2007-2008 marks the LSO’s 25th Anniversary season! Not only is it the start of a new quarter century, but also the start of a new way to bring music and medical awareness to our community. New for this season is “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 will provide forums for the latest information on public health research and current trends while raising awareness for medical organizations doing good work on important issues. All symposia are free and open to the public. Each Community Conversation will end at NEC’s Jordan Hall with a special Longwood Symphony concert that raises money and awareness for organizations involved in the public health topic of the day.

The Harmony of Giving: Longwood Symphony Orchestra’s 25th Anniversary Gala

33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
3:00 pm-7:00 pm

Join us for a fundraising event to celebrate our 25th Anniversary Season and the impact of our nationally recognized Healing Art of Music Program. LSO’s ongoing collaborations have raised money for and awareness of Boston’s medically underserved and the nonprofit organizations that care for them. LSO’s Healing Art of Music Program is a model for community engagement in Massachusetts’ creative economy.

The day begins with a keynote address by Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities Executive Director Dan Hunter and includes a panel discussion with past LSO beneficiaries. Dr. James O’Connell of Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, Dr. Jackie Jenkins-Scott, former Executive Director of Dimock Community Health Center and current President of Wheelock College, and Jamie Heywood of ALS Therapy Development Institute will talk about their work and the impact LSO has had on their organizations. Enjoy a buffet dinner, and music by “Eli’s All-Stars” a jazz orchestra led by tubist/pediatrician Eli Newberger. The celebration continues at Jordan Hall as Longwood Symphony performs Beethoven’s triumphant Ninth Symphony with a quartet of vocal stars and the New World Chorale.

Tickets: $150 (includes ticket to concert)

To attend this event, purchase tickets online at http://longwoodsymphony.tix.com/, or call the LSO office at 617.667.1527.

This event is proudly sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories Boston.

AIDS: Connecting the Local and the Global

Boston University, Charles River Campus
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

AIDS entered the public consciousness just one year before members of the Boston medical community formed Longwood Symphony Orchestra. Although enormous strides in managing HIV have been made in the past 25 years, the AIDS epidemic still devastates countries and communities around the globe. This symposium weaves together the international, national, and local concerns that loom before us as we enter the disease’s second quarter century. Organized by Dr. Gerald Keusch and colleagues from the Boston University Medical and Charles River Campuses, and hosted by Boston University, this day of reflection on the AIDS crisis will explore AIDS from a diverse range of experiences from the medical and public health to the creative arts. Involving the College of Fine Arts, the Medical School, School of Public Health and Boston Medical Center, faculty and students from Boston University will share experiences in the fight against AIDS and shed light on current best practices, future needs, and new solutions for control and prevention of HIV and AIDS. Then join us for a moving LSO concert featuring Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, to be performed in Boston for the first time in 20 years. The concert will feature soloists from Classical Action, a unique performing arts organization whose musicians dedicate their performances to the fight against AIDS.

Registration: Free and open to the public. Please contact John Douglas at 617.414.1440 or johnd@bu.edu to register.

Sponsored by Boston University School of Public Health

Crisis, Creativity, and Courage: Protecting Women’s Rights / Promoting Women’s Health

The Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm

The symposium is divided into three parts:

2:00 Part One – CRISIS
A presentation of some of the work that Physicians for Human Rights, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and others are doing around the world. Confirmed speakers: Dr. Jennifer Leaning of HHI, Judy Norsigian, Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves, and Dr. Julie Van Rooyen, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

3:00 Part Two – CREATIVITY
A showcase of the creative ways that artists are raising awareness, through their writing, music, visual and dramatic arts, and photography. Invitees are Marjorie Agosin, poet; Voices of Mercy, Berklee School of Music; others.

4:00 Part Three – COURAGE
This section will open with a presentation by Ugandan physician and current HSPH student, Julian Atim, who began her work while still a medical student, followed by a lightning series of 2 minute presentations on activism, advocacy and student leadership by the students, concentrating on women’s health and rights. A slide show of the students’ work will accompany their short pieces.

8:00 Evening Concert
The Longwood Symphony Orchestra will be performing in the evening at Jordan Hall, in honor of PHR and HHI–one of their four annual benefit concerts.

Their pianist, Meng-Chieh Liu, is a remarkable musician who almost lost his life to a rare debilitating disease, but in the end it was his music that gave him the will to live and recuperate.

Conducted by Jonathan McPhee, the musical program is as follows:

Registration: Free and open to the public. Please contact LSO_international@hms.harvard.edu to register.

Sponsored by Harvard Medical School

Composing a Future at Community Health Centers

In partnership with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra (LSO), the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and Tufts University School of Medicine, the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is pleased to present a LSO “Healing Art of Music: Community Conversations” program entitled Community Health Centers as Models of Excellence. Please join us on Saturday morning, April 12, 2008, 8:30am-12:30pm for a symposium on careers in Community Health Centers.

Location
Tufts University School of Medicine
Arthur M. Sackler Center for Health Communications – Sackler A
145 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
For map and directions visit: www.tufts.edu/home/maps/boston

Symposium RSVP (required)
Please email oreboredo@massleague.org and provide your name, medical school and year, or residency program and year.

For more information about Massachusetts Community Health Centers, please visit: www.massleague.org.