New alumna followed faith-filled journey to PFW and beyond

While walking her incredible journey from Boise, Idaho, to an Exemplar designation at Purdue University Fort Wayne, recent graduate Katherine Marx made it look like she was confidently following an original plan.

But she truly wasn’t; Marx had to release control and rely upon her faith for guidance, rarely knowing what to do next, but always praying for discernment. And she always found an answer. The path forward repeatedly presented itself, even the one she’ll follow next to one of the world’s most prestigious musical institutions.

A double major in flute and vocal performance, Marx fell in love with music and picked the flute at age 10, joining the school band. Music became her passion in high school.

But Marx gave that up after a dream showed her and her father burying her flute in their back yard. She decided to attend a ministry school in California after she said God was giving her permission to bury her musical dreams. The next night, she had another dream where she felt  God was giving her the ability to pick flute up again after her time in California, if she wanted.

“It gave me peace to know that I wasn’t missing something that God had for me because He was opening another door,” Marx said.

Three years later, in 2021, music came back as Marx auditioned for a scholarship to a small university.

“I see you have the flute, but are you a singer?” the director of music asked. “I can tell by your speaking voice that you are a singer. What are you going to sing for me today?”

Though she always loved singing, Marx was terrified and had never allowed anyone to hear her perform in that way. Desperately needing the scholarship, she prayed and felt the hymn “Be Thou My Vision” impressed upon her. After saying her selection, the man said, “What are you doing tomorrow at 6 p.m.? We are having an orientation event for incoming freshmen, we’re singing that song, and we need another vocalist.”  

Marx relaxed and sang the hymn in a couple of different keys. She then played a measure of her flute piece, and the director gave her the maximum scholarship to become a vocal performance major. She sang at the orientation, though she had never sung in public and wasn’t technically enrolled.

Soon after, Marx realized after six years how much she missed studying the flute, but there were no flute teachers in the area. She reached out to Bonita Boyd, professor of flute at the Eastman School of Music, who provided a list of potential teachers. Somehow, the name Luke Fitzpatrick at PFW stuck out to Marx, and he agreed to become her online teacher.

That summer, Fitzpatrick invited Marx to visit Eastman for a seminar he runs with Boyd, and Marx realized she had buried her flute in the dream so that in time it could sprout and grow. That’s when she felt the nudge to transfer to PFW where she could study directly with Fitzpatrick, a limited term lecturer in the School of Music.

Marx excelled at PFW, playing first chair in the flute section of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and serving as a substitute for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic while taking other playing opportunities.

“The people I have gotten to know have become very close friends, and I have loved all of my professors,” Marx said. “They have all invested in my life in a very real way. I think the hardest part about leaving PFW for me will be leaving the people, especially since I was only here for two short years. It feels like it’s too short, but at the same time, it’s exactly what I needed for my next step.”

And that next step includes three years studying under Boyd at Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York. Less than 6% percent of applicants are accepted into Eastman. Despite the low number of open spots, it is the only school Marx applied for.

Boyd accepted only one graduate student for next year—and it wasn’t Marx—but the school offered her a one-year artist diploma. That will provide her with an extra year of study at Eastman under Boyd before entering the graduate program.

“Pursuing music is not just me building my own kingdom,” Marx said. “Music is a God-given passion that glorifies Him. It just became clear that God had a plan that was better than my plan.”