Network launched to connect musicians, music lovers

- By Jackie Genovese

Mark Hanlon Dean Lloyd Minor playing the cello

Lloyd Minor, dean of the medical school, helped launch the Stanford Medicine Music Network, whose initial goals include organizing chamber music groups and string quartets.

A shared memory of attending a 1976 cello performance by Yo-Yo Ma, then a student at Harvard, helped to inspire the creation of a network to bring together musicians and music lovers in the Stanford Medicine community.

The memory in question was related by Steve Goodman, MD, PhD, associate dean for research and translational science, during a meeting for the Stanford Medicine and the Muse Program in Medical Humanities. Also at the meeting was Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the medical school, who exclaimed, "I was there!"

It turns out that both Goodman, a baritone, and Minor, who plays the cello, were in the audience at Ma's performance, which took place as part of a master class given by Russian cellist Rostropovich. Neither Minor, then a student at Brown, nor Goodman, a student at Harvard, knew each other then.

But the memory of the event galvanized the two men to team up with Audrey Shafer, MD, professor of anesthesiology and director of the Medicine and Muse Program, and Ben Robison, a medical student and professional violinist, to create the Stanford Medicine Music Network.

"There are such strong links between medicine and music," Shafer said. "I am delighted we have this opportunity to create a space for healers, musicians and music lovers to connect with each other and the Stanford community through music."

The initial goals of the network include connecting musicians for group practices and organizing chamber music and string quartet groups. The eventual goal is to stage performances at Stanford and in the surrounding community, particularly at schools and nursing homes, as way to contribute to healthy communities.

For more information on the Stanford Medicine Music Network, visit http://med.stanford.edu/bioethics/arts/StanfordMedicineMusicNetwork.html.


Jacqueline Genovese is is assistant director of the Medicine and the Muse Program in Medical Humanities at Stanford.

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.

2023 ISSUE 3

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