CityView Magazine

28 October 2023 "Get it out and I'll show you," her mother said. "She opened up the case, and that was it. I saw that rickety old violin and I fell in love," says Randolyn. "I still have it." Randolyn was a natural fit like a bow to a violin. Her mother dreaded the awful sounds that usually come from someone learning to play the violin, but that never happened. "You never squawked," her mother said. Before there was a music program at Randolyn's elementary school, her teacher put on vinyl records for the children to listen to during music time. One day, the teacher put on Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Randolyn played an air violin, and time I had a chance to take private lessons. Until then, I learned in public school," says Randolyn. "I loved music. My goal was to be a professional Symphony musician, so that was my major. I graduated from the University of Utah. I auditioned for the Utah symphony but, due to politics at the time, it didn't work out." But Randolyn had a new and expensive violin to pay for. "at's where the term 'starving artist' comes in. So many of us have to figure out how to support ourselves and hopefully do music part time." Randolyn found an entry-level job with a law firm to support herself and worked her way up to become office administrator while she pursued a music career. The viola player's son Paul Emerson was born in Pensacola, Florida. His family moved to the Raleigh- Durham area when he was 6. "My dad's company was the first one of its kind out of Research Triangle Park," says Paul. e first time he visited Fayetteville, Paul was on a swim team that competed at the historic William Lee Field House on what was then Fort Bragg. He says everyone in the Raleigh and Cary area had been supportive, but people in Fayetteville, especially, appreciated good music. With blue eyes like a Carolina sky and a voice so as tissue, he is quick to tell you that raising two boys turned his hair white. "I was raised with music in my household. My father loved classical music. He was a very good pianist, and my mother sang." His father started teaching Paul to play piano when he was young and would take him to classical concerts at N.C. State University. "Oh my, they had world-class musicians coming in. You'd hear these artists, and it was like, 'Oh my goodness!'" When Fayetteville got a classical music radio station, his father would tune in at their house. His dad played viola with the Pensacola Symphony and taught Paul to play. "For me, the viola was a great fit. I know some people start on the violin and go to viola. I started with viola and have been on it the whole time." several classmates joined in. "I started at first, and then there were five or six joining in. We were pretending to play the music. Someone was doing the trumpets and some the French horns, and I was doing the violin and all the runs," she says with a smile recalling the sweet memory. Not long aer, the school added a music curriculum. You can guess which instrument Randolyn chose to play. "So, when they started the music program in my elementary school, I was enchanted." Randolyn played violin, and she was always the concertmaster. "at means first violin. I played the solo in the Christmas concert in sixth grade. We then moved to California. at was the first The string instrumentalists are serious musicians, but playing around occasionally provides a laugh.

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