About Mamie Farish

Although born in Albuquerque New Mexico, Mamie’s family moved away when she was just 2 years old, finally settling in the small town of Owensboro Kentucky. Surrounded by music - her mother sang and her father played guitar at family gatherings - she began piano lessons at age 12 with Mrs. Sara Wheat. Mamie fondly remembers an old-fashioned soda machine on Mrs. Wheat’s front porch where for five-cents, students could buy their favorite drink after their lessons. Mamie continued with Mrs. Wheat until she began college. After only three years, she received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Elementary Education and Special Education from Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky. She taught at an elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky for four years. In 1980 she married her high-school sweetheart Tom. They moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked in public relations at a local hospital. In Boston, she studied jazz piano with Earl Pennington, author of Improvising on the Keyboard. In 1988 Tom and Mamie moved to Los Alamos, where they raised their four children.

During the next 22 years it was the Farish children who played the piano. Mamie rarely joined in, due to the hustle-and-bustle of keeping up with her children’s sports, music, and school activities. She thought her days of playing piano were over.  But life took an unexpected twist: In 2011, Dr. Marcus Calvacante introduced Mamie to Mary Bruschini, a New York jazz performer and a piano and vocalist teacher at Northern New Mexico College.   Mary believed that Mamie could and should play piano again.  In 2016 Mamie  received her B.A. in Music Performance from Northern New Mexico College. She has opened her own piano studio in White Rock, NM, offering lessons to beginner piano students of all ages.  Presently she continues to gig with other musicians,  and is substitute teaching in the music classes at LAPS mid- and elementary schools. She is committed to supporting her local school, church, community music programs. She is glad to tickle the ivories once again. Like Louis Armstrong said, “What we play is life.”