Rector and Staff

Rector

St. Luke’s is currently searching for a new priest to lead our faithful and active community. The posting should be up by mid June. We look forward to whoever God is calling to join us.

Francisco Fernandez – Director of Music

Mexican conductor and pianist, Francisco Fernandez is passionate about sharing the gift of music with audiences around the world. He has an active international career as an orchestral and choral conductor, concert pianist, chamber musician, and church music minister. In 2020, he made his conducting debut at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan conducting the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as a conductor and soloist in Latin America and the United States at multiple international festivals. Francisco holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in piano performance from The Boston Conservatory.

Since 2011, he has performed in a cello-piano duo with his wife, cellist Taide Prieto, comprising Duo of Hope. Their career as a chamber group has taken them across Latin-America, the United States and Europe. As an avid educator, Francisco served as an adjunct piano professor at the University of Science and Arts of Chiapas in Mexico and has been invited to teach masterclasses at numerous institutions across Mexico and Peru. Recently, he served as a Lecturer of Music teaching orchestral conducting at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

As a church music minister, he has worked with churches of various denominations: Presbyterian, Lutheran, Congregational – United Church of Christ, Christan Science, Seventh-day Adventist, and now Episcopal. His aim is to be in the constant and unattainable search for excellence, in the concert hall, but especially in a church setting, as “we make music primarily to honor and worship God, and to God we should always offer our absolute best”.

Francisco is a doctoral student in orchestral conducting at the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth Adie Thompson – Parish Administrator

Elizabeth is an Ypsilanti resident and a long-time member of St. Luke’s. She also works as a life coach, teaches as a health educator for the Diabetes Prevention Program, and serves on the Washtenaw County Commission on Aging and the State Advisory Council on Aging.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Ypsilanti, MI

All are welcome!

Rector and Staff

Rector

Francisco Fernandez – Director of Music

Elizabeth Adie Thompson – Parish Administrator