The World Medical doctors Orchestra has performed in additional than 20 international locations since 2008 — and this week, it is making its North Texas debut with a world premiere. It took native members of the orchestra 4 years to deliver the WDO right here.
Sing-Yi Feng is a pediatrics professor at UT Southwestern in addition to a medical toxicologist at North Texas Poison Heart — when she is not working in pediatric emergency drugs at Kids’s Medial Heart.
On high of all that, she in some way manages to be a violinist and violist with the World Medical doctors Orchestra. The WDO has some 1,800 members from 60 international locations.
“My grandmother was a Juilliard-trained pianist,” Feng stated, “so she insisted all of us a minimum of perceive the piano. However once I was ten, she instructed I select an instrument to focus on and basically stated, ‘Do not use the piano’ — as a result of my palms have been too small.”
She selected the violin and as a highschool senior, discovered the viola as properly. Rising up, Feng performed with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, carried out in solo competitions and concerto competitions whereas finding out at Thomas Jefferson College’s medical school in Philadelphia.
Later, after years of residencies and fellowships, she returned to music by way of {the summertime} Baltimore Symphony Academy— the place she heard in regards to the World Medical doctors Orchestra.
Feng noticed the ensemble was scheduled to carry out in Salzburg in 2017 — and “taking part in music in Salzburg has all the time been a bucket checklist merchandise of mine,” she stated. “I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, we get to play on the Mozarteum!'” — a cluster of affiliated organizations in Salzburg, together with three live performance halls, all devoted to the composer’s work.
Nevertheless it was when she carried out in Houston with the WDO in 2019 that Feng was impressed: The orchestra ought to play North Texas.
In Houston, she stated, “we bought to characteristic a unbelievable native soloist who’s a neuroscientist. And I assumed, we’ve such nice expertise right here in Dallas, it could be such an awesome showcase.”
However COVID intervened. Ultimately, a group effort by North Texas members led to the orchestra coming this week to each SMU’s Caruth Auditorium and the Eisemann Heart in Richardson — with 86 musicians performing. The concert events will increase cash for medical charities and can characteristic the premiere of a brand new double concerto for violin and viola by Benedikt Brydern, who has composed movie and TV soundtracks.
“It is super-cool sounding,” Feng stated of the double concerto. “I believe Benedick actually attracts on some traditional concertos with simply actually unbelievable harmonies, quite a lot of nice interaction with the orchestra.”
Arlington emergency doctor Noah DeGarmo will probably be featured on piano. He was a semi-finalist final 12 months within the Cliburn beginner piano competitors.
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