VCU news

By Brian McNeill

On Sunday, NBC’s “Today” show 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 as 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 a violinist.

“Sunday Today with Willie Geist” airs live 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, intended to reach 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 also was recently featured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “VCU Health Orchestra returns to music after battling COVID.”