Classical singer performs benefit Friday

Flathead Valley native Katie Maker-Martin, a cancer survivor and accomplished classical singer, returns to perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell.

“I’m giving a voice recital,” Maker-Martin said.

Admission is free but donations are encouraged to benefit the scholarship fund of the Kalispell Area Music Teachers Association.

Martin, a beneficiary of the music teachers association, said she was invited to town to adjudicate the group’s fall vocal festival on Saturday.

The daughter of Russell Elementary School music teacher Francie Lipp, Maker-Martin was featured in the Daily Inter Lake in 2008 when she performed as a thank-you to the community and to raise money for her tuition to the master’s program in vocal performance at the University of Southern California.

In the year preceding that concert, she had graduated from the University of Montana, married Sam Martin and fought off stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The couple celebrated their third anniversary this summer.

“I get regular check-ups and I’ve been in real good health with no long-term side effects,” Maker-Martin said.

Her cancer was discovered just after she received her undergraduate degree and was planning her wedding. Even though radiation treatments caused her to lose her hair, she went forward with the wedding and within a year was accepted at the University of Southern California.

Known as the Juilliard of the West Coast, the prestigious institution admits only 6 percent of applicants.

“I just finished my master’s in May of 2010 and I’m applying to doctoral programs in vocal performance around the country,” she said. “I’d like to pursue a career in teaching and performing. It’s hard work but I really love doing it.”

Maker-Martin said her recital will feature works from Mozart, Spanish songs, a Schubert piece for piano and clarinet, French cabaret, American Aria and songs from contemporary composer Lori Laitman. “I had a chance to meet her this summer,” Maker-Martin said.

She said the teacher’s association sponsored her attendance at that event so it was appropriate that she sing some of Laitman’s work. Her musical accompanists include pianists Maryruth Fallon and Judy Doxtater and clarinetist Dinah Weimer.

Maker-Martin now lives in California with her husband, Sam, the son of Dr. Irene Martin, a former Flathead Valley physician. Sam works as a finish carpenter apprentice in Los Angeles.

“He’s a hands-on guy,” Maker-Martin said. “He’s now making me a music stand.”

First Presbyterian Church, the site of the 7 p.m. Friday concert, is located at 540 Main St. in Kalispell.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com