The orchestra of Boston's medical community
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| About the LSO | |||||
| Longwood Symphony Orchestra The orchestra of Boston's medical community |
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Longwood Symphony Orchestra
The Longwood Symphony Orchestra was established in 1982 by members of the Harvard Medical School community. The dual mission of the LSO is to provide opportunities for musicians in the medical professions to perform works of musical diversity and artistic excellence while supporting health-related nonprofit organizations. In this way, the LSO utilizes music as a healing force to bring the community together. Thousands of people have benefited each year from LSO performances through its "Healing Art of Music" program. Since 1991, the orchestra has helped raise over $700,000 for the medically underserved, by performing every concert as a benefit for a medical charity in greater Boston. Today, the orchestra is 90 members strong. The orchestra ranks musically among the top community orchestras in Greater Boston. The LSO performs four concerts in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall during its regular concert season, drawing an average of 600-700 audience members per concert. There are two concerts in the fall and two in the spring. The orchestra also performs an open air concert every summer at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade. LSO is an orchestra of musicians playing at the highest level, dedicated to community service through music. All are artists; most are also scientists and humanists, living and working in the greater Boston area. Over half of LSO musicians work in the health sciences: this year, there are fifteen full-time physicians, eight research scientists, twelve medical students, four visiting physicians from Europe, two nurses, three physical therapists, a genetics counselor, and a chiropractor. Guest artists of the Longwood Symphony are drawn from the rich community of internationally recognized artists that live in and around New England. They include violinists Lynn Chang, Irina Muresanu, and Vali Phillips; cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Clancy Newman, sopranos Joanna Porackova and Diana McVey; baritones Mark Aliapoulios and Stephen Salters, and pianists Dr. Richard Kogan, Hung-Kuan Chen and Randall Hodgkinson, among many others. LSO’s Healing Art of Music program
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, noted physician, organist, and Bach scholar, founded a hospital in Gabon, Africa that he funded through concert performances. Inspired by Schweitzer and his work, in 1991, the LSO committed itself to perform all of its concerts as benefits for health-related charitable organizations. Since then each concert has served to benefit a different organization in greater Boston. The Healing Art of Music Program was born. Prior to each season, along with deciding repertoire, the LSO Board and Music Director choose the beneficiary organizations for the upcoming season. Any nonprofit organization with a medical or educational mission based in greater Boston may be considered, and new collaborations frequently arise from suggestions by an orchestra member or Trustee. This year, in celebration of its 25th anniversary season, the Longwood Symphony has launched "Community Conversations,” an expanded direction of our Healing Art of Music Program. Community Conversations is a series of daytime symposia on public health issues affecting our world and our community. These symposia provide forums for the latest information on local and international public health research and current trends while raising awareness for medical organizations doing work on these important issues. Each Community Conversation ends at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall with a Longwood Symphony Orchestra concert that raises money and awareness for the organizations involved in the public health topic of the day. As the culmination of its 25th anniversary season, the Longwood Symphony Orchestra will embark on its first-ever tour, bringing its unique mix of music and medicine to the international stage. The orchestra will depart for London, England on June 21 for a week-long tour entitled “Innovations in Cancer Care: Bridging the Atlantic.” The Longwood Symphony Orchestra’s musicians will collaborate with those at St. Bartholomew’s and Royal Marsden Hospitals. Its three concerts will be in collaboration with the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity. Longwood Symphony Orchestra Beneficiaries since 1991
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