Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City, Where Healthcare Professionals Reconnect with Music-Making

In last Friday’s (4/19) KCUR (Kansas City, Missouri), Julie Denesha reports, “Medicine is a demanding profession and there’s a lot of pressure to excel. So for University of Kansas medical student Liam Carroll, carving time out for music is essential… That’s why Carroll plays violin in the Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City, one of the oldest medical orchestras in the country. The group gives medical professionals and students in Kansas City a chance to tune out of medicine and flex their musical muscles. Despite its name, the group welcomes professionals from all fields. The practice and performance helps Carroll, who studied violin as an undergrad at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln … Music director Steve Lewis said the ensemble’s effect can be really motivating for his already high-achieving members…. Lewis is a French horn player who came to Kansas City five years ago for advanced studies in conducting at the UMKC Conservatory. He has conducted the Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City for eight seasons…. For oboist Robin Onikul, playing with the group is about returning to a long-lost love: music…. When Onikul isn’t leading the oboe section, she’s head of the Department of Dentistry at Children’s Mercy Hospital.”