“When cases of the coronavirus spiked in March, doctors and nurses across the country found themselves overwhelmed,” report Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and Isabella Gomez Sarmiento at National Public Radio on Sunday (8/9). “The shutdown also took away an important creative outlet for a special breed of medical professional: classical musicians. That’s why John Masko, a symphony conductor in Boston, founded the National Virtual Medical Orchestra, giving those in the medical field a chance to perform and connect with each other. ‘I kept hearing from musician after musician from our ensemble [about] how much they wish they were playing,’ Masko says…. That’s changed now with everyone forced online. ‘Medical musicians around the country are discovering each other and many are reconnecting with old friends,’ Masko says…. Dr. Erica Hardy—an infectious disease specialist in Providence, R.I.—plays violin in the orchestra…. ‘Many of us have been musicians longer than we’ve been doctors or scientists or nurses,’ she says. ‘I started playing when I was 4 years old.’ ” Says Masko, “Our hope is that … the unifying effect of this ensemble can continue on in some way and be … a base of support for the medical orchestra movement around the country.’ ”
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