Senior Spotlight: AJ Farkas, Clarinet
Miranda Martin Southwood
What is your current AYPO orchestra and ensemble?
AYP
What AYPO ensembles have you played in and for how long?
AYCO for one season, AYSO for one season, and AYP for this last season!
Your advice for young musicians?
Make sure you have joy when you play! Do what you love most and never stress too hard, and even in strenuous times, make sure you’re doing some fun stuff on your instrument too.
What college/university do you plan on attending this fall?
University of Virginia, Mathematics
A favorite, or memorable AYPO experience?
In AYCO, I printed out name tags that, instead of having our names and instruments all said: “JD Anderson - Conductor.” We planned for a few weeks and it was hilarious, but then Mr. Anderson just thought all of our name tags were flipped backwards and he didn’t realize our elaborate scheme!! Still, it was a hilarious time and we still played very seriously during the rehearsal, but it made me that much closer with the winds section as a whole.
What do you hope to do after graduation or your more long-term goals?
I’m not quite sure, but I know in college I’m going to join the marching band and any symphony orchestras I can, depending on how much time I have with my math major.
What musician, conductor, or orchestra inspires you and why?
Of course, I have to give a shout out to Trevor Mowry, our amazing woodwinds coach in AYPO. He showed me just how high our musical ceilings really were, while going along with my motto of having fun. We’d get in a zoom, he’d laugh at my zoom background (it was a funny picture of him i found online), then proceeded to give us some mind blowing tips about our instruments. We always have a good time, and despite being in the top of the top of the music world, he keeps it fun!