The music was all about the variety of the melody at Amber Summers’s senior clarinet recital performed at the Fine Arts Sunday, Feb. 19.

Summers’s performance pieces varied from the peaceful and meditational “Romance” by German virtuoso Jean Becker to the quirky sounds of “Fish Phase” by 20th century American composer John Steinmetz to the invigorating “Irish Scherzo” by Howard Ferguson.

“I’ve put a lot of hours into this,” said Summers. “At least 20 hours a week, starting out with just ‘Fish Phase’.”

“Fish Phase” has caught the attention of many for its interesting simple patterns that one would not usually associate with music. “I enjoyed “Fish Phase” because it was so unusual, and I found it rhythmically interesting,” said Dr. Elaine Harriss, Piano Music professor.

“I thought it was very cute,” said Latasha Thomas, a Music Education major. “It was funny but in a musical sense it was great.”

Like any human being, Summers had to go through many bumps on her way to perfection, but her strong character kept her moving on. “Of course everybody is going to mess up, but you learn to just jump right back in there,” said Summers.

Because of its simple pattern, “Fish Phase” was Summers’s beginning piece from which she continued on to more complicated works. Summers is performing in the Wind Ensemble and is a member of University Singers. She is planning on graduating by December of 2006 with a degree in Music Education, specializing in clarinet.

The next concert sponosred by the music department is Steve Houghton and the Caixa Trio on Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Fine Arts.For more information on upcoming recitals, you can check out UTM Campus Calendaers, which are located on at www.utm.edu. You can also find more about the department at http://www.utm.edu/departments/finearts/music/