JACKIE LUKE
 New Zealand born musician, Jackie Luke is Australia's leading exponent of the Hammered Dulcimer. Initially trained in piano and violoncello, she went on to complete a BA at Victoria University, Wellington, and a Diploma of Teaching, Christchurch Teachers College. Jackie worked as a secondary school music teacher in New Zealand, teaching for two years in South Canterbury.
  She left her homeland in 1979 with just a backpack and a guitar, travelling through Greece, Italy, and France, eventually settling in London for two years. By chance she landed a job working at the English Folk Dance & Song Society and it was there that she developed a love of traditional music, playing regularly in sessions around London, and performed with a music/poetry group, Bernard and the Bulldozers in folk clubs and acoustic music venues.
  Eventually the call to home was too great, and in the early 1980s she returned to the Antipodes and put down roots in Sydney, Australia. A vibrant world music scene was emerging in Sydney at that time and she was involved in a diverse range of ensembles which included playing cello in the Greek band Free Besieged, French dance music in Cotillion, and Hammered Dulcimer in Rezeda Hungarian band. She also maintained an interest in Anglo Celtic music, joined a bush band, and was a member of enormously popular Old Empire Band which met to play English country dance music throughout Australia.
Jackie bought her first Hammered Dulcimer from Australian Dulcimer maker Gillian Alcock in 1985 and has never looked back!
  She has been prime mover in two prestigious groups, Mattawa, and The Fourth Realm (formerly Fellowship of the Strings) , the latter recently touring Italy to perform at the Ferrara Buskers Festival.
  She currently plays with the highly regarded duo Springtide with husband Greg Wilson. In 2005 a rekindled interest in songwriting led to the penning of Peace Flowers a song of reconciliation which she performed with Springtide at the 8th International Yang Ch'in Congress, Beijing in that year. She has recently written a song, River of Tears based on the Maori legend of Mt Taranaki and Mt Tongariro. The song was placed 2nd in the Folk Category of the Pacific Songwriting Contest , and was a Top 5 finalist in the 2008 MusicOz awards.
  Working for almost two decades as a music librarian at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has also given her a solid backgound in the area or musical research. In 2007 Jackie looks forward to another decade of writing, performing, and teaching the music which is closest to her heart
Photos: Lyndel Wilson .