When Jimmie Lee Farmer belts out a tune, her soprano voice fills the room.
The lake resident was thrust into a singing career after her first solo performance during church one Sunday.
“My heart started beating out of my chest and I thought ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,’” she said.
From being a member of the New York City Opera to her studies in Italy, that is just what Farmer has done. Touring the states and abroad, she built a reputation as an accomplished vocalist.
Farmer was born in “new” Linn Creek in 1932.
As a child, music was an important part of growing up in the Farmer household.
“I had my first piano lesson before I was 5 years old. I didn’t really like to practice, so I would pluck and my mother came in with a hickory stick and put it on the piano,” she recalled. “I learned to practice really good because it hurt.”
From 1960 to 1970, it was her profession. She toured 38 states singing the role of Carmen, was involved in the arts in New York and studied in Europe for five years.
During that time, her stage name was Elisabeth Farmer, a family name that was changed following the advice of her agent.
“My agent told me ‘It’s okay for Nashville, but you are going to sing opera. I sang under Elisabeth Farmer and I never got used to it. People at home never knew me by that name.”
After retiring from the industry in 1973, Farmer didn’t take the stage very often. Although she is active in her church choir,  audiences rarely get the chance to see her live solo  act.
The full-time real estate appraiser says it takes many hard hours of rehearsal and study.
“When you work every day, it’s hard to get it going, but we decided to set aside some time and do it,” she said.
For the first time since 2002, Farmer will present a solo performance during a concert this weekend.
Accompanying her on piano and organ, Robert Johnson has been helping Farmer get back on her feet during several weekly rehearsals.
Out of a list of 50 songs, Johnson helped narrow down the choices until they came up with a 40-minute compilation of secular and patriotic songs.
“The songs have a special meaning to me. It’s a joy to sing. In my heart, I am singing all the time.”
Contact this reporter at charisp@lakesunleader.com

Soloist’s credentials span the country, Europe

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Community Christian Church on North Route 5 in Camdenton. It is free and open to the public.
Foster has an extensive music background. She received a master’s degree in vocal music from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., and had training in several European cities.
During her career in New York City, she was a member of the New York City Opera Company, sang in the choir at Norman Vincent Peal’s Collegiate Marble Church, was a soloist at the Sinai Jewish Temple of the Bronx and appeared as a solo performer at Carnegie Hall, New York Philharmonic Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.