The Past, Present, and Future of The Disciples

The Disciples, Lawrenceville’s student-led rock band, performed at School Meeting this past Thursday. Since its origin, the band has sought to “make people happy even when they are stressed out,” according to Luke De Cresce ’18, Disciples Co-Founder. “We just wanted to bring unexpected surprises to [School Meetings],” he added. In fact, the group did not establish a band name until after their first School Meeting performance. “I remember someone asked us what our name was, and I was just kinda like, ‘George Michael's Disciples,’” he noted. Over time, the group name evolved to ‘The Disciples’. After his time at Lawrenceville, Cresce played in a band alongside fellow Disciples Co-Founder Chris Santaman ’18 at the University of Virginia. Now, Cresce is the guitarist of an Indie Band based in Washington DC called the Montaines, as he has furthered his high school passion into a career. 

The current Disciples members have drawn inspiration from their predecessors. Christine Wu ’25 has always dreamed of being part of a band. “When applying to Lawrenceville, I saw sick videos of student performances at the Kirby Music Festival,” she explained, “I just thought it’d be so cool to be part of that.” Even before becoming a part of the Disciples, music was an integral part of Wu’s life. “I played piano, violin, flute, [and I] sang and danced. I got a ukulele two years ago, an electric guitar this summer, and I still want to learn drumming,” she expanded. The Disciples’ influence on Wu extends far beyond music. “Disciples is a family of young and talented artists trying to spread vitality on campus,” she noted. This year, as a returning member of the band, Wu looks forward to leading and helping shape “a renewed and even better version of The Disciples.”

Likewise, Simona Audzeviciute ’26, the bass player of the group, shares Wu’s enthusiasm and technical prowess for music. “I graduated from a music school before I came to Lawrenceville,” she described. “Joining the band has been an incredibly fun experience,” she added, “It is now becoming a safe place for all of us to just get together and play music, or even just talk.” While Audzeviciute expressed mainly positive sentiments regarding the band, she equally acknowledged obstacles on the journey. “Sometimes it’s hard to come to cohesive terms, either when it comes to finding a time to meet or choosing a song to play…it’s hard to take everyone’s music tastes [and skill level] into consideration.” Audzeviciute looks forward to uniting “the School community with live music.” On a more personal level, she hopes to “learn guitar, continue practicing drums, and just have fun.”

Similar to Wu and Audzeviciute, Ryan Bian ’25 describes the Disciples as “a group of friends producing music.” Prior to joining the group, Bian performed at the Kirby Music Festival, after which Gray Devine ’25, the Disciples guitarist , reached out to Bian and invited him to audition. What makes the band so special to Bian is the people: “They’re all my friends, which makes the atmosphere of the band really loose and fun—and that’s just important [when]playing music.” For Bian, music is his preferred way to “destress and just be [himself], whether it’s by listening to music or playing an instrument.” As such, he hopes to continue playing and making music in the future, even beyond Lawrenceville. He went so far as to say,  “Maybe if college doesn’t work out, I’ll go join a professional band and go on world tours.” For now, his more immediate goals include “getting more performance opportunities.” Specifically, Bian notes that “the Disciples is planning something big in the spring, and that’ll hopefully be hype for everyone.”

Make sure to show up and bring your energy to Lawrenceville's favorite band—with a big surprise coming soon!