Our Crowdfunding Groups
The Northwestern Medical Orchestra is now the proud owner of two beautiful copper timpani thanks to all of the donors in our CATalyzer campaign last winter! We can't thank everyone enough for your amazing support and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for continuing to give us a home for our rehearsals and equipment.
Thanks to our new purchase, we're now able to include an additional musician every week with us at rehearsal playing on these essential orchestral drums (and our grateful conductors won't have to yell "Timpani!" during big cues). Learn more about our percussionist below:
Jaafar Zaidi is a first-year medical student at Feinberg! He’s from Elgin, just a few miles from Chicago, and grew up playing piano and percussion. Jaafar went on to play with the Northwestern Concert Band throughout his undergraduate career and is now a member of the Northwestern Medical Orchestra. He enjoys continuing to make music with an ensemble as a medical student since it gives him a creative outlet in his busy life.
Jaafar is most excited to play our new timpani in Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony which will be performed on December 3rd and 4th. Look out for him on these beautiful drums then!
NMO Winter 2019 Concerts
December 3rd, 6:30pm on the 10th Floor of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
December 4th, 7pm in Thorne Auditorium in the Rubloff Building
Catch us playing these exciting pieces!
Williams — Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back
Sibelius — Karelia Suite Movement III. Alla marcia
Kar — Stormy Seas for Symphonic Orchestra (World Premiere - Composed by a Northwestern Physician!)
Dvorak — Symphony No.8 in G major
We hope you're having a great summer! On April 30 and May 3, the Northwestern Medical Orchestra played concerts at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and St. James Cathedral. Our program included:
Saint-Saëns Danse Bacchanale
Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia
Schönberg Selections from Les Miserables
Bizet Carmen Suites No.1 & 2
Thank you to everyone who attended! We had a blast playing for patients, staff, friends, family, and members of the local community over the course of these two evenings.
CATalyzer Update
Those who were there might have noticed that we performed with a brand new instrument, made possible by all of you who contributed to our launch campaign this past winter: an 88-key compact keyboard! The keyboard we had previously used required two medical students to carry, and it was only through the donation of car transport by a few generous orchestra members that we were even able to include a pianist some weeks.
Now we have a dedicated instrument for the orchestra that is one third the size and weight of the previous keyboard but maintains the full length, custom sounds, and weighted action. See below for a picture of Arin, NMO pianist and PhD student in neuroscience, nailing the harp part in Carmen!
Where We're Headed
Last month also saw a big milestone for the medical school: the opening of the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center. NMO was invited to play at the opening event, and our quintet (below) regaled attendees with Dvorak and Borodin!
It is hard to believe that the very first rehearsal of this orchestra was little over a year ago. Most similar groups take several years to grow to where we are right now. It would not have been possible without the dedication, openness, and musical passion of all of our musicians and all of our amazing supporters like YOU. We are already planning the 2019-2020 season and aim to continue our upward momentum, expanding our musical abilities and reaching even more audiences with our music. Hope to see you in the fall!
A huge Thank You to everyone who has contributed to our campaign! We are so excited to announce that in just under a month, we've reached 100% of our initial goal and have even surpassed it! The Northwestern Medical Orchestra will now be able to afford crucial equipment for its performances for patients and the medical community. We are so grateful for the overwhelming generosity and goodwill you have all demonstrated!
However...there are still 8 more days in 2018 (and this campaign) for us to stretch and raise more to ensure that this orchestra can be a lasting institution at Northwestern! Help us bring all the positivity, healing, and joy of music to patients and the medical community for years to come.
Can we reach $12,000? Another two thousand could help us secure our concert venue for concerts (or expand performances into more medical spaces!). As always, we appreciate any sharing of this campaign on social media! Feel free to tag us @NorthwesternMedicalOrchestra.
And that's a wrap on NMO's first concert cycle of the 2018-2019 Season! Thank you to all who came out to our concerts on Tuesday and Friday this past week. We were blown away that our audience on Tuesday was so large that it spilled into the hallway, that our audience on Friday packed Thorne Auditorium, and that we were able to play for over 500 patients, staff, fellow students, physicians, and other community members! Follow our Facebook page for additional photos which will be posted over the coming week!
Our program (below) celebrated Leonard Bernstein's Centennial and his belief in music reaching across boundaries to connect people, just as we try to use music to connect with patients and the medical community outside the clinical setting.
We are so grateful for everyone who has supported our CATalyzer campaign so far, and are delighted to share that we are now 91% funded!! We are so close to our goal of involving more musicians, playing more diverse repertoire, and making our future rehearsals and performances bigger and better for both our audiences and our musicians.
If we can reach our goal and even top it, we can ensure that the Northwestern Medical Orchestra will have a lasting presence for the enrichment of the whole Northwestern medical community. Please join us in sharing this campaign with anyone you think may support us. A great way to message friends or write a status is to share why you donated - on Facebook, feel free to tag @NorthwesternMedicalOrchestra! The minimum donation is only $10, and all gifts are tax-deductible.
Thank you for your support, and Happy Holidays!
In just shy of two weeks, we have reached 46% of our goal! Wow!! Thanks so much to everyone who has given so far. We are inspired and humbled by your acts of generosity, demonstrating belief in our mission of enriching our medical community with music.
Can we reach 50% by the end of the week? Crowdfunding depends on visibility and word of mouth, and we would be so appreciative if you shared on social media that you donated to this campaign. A great way to message friends or write a status is to share why you donated - on Facebook, feel free to tag @NorthwesternMedicalOrchestra! The minimum donation is only $10, and all gifts are tax deductible. Simply click the Facebook icon on our campaign page: https://catalyzer.northwestern.edu/nmorchestra
Earlier this week, the orchestra had its final rehearsal of the Fall 2018 concert cycle, and we are excited to perform a two-concert series next Tuesday 12/11 and Friday 12/14. We would love to play for you if you will be in the Chicago area! Find event details on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NorthwesternMedicalOrchestra/
Now, enjoy this recent story from Feinberg School of Medicine News featuring NMO co-founder Bettina Cheung, second-year MD/PhD student, discussing what music means to her. (And check out our previous update on the campaign page for footage from our first concert series in May!)
Access story here: https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2018/11/md-phd-student-leads-feinberg-musicians/
At 34% of our goal funded in just one week, the Northwestern Medical Orchestra is closer to obtaining essential equipment for our concerts for patients! But we still need your help.
If we can reach 50% of our goal this week, we'll have our highest priority secured--Timpani are an important part of many symphonic works. You can catch their dramatic effect in Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture which we will be performing next week at the AbilityLab and Thorne Auditorium! Currently, we rent these impressive drums for each concert but do not have access to them for weekly rehearsals. Your gift to the orchestra will help us eliminate these costly and efficient rental fees as well as expanding participation to more percussionists. This will be invaluable to the musicality of the group and improve our performances for patients!
You can watch our video to learn more about NMO and what your gift will go towards. Thank you!
88-key, weighted, portable keyboard for rehearsals and concerts!
Allows a bassist to participate in the orchestra with a portable instrument!
A necessity for major orchestral repertoire. Covers a set of two timpani!
