Luke Howard is an Australian composer and pianist, who plays in the Luke Howard Trio. Three of his albums have been ARIA-nominated. He also works as a record producer.
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Early life and education
A piano student growing up in Melbourne, he was encouraged to develop his first improvisations by his piano teacher, Nehama Patkin. Later, he studied at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Career
Howard composes music and plays the piano in the Luke Howard Trio with Jonathan Zion (bass) and Daniel Farrugia (drums).
His album The Sand That Ate the Sea saw him nominated for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019. It is the soundtrack of a film by Matthew Thorne that looks at the opal mining town Andamooka, South Australia.
Howard has collaborated with the Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nunes, composing scores for companies including American Ballet Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet and The Royal Ballet. His score for Interlinked, a Nunes ballet originally commissioned as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival, was performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on 30 June 2024, the company's first appearance at the festival. A recording of the score was released by Mercury KX in October 2024. A second Nunes collaboration, Have We Met?!, was given its world premiere by American Ballet Theatre at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on 29 October 2025.
Howard has also worked as a record producer. He was involved in completing Lost at Sea (2023), the debut album by Rob Grant, the father of Lana Del Rey, who sings on two of its tracks; the album was edited and finished from Grant's piano improvisations by Howard and Jack Antonoff and released by Decca Records. In 2026 he co-produced, with François Tétaz, the covers EP Way of the World by the Australian singer Tina Arena, recorded in Melbourne.
Awards and nominations
ARIA Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.
Music Victoria Awards
The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.