As a freelance orchestral musician, Spence can be heard performing with ensembles including the National Philharmonic, Fairfax Symphony, Lancaster Symphony, Reading Symphony, Mid-Atlantic Symphony, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra, Washington Opera Society, and The New Orchestra of Washington. Outside of mainstream classical music, Spence has performed with Baltimore and Washington D.C. theatre companies, toured with the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra, played on period instruments with the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, and premiered works by living composers with groups such as Stage Free and the District New Music Coalition. In recent years he has performed at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center, toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and China, and was a featured soloist with the Washington Sinfonietta.
In addition to teaching at Frostburg and Frederick, Dr. Spence is the Director of the Young Artists of America Trumpet Academy, a week-long intensive program for 6th-12th grade students in Olney, MD. He manages a large virtual private studio with students from coast to coast and is in demand as a clinician, having presented masterclasses at institutions such as the University of Akron and Towson University. In 2020, he created and served as director for a new brass ensemble and repertoire course at the University of Maryland School of Music, which continues to thrive and grow today. This summer, Dr. Spence will serve as a judge for the Susan Slaughter Solo Competition at International Women’s Brass Conference in Denton, TX.
Spence earned his DMA and MM at the University of Maryland where he studied with Chris Gekker and holds a BM with a minor in musicology from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Roy Poper and was the recipient of the 2014 James Stamp Award. For more information on Dr. Spence please visit www.lukespencetrumpet.com.