The Doctors’ Orchestra announces fundraising concert

The Doctors' Orchestra, an ensemble of medical professionals will be reuniting for a fundraising concert next month in aid of torture survivor charity Freedom from Torture.

Launched in 2010, this year’s concert will be the Doctors' Orchestra’s 13^th annual fundraising event and will see the orchestra’s 75 players, conducted by consultant general surgeon Stephen Brearley, present a Nordic-inspired programme of Wagner, Sibelius and Neilsen.

Brearley said: ‘It has been tremendously rewarding to bring together this group of outstanding medical musicians… The players love doing it and we have great fun together during an intensive weekend of rehearsals leading up to each concert. We all feel very fortunate to be able to step out of our medical lives to put on these concerts and get a real buzz from knowing that, by doing so, we are helping survivors of torture to rebuild their lives.’

Brearley himself studied piano and violin, playing in the Merseyside Youth Orchestra alongside Sir Simon Rattle before co-founding the orchestra with the late Dr Michael Lasserson on the invitation of Freedom from Torture. He said: ‘It was intended to be a one off, but due to its popularity it evolved into an annual event, and I'm delighted to provide on-going support for the charity.’

This year the orchestra will be joined by German violinist, Nathan Mierdl, in his first appearance with the Doctors’ Orchestra. First prize winner of the Louis Spohr international competition, Mierdl also won the Menuhin Competition’s Second Senior Prize, Arte Concert Online Prize, Composer Award and the Jonathan Moulds Award for Outstanding Potential.

The performance will take place on 13 March 2023 in London’s Cadogan Hall, with audiences welcomed both in-person and online. The funds raised will go to support survivors of torture, and will fund the charity’s music therapy programme, led by Bosnian refugee and music therapist, Harmin Sijercic.

You can find out more about the concert here.