Medical musicians in landmark concert in support of St Oswald’s Hospice

A landmark concert by doctors from across Europe will take place at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (formerly Sage Gateshead) this autumn, with proceeds from ticket sales supporting the work of St Oswald’s Hospice. Two hundred healthcare workers are combining to form the European Doctors’ Orchestra (EDO) and Northern Healthcare Choir to perform a programme of classical music at the iconic venue. on Sunday 10^th November 2024.

The celebration of life and healthcare is the orchestra’s 20th anniversary concert. Formed by Hungarian plastic surgeon Miklos Pohl to offer medical musicians from across Europe the opportunity to join for weekends of music making, EDO gained support from a group of doctors and professional conductor Rupert Bond for an inaugural event in 2004 in London.

Today the European Doctors’ Orchestra is a full symphony orchestra of about 100 players, who perform at least two public charity concerts a year. Over the past two decades, concerts have been held in venues in Bucharest, Budapest, Berlin, Bern, Ljubljana, Nantes, Olomouc, Oslo, Poznan, Rotterdam, Verona and Wiesbaden – as well as Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester in the UK.

More than 460 musicians from 23 European countries have played with the orchestra during that time. And in the last decade, EDO has raised over £250,000 for more than 25 charities across the Continent. Players pay their own travel and accommodation costs and share the concert costs via a subscription for each concert.

The Chair of Trustees, retired Newcastle GP Dave Tomson, said:

“We want to pack Sage One with healthcare staff from across the North-East and Cumbria and beyond to join us as we celebrate all we do for our patients.

We all spend our working life caring for others; we want colleagues to enjoy a Sunday afternoon off and let the European Doctors Orchestra and Northern Healthcare Choir entertain them. Our ambition is to attract a 1,000-strong audience so we can raise a record sum in our 20th anniversary concert for St Oswald’s Hospice, which does so much to help people across the region with life-limiting conditions.”

The concert will be the EDO’s third visit to Gateshead, following gigs in 2011 and 2016 at the former Sage venue. It will feature a programme of music led by conductor Constança Simas including Ravel, Poulenc, Gershwin, Copland and a new commission by award-winning composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with guest soprano Jessica Cale.

Tickets from The Glasshouse box office, priced at £22 adults; £10 concessions, unwaged and U16s. Book via Glasshouse’s box office here. Anyone purchasing a block of six tickets will get one free.

Find out more about the EDO here.