The Detroit Medical Orchestra gave a special performance at the Country Club of Detroit to commemorate the Wayne State University School of Medicine's sesquicentennial anniversary.
The concert, under conductor Zeljko Milicevic, consisted of performances of "Romanian Rhapsody No. 2, Op. 11 in D major" by George Enescu, George Gershwin's "Cuban Overture" and Antonín Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9, Op. 95 in E minor (from the New World)."
Jack D. Sobel, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, welcomed the audience, calling the DMO a "hidden gem."
"Just as on our campus, much has changed in the world of medicine since the school's founding in 1868," Dean Sobel said. "The creation of the aspirin, penicillin and insulin to treat diabetes. Magnetic resonance imaging provides views of the inner body without a scalpel. Open-heart surgery has become a matter of routine. Organ transplants improve and save the lives of tens of thousands. There will be many more changes to come.
"The one constant at the Wayne State University School of Medicine is the sense of compassion and caring for the Detroit community demonstrated by the faculty and our students," he continued. "Community service is in the very DNA of our school, and has been since its founding. The service provided by our students is the sinew that binds us to an urban center now reinventing itself as the new Midwestern city of the 21st century."
WSU President M. Roy Wilson and his wife, Jacqueline, also attended the performance.
The DMO, formed by a group of Wayne State University School of Medicine students and faculty musicians in 2009, is a 70-member orchestra consisting of medical students, medical school faculty, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals who believe music has the power to heal and comfort.
Since 1868, Wayne State University School of Medicine has been home to countless discoveries, memories and milestones that have changed our world for the better. The 150-year history of urban clinical excellence and community outreach complements the mission of the DMO to bring healing through music in the heart of Detroit.
The performance was partially sponsored by the Country Club of Detroit as part of its Connoisseur Series, and was hosted by the Wayne State University Medical Alumni Association and Kenneth Honn, Ph.D., distinguished professor of Pathology and of Oncology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and member of the Medical Alumni Board of Governors and the Country Club of Detroit.
See more photos of the event here.