“I want to play the violin, the violin mom!” Three year old Audrey Lund exclaims.

As a child, Lund was pushed incessantly toward music. Not just as a hobby, but as a lifestyle. It is impossible to know exactly why she chose the violin over other instruments, but it is blatantly obvious that it was the right one.

In the Lund household it is common place to hear the sound of bow on strings, even from the youngest member of the family. From the time she could walk and more or less coherently talk, Audrey Lund knew that her calling was the violin. Now that she is 17, this dream has become a reality.

However, talent like this does not simply happen. Of course there are those who have a natural affinity toward the musical arts, but even so it is something that must be worked at. Her work has at last been awarded, as this year she has been nominated for the Sterling Scholar award in music.

Lund practices every morning for an hour as well as an hour every night whenever possible. Homework and other obligations occasionally get in the way, as to be expected from an honors student.

“I also attend two hour orchestra rehearsals on Monday, and have one hour lessons on Tuesday,” Lund said.

Being so talented, there are of course some things that set her back. Lund explained that her greatest challenge is that she gets nervous when playing during concerts, despite the fact that she lives and breathes music. Luckily, very few actually notice the subtle ways it can interfere with her performance.

As well as playing the violin, Lund spends her free time practicing other forms of art. She is a self-taught artist who is always experimenting with new mediums; Lund began with drawing and is now moving in many different directions. However, musically she is holding steadfast to her violin.

Music is integrated into every aspect of her life; when she isn’t performing or practicing pieces for orchestra, Lund is listening to music for literally hours on end.

“I listen to music when I feel sad, angry, happy, when I do homework, when I’m sleeping and when I’m drawing, because it inspires me.” Lund said.

“You could almost say that I need music as much as I need food.”

Interestingly, Lund has a brain condition called Synesthesia. It causes parts from separate halves of the brain to interact with each other on a large scale, making overlapping sensory experiences. Most often, this involves associating colors with letters and numbers effectively ‘seeing’ the color in the mind’s eye. Lund’s synesthesia plays a role in her music career as well. She explained that it helps her read the music she is playing. Essentially she uses the colors to identify the notes.

“…my Synesthesia is completely involuntary and the colors never change. If I spelled out my name it would go like this: Red, Turquoise, Teal, Brown, White, and Yellow.” Lund said.

Known for her quirky sense of humor and her strict perseverance to anything she sets her mind to, Lund is working to pave her way to success. Lund is sitting with a GPA of slightly less than a 4.0, and is striving toward being a performance major. Being one of this year’s Sterling Scholars, she is one step closer to reaching her goals.