For eight hours a day, every day this week, musicians with the World Doctors Orchestra are rehearsing for their North Texas performances.
"We are amateurs," Dr. Sing-Yi Feng said. "We do all have day jobs as physicians."
When Feng is not playing violin, she is a UT Southwestern pediatric emergency medicine physician who treats patients at Children's Medical Center. She's one of 2,000 physicians from around the world who make up the World Doctors Orchestra.
"15 years ago, I started this group because I met so many doctors all over the world who are also very passionate musicians," World Doctors Orchestra Musical Director Stefan Willich said. "So I had the idea to combine these two fields, try to play music, and support medical organizations in the world where it's needed."
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The World Doctors Orchestra has performed all over the world. This week, they will perform in North Texas, with concerts benefiting Gill Children's Services and Woven Health Clinic.
"There's some deep connection we as humans have with music," Feng said. "This is why we find it so important to have it be part of our lives."
Music and medicine are not all that different.
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"Your patients want empathy. Your audience wants empathy," Willich said. "So there are a lot of similarities."
The World Music Orchestra will perform at SMU's Caruth Auditorium Thursday at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, click here.
The orchestra will perform at the Eisemann Center in Richardson on Friday at 7:30 p.m. For those tickets, click here.
