MUSIC AND medicine have come together at NUI, Galway to form a unique partnership that is a nationwide first for any university.
The School of Medicine at NUI Galway is the first to launch an exciting initiative which is giving its students an opportunity to showcase their musical skills.
The Medical Orchestra will be unveiled at the Arts in Action Traditional Concert on Tuesday at 7.30pm in the Bailey Allen Hall, NUIG. The 25-piece orchestra will open the concert, which is being headlined by Mairtín O’Connor and his band.
Preparations are well under way for the orchestra’s debut concert under the guidance of Mary McPartlan, creative director of the Medicine and the Arts Module at NUIG, and musical director Carl Hession, a music teacher at Colaiste Iognáid.
The students have been rehearsing on a regular basis and have been joined by a recent medical graduate, Dr Lisa McAnena, who will be the soloist when the orchestra first performs in public.
Dr Gerard Flaherty, chair of the Medical School’s new arts committee, said: “Patients benefit greatly from music as they try to cope with and recover from illness. I firmly believe that music can be the medicine of the mind.”
Tickets are €10/5 and available from the Societies Box at Áras na Mac Leinn, NUI, Galway or by calling 091 - 492852/091 - 492088.
