VCU Health Orchestra to be featured on the 'Today' show
May 07, 2021
The “Today” show on Sunday will feature the VCU Health Orchestra, known as Music and Medicine, telling the story of the orchestra — which consists of health system nurses, physicians, administrative staff, support staff, students, alumni and community volunteers — and how it has recently started performing together again after more than a year apart because of COVID-19.
NBC News correspondent Catie Beck visited the MCV Campus on Thursday and interviewed several members of the orchestra, including Theresa Erichsen, a registered nurse and French hornist, who co-founded the orchestra in fall 2017.
Also interviewed were cellist Christopher Chou, M.D., who joined the orchestra as a medical student and has continued while a resident at VCU Health; Bob Bowie, a psychotherapist and tuba player; and Francesco Celi, M.D., chair of endocrinology in the Department of Internal Medicine at VCU Health and violinist.
“Sunday Today with Willie Geist” airs live Sundays from 8 to 9 a.m. on NBC.
Music and Medicine is one of the few academic health center-affiliated orchestras in the country. It plays a mix of music, including orchestral, classical and pops for a broad audience. The orchestra's mission is to promote wellness and enhance relationships among team members, patients, families, visitors and the community, and to support fundraising for local health-related charities.
The orchestra was also recently featured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: VCU Health Orchestra returns to music after battling COVID.