Life and the Life Sciences Orchestra

Hi Sharon,

There's one more thread of thought I'd like to share about the program and my experience with the LSO and how it can relate to audiences. Even if the article will be printed tomorrow without it, I think it's important to share as it adds some depth to what I was trying to capture in our conversation yesterday.

In essence: we're privileged to discover glimpses of what drives the nexus of art and science, and we have the opportunity to experience profound reminders about the nature of life as part of the symphony.

I vividly remember one of the French Horn players rushed out of rehearsal to attend to one of his patients during rehearsal this season. Last year in the summer, our piccolo/flutist passed away after a long grapple with breast cancer and chemo therapy shortly after performing in the spring concert. Our director, Oriol Sans, sent the following letter to members of the symphony:

"At this moment I want to share a few words with you. Last week I went tosee Lisa at the hospital, and it was an experience that I will neverforget. The open and honest way she talked about her cancer and what wasgoing to happen to her, made a deep impression on me. Among other things,she told me that for the last year music made her forget about all thehealth problems she was going through. Music didn't cure her, she said, butit helped her to get through that.
I told her what a great example she was for all of us. She came to ourrehearsals with a crutch, without it, with a wig, without a wig, with longhair, with short hair... But she was always there, and I never heard asingle complaint from her. Until the very end, the illness never stoppedher to do one of the things that she most loved: making music. The sameweek of our last concert she didn't agree to a last round of chemo untilthe doctors promised her that she would be ready to play for our dressrehearsal and the concert.
I think that I can speak from all of us when I say that seeing her examplewas truly a gift. I am glad that my last words to her before I left herroom at the hospital were thank you."

Medicine and health care are intimately connected tied to the life and environmental sciences. Given that the causes of cancer are an interconnected mix between genetics, diet, and environmental factors ( http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/cancer_and_the_environment_508.pdf ), the past experiences are a reminder to me about some of the people and things we love and strive to creatively improve about the world we live in.

One last note: Curiosity and experience drive the arts and sciences alike: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." - Albert Eistein

As mentioned in the program notes written by Oriol for our upcoming concert, the Mahler symphony was deeply influenced by themes from nature and our relationship with it--it features bird calls (of a cuckoo) in its opening movements, and the story of a hunter's funeral--attended by animals. Shostakovich's Festival Overture was performed as a fanfare for the 2009 nobel prize. The LSO presents an opportunity for audiences and participants alike to entice a shared sense of wonder.

Thank you again for sharing your time to consider my thoughts, I hope I was able to share this in time with you.

All the best,
Ian D. Tran

---
B.S. Environmental Science, Political Science Minor Class of 2012 The University of Michigan-Dearborn