A children’s concert full of magic introduced young people to the wonder of music. The free event at Durham’s Grey Stone Church featured a live magician and an instrument petting zoo. Sponsors included WCPE The Classical Station Education Fund, the Durham Medical Orchestra Foundation, Grey Stone Church of Durham, and the Durham Merchants Association Foundation.
The DMO is led by Artistic Director and Conductor Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant and an all-volunteer executive committee composed of orchestra members.
Through our performances, we raise money for local health-related organizations and offer the benefits of music to wide audiences around the Triangle. Here are a few of our recent projects.
A children’s concert full of magic introduced young people to the wonder of music. The free event at Durham’s Grey Stone Church featured a live magician and an instrument petting zoo. Sponsors included WCPE The Classical Station Education Fund, the Durham Medical Orchestra Foundation, Grey Stone Church of Durham, and the Durham Merchants Association Foundation.
Our 2018/19 community partner was Senior PharmAssist, which promotes healthier living for Durham seniors by helping them obtain and better manage needed medications, and by providing health education, Medicare insurance counseling, community referral and advocacy. Donations collected at our December 2018 concert were split between the DMO and SeniorPharmAssist.
With the Duke Chorale and the Choral Society of Durham, the DMO presented Philip Glass’ “Itaipú” and Eric Whitacre’s “Deep Field.” “Itaipú” sets the text of the creation myth of the Guaraní, an indigenous group of Paraguay and Brazil. “Deep Field,” inspired by images from the Hubble telescope, features a smart-phone app used by the audience as part of the performance.
Our concerts frequently feature newly commissioned works and performances by guest artists. A sampling of recent featured artists and composers: saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Susan Fancher; bassoonist Ivy Ringel; composers Steven Bryant, Alejandro Santoyo, and Dayton Kinney; and children’s book author Johanna Wright.
The mission of the Durham Medical Orchestra Foundation is to promote music as a healing art and to support musical activities for and by health professionals, their family members, and affiliated persons in Durham, North Carolina and in nearby communities.
