SURGEONS, nurses and doctors will put down their defibrillators and syringes and pick up oboes and trumpets to perform in a concert for charity.
Staff, as well as family and friends, from the Churchill and John Radcliffe Hospitals will be performing as part of the Radcliffe Orchestra. The ensemble began life 26 years ago.
Now the group has expanded to about 80 people, some of whom are friends of the hospital, but the majority are staff.
Prof John Stradling, chairman of the Radcliffe Orchestra
John Stradling, professor of respiratory medicine at the Churchill Hospital and chairman of the society, said: “There aren’t an awful lot of community events that draw people from the John Radcliffe and the Churchill together.
“There are people in the medical profession and allied health professions who played instruments, but due to the rigours of their career they had to stop.”
Consultant paediatric oncologist and violin player Kate Wheeler began playing with the orchestra about 10 years ago.
She said: “I’m in the group because it’s a way that I can actually play my violin. It’s a great orchestra as it encourages hospital staff to dust off their instrument cases and get playing again.”
On Saturday the orchestra hopes to play to a sold-out audience of 350 people at the John Radcliffe’s Tingewick Hall in Headington.
The concert, which starts at 7.45pm, will include pieces by Holst and Tchaikovsky.
Money raised will go to Vale House, a 40-bed residential home which specialises in the treatment of people with dementia. After spending years in Botley, it moved to Sandford-on-Thames in 2012.
Dementia consultant and oboe player Sarah Pendlebury said: “It’s great that we are supporting the charity. It’s somewhere that we have supported previously.”
The 48-year-old began playing in the orchestra when she started training at the John Radcliffe Hospital in 1990. The mother-of-three said: “I’ve played [the oboe] since the age of nine, but when I began training I really focused on that and stopped playing.
“The founder, Donald Lane, convinced me to play. It’s important to have these sort of outlets.”
Tickets for the event will cost £10 and are available on the door.
The orchestra is also looking for new venues, members and charity collaborations. Email suederham26@hotmail.com
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