Patricia Harden, Violinist

My name is Patricia Harden, and I am a high school senior and violinist. I play in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, and play chamber music and participate as Co–Concermaster at Temple Music Prep’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians. I previously played in Philadelphia Sinfonia and Settlement Music School's orchestra and chamber ensembles.

Outside of music, I do as much things there. Currently, I'm a member in Project 440’s Youth Advocacy Council, as well as being the youth representative on their Board of Directors. I also write, do art, and photography for my school newspaper: a frequent work is a spotlight on classical music. I also LOVE traveling.

In past summers, I have done music programs at the Mann Center, central PA, and Virginia. Recently, I have been part of a winter program: the Honors String Orchestra of the Honors Performance Series in Carnegie Hall. My college acceptances (for the moment) include University of Delaware and Albright College. I am still doing many other auditions, like West Chester University, as well as summer camps.

I have been grateful to have so many people looking out (and continuing to do so) for me in my life. And as a musician, I want my job to be to look out for them in any place I go. Having autism and ADHD (AuDHD for short) is complicated than it looks for someone who wants to be serious in music. But I plan to make it work, especially in college. 

Music was always a part of my family, and being a musician is my biggest dream. My sisters played the clarinet and violin but stopped once they reached high school. My great-grandfather played the accordion. At elementary school, I would always walk by the instrumental music room and be captivated by the sounds of string, woodwind, and brass instruments. I had a sound sensory issue when I was young, due to being diagnosed with autism and Asperger’s syndrome since I was 2.5 years old. So, sound was a huge obstacle that I had to overcome. It was so bad that I had to wear noise-canceling headphones during lunch and use medications. This prevented me from playing percussion instruments, and piano since that was not available at the time, even though I would like to play someday. Additionally, I couldn’t play brass or woodwind instruments due to asthma, another condition I have. That only left the strings. I had a choice between the viola and violin, but the viola was too big for me at the time. I chose the violin because of the feelings I got from its sound, despite it being loud as well. The violin made me feel safe and calm without the use of medication that I had to take due to hyper energy from autism and transferred it into music. I have a deep connection with the violin, as it was the only instrument that gave me gratifying content in my life. And with that, I hope to share this feeling with everyone I meet. My musical goal is to not only become a performer, but to use classical music to bring of sense of connection regardless of language, race, gender, or religion. Because music is a universal language, and I want to be one of the many people to not only teach it, but to utilize it in a positive way.