and Gamba with Isabel Esain-Garcia (gamba) at the RCM’s Amaryllis Fleming

Concert Hall.

As a concert performer and chamber musician, Luca has been invited to perform at a number of prestigious venues, such as the Handel-Hendrix House, London and at the King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, as well as appearing in the Horsham Music Circle’s 82nd concert series, for whom he now frequently writes reviews for. Other recent projects of interest include recording music for the Curtas Film Festival and performing in multiple public masterclasses given most notably by Han Tol, Vittorio Ghielm, and Bolette Roed.

Luca currently studies conducting under Dominic Grier and outside of College frequently conducts the West Sussex County Youth Orchestra. He works alongside and conducts the Horsham Symphony Orchestra, being appointed as student conductor for their 2024-2025 season, under the guidance of Steve Dummer their principal conductor. Luca is also the founder and director of the ‘Causeway Chamber Orchestra’ (based in Horsham) and their London sister-orchestra, the ‘Da Capo Sinfonia’: groups both dedicated to highlighting the lesser-played works of the Enlightenment era — with the Causeway Chamber Orchestra’s next concert at the end of March set to highlight the music and legacy of the Bach family.

During his spare time, Luca also works as a woodwind specialist for the various West Sussex County Youth Orchestras and beginner ensembles as well as working as a

visiting music teacher, teaching music at schools across the Horsham area.