Lucas Tappan graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, in 2004, earning degrees in Theology and Music and studying the organ under Fr. Blaine Schultz, O.S.B. and Ruth Krusemark.  He earned his Master of Music in Church Music (organ performance) in 2009 from the University of Kansas and in 2014 completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Church Music (choral conducting) from the same institution.  His teachers there included Michael Bauer (organ),James Higdon (organ) and Paul Tucker (choral conducting).

     In 2008 he arrived at Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Topeka, KS, and in 2011 founded the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum, an after school choir program in the tradition of the European Cathedral Choir School.  In 2012 he was privileged to spend six weeks observing the training of choristers at the Madeleine Choir School at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah, an experience that has greatly shaped the way he trains choristers.

     The Gentlemen and Children of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum released their first CD in November 2014.  In January of 2016, they will travel to Rome to sing at St. Peter’s Basilica, joining the Sistine Chapel Choir along side several other children’s choir from the Americas and Europe for the first Children’s Festival for Epiphany, sponsored by the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra.

     Lucas Tappan lives in Topeka, KS, with his wife, Katie, and two sons.  He also blogs at Views From the Choir Loft (http://www.ccwatershed.org/?page=2).