Linda Farmer may have had a cold during her performance, but she played as though she was completely healthy and nothing could stand in her way.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, Farmer performed her senior flute recital in the Harriet Fulton Theatre. She has had a cold for a week, which made practicing and performing a little more difficult.

Farmer has been in serious preparation for this recital since early this summer. Though most of the pieces were ones she has played before, she said that she... “Wanted to make sure each piece was still in performance shape and try to make them even better than before.” When asked how she thought the performance went she said “I felt really good about the recital. I enjoyed playing the music, and I think that the audience responded well to it. I thought I would be nervous, but when the time came, I was able to concentrate on delivering the music’s message to the audience. I was happy to have so many of my family and friends in attendance.”

Farmer is double majoring in Piano Pedagogy and Secondary Math Education. She has been playing the flute for ten years, the piano for fourteen years, and also plays the organ. “Piano is definitely my favorite. It was my first instrument, so I feel much more secure on it.

Also, you can get so much sound from a piano and have many notes available at one time. There is an enormous amount of wonderful piano music to learn.” Playing more than one instrument is quite a skill, but she manages to accomplish such a feat. “It is hard to find time to practice both like they require to maintain and improve my skills. I had to play less on the piano while preparing for this recital.”

When asking her what she loved the most about the flute she said that “I love the beautiful sound that you can get on a flute; it’s such a lyrical instrument. It’s also fun to play the technical parts of a piece.”

Dr. Elaine Harriss accompanied Farmer on the piano during her recital. Dr. Harriss has been Farmer’s professor in both flute and piano since Farmer has attended UTM. Farmer said that “Dr. Harriss is such a great help to me. I have really learned a lot from her throughout college and greatly appreciate that she accompanied me on this recital. She is always concerned with helping me give a better performance technically and musically.” She continued by commenting that, “Music is such a great major because you get to actively collaborate with professors who have so much musical experience to share.”

On campus, Farmer is involved in piano ensemble, flute choir, wind ensemble, and is the accompanist for the New Pacer Singers. In addition she is in University Scholars. Off campus, she is active in her church where she plays the organ and works with children’s music.

Farmer has yet another recital to perform, but this time on piano.

The recital will take place on March 23. She is already seriously preparing for her piano recital. The twist to the piano is that each piece must be memorized for performance, but Farmer is already ahead of the game by having some music already picked out for the program.

Farmer intends to always play piano and flute. She is currently giving piano lessons to students and hopes to continue teaching music to some degree throughout her life. “I know I will always enjoy the stimulus and comfort that music provides.”