Spend much time with Ethan Farnam, 8, and you’ll soon realize that with his precocious sense of humor and abundance of energy, he’s tough to keep in one place for long.
At the piano, his legs dangle far above the pedals and his hands can’t stretch to reach a full octave yet, but his fingers move with a seriousness and dexterity that belies his age and normal rambunctiousness, said Andrea Exum, Ethan’s instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Cadek Music Conservatory.
“From the moment he plays, he’s focused and serious, and then he stands up and he’s totally wild and crazy again,” she said. “He’s totally different.”
With about a dozen recitals under his belt, Ethan has had plenty of experience playing in front of groups. He has polished intermediate-level material for these performances, but he said he still gets nervous onstage.
“I always get the snakes,” he said (his substitute for nervous butterflies). “They’re … the same thing, pretty much, but more deadly. (Then) I just start playing, and it goes away.”