Singer Spotlights
Celebrating 7 years of the Longwood Chorus
Meet the musicians who are part of our community!
Getting to sing in a chorus like this gives me a beautiful emotional outlet, allows me to itch a different part of my brain, and also helps me break down some barriers in medical hierarchy to build community (I love singing with both trainees/students that I’ve supervised and attendings who have supervised me, as well as many non-MD healthcare team members!).
I remember that when my friend and I were envisioning this chorus in medical school that it really seemed like a pipe dream. Thanks to a core group of amazing, dedicated, talented people and a handful of generous believers, I’m continually amazed by how far it has come in the last five years!”
– Pamela Chen, Longwood Chorus Co-Founder
Pediatrics resident physician at Boston Children’s Hospital
& Boston Medical Center
I love the Longwood Chorus because it's a fun distraction from the chaos that is lab work and a great way to share my love of singing and music with others who also need a distraction from the chaos that is lab work, healthcare, med/grad school, etc.
One of my favorite choir memories was a board retreat to the Berkshires in early 2020 where we gathered around the piano and sang whatever we wanted (as long as Iris was willing to sight-read it!) and cooked/ate so much good food. And let's not forget the hot tub in the snow! Truly a memory for the history books."
– Megan McCurry
PhD student in Chemical Biology,
Harvard Medical School/GSAS
Music is in my blood, and I couldn't live without it. I've been singing since I was born but you would probably call that screaming and crying. Years of training later and now I can do it all on (ish) pitch and (sorta) at tempo. The Longwood Chorus is an amazing opportunity – I thought I had set aside my choral life to focus on science, but the chorus gives us the space to revive these dormant interests.
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There are so many memories of the choir, but I have two really vivid memories that stick out. First was at the very beginning of the COVID pandemic, when the choir leadership met and we set the terms by which we would terminate our season. I'll always remember how unsure and lost everybody looked then, as we faced an unknown world where music would be taken away from us for an indeterminate amount of time. My second most vivid memory was when things were finally looking better, vaccines were out, and a small group of us tried to sing. It was so great to hear harmonies again, even though after a year in quarantine, we sounded pretty bad.”
– Chris Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow in Neurobiology,
Harvard Medical School
I've especially enjoyed singing with other longtime Chorus members for parents and patients at Boston Children’s Hospital during the holiday season with the Chorus, and performing ambitious works from Faure's Requiem to masterpieces by Bach and Mozart.
Throughout my time in Boston, the Chorus has been a haven when other areas of effort are especially challenging and a delightful treat that enriches the best of times as well, and I look forward to every new season with the multi-talented members of Boston's biomedical community!”
– David Mazumder
MD-PhD student in Neuroscience,
Harvard Medical School