I have been involved with the Philharmonic Association for nine years. Both my children are musicians and have had the excellent experience of sitting in the orchestras and playing beautiful music. Because of my children's involvement I have volunteered in many different ways for the Philharmonic Association. One of the most rewarding volunteer jobs I have taken on is helping out at auditions. If you have never auditioned, you would be amazed at how stressful this process can be. The Philharmonic Association is aware of this and tries to make the audition experience positive for all children. It starts with information that Mr. Partridge (conductor of TYP) has written that goes out to the musicians on how to audition. The musicians know what is expected from them and what to expect once they arrive at the audition. The association goes to great lengths to assign days and times of auditions so the musicians are not sitting waiting their turn. The auditions are blind, this makes the auditions as fair as possible. The musicians are each assigned to an adult volunteer who walks them to their audition room and answers any questions that come up and then walks them back to their parent. My children have felt having an adult with them takes some of the pressure off and is reassuring having someone to answer questions and make sure all goes smoothly.
The Philharmonic Association has given my children a love for symphonic music they could not have gotten any where else in Wake County.  One of my joys is when hearing a piece on the radio and one of my children says, “I’ve played that”. It is something they will always have with them and I can't thank Philharmonic Association enough!