This is a new column that I hope will inspire Murfreesboro’s finest?young adults who have a positive attitude, an upbeat character and personality and a love for their town. Our media today is set on glorifying the ills and the negatives of today’s teens and college students, but it is not difficult to find great young people.
I knew several weeks ago, in watching a rehearsal for a play I was covering, who my first subject would be for this column.
Luke Quarto turned 19 on May 30, while he was in the musical Godspell at the Center for the Arts. Having spent the first half of his life in Green Bay, Wis., his family moved to the ’Boro when he was 9, when his dad landed a Professor of Psychology job at MTSU. His mom, a music teacher at Rockvale, and his 12-year-old sister Michelle complete this family.
Luke considers English an art and is quite eloquent. A graduate of Riverdale this past June, writing, poetry and songwriting are a few of his hobbies. He ran cross-county his senior year and played in the school’s marching band all four years. He can play?get this?the piano, snare drums, saxophone, tuba, flute and bass. He was playing guitar in church at 14. He attends St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church with his family and sometimes goes to World Outreach Church with his friends. As a sophomore, he watched his friends put on Beauty and the Beast. To his amazement, he found he could sing and act onstage as well. Luke will be playing saxophone with UT’s Pride of the Southland Marching Band this fall, he will leave for Knoxville around Aug. 4. Although he has just graduated, he has already taken 9 music classes and 2 English courses at MTSU. His voice teacher, Tiffany Sweeley, expects him to be quite a performer. His English teacher, Dr. White, called Luke “unique,” someone his peers looked up to for help. His band director called him a good leader with great musical abilities.
He had to think hard before answering where he wanted to be in 10 years. “I want to be Jekyll in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway. I also want the experience of ultimate diversification of an actor,” the young man said.
He says people should break out of their mold.
“Don’t get 10 years down the road and look back on what you could have done, but didn’t,” is advice from a teacher and a code he lives by.
Luke’s gifts and talents will take this young man very far and I’m sure he will continue to make Murfreesboro proud.
Comments welcome at spukhuntr2003@yahoo.com
