I Medici Di McGill

The audience sitting in the pews of the American and Erskine Church on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal, Canada, applauds as Iwan Edwards, the renowned Montreal conductor, takes his place on the podium. Before him, the members of a small amateur orchestra, instruments poised to play, await their cue. As Edwards' baton comes down and they launch into the opening notes of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," no one would know that most of these musicians recently had slipped out of lab coats or surgical scrubs and into their black tuxedos.

Sitting in front of them all is Dr. Ante Padjen, principal viola and founding director of I Medici di McGill (The Doctors of McGill).

When Padjen was growing up in Zagreb, Croatia, he was certain he was going to be a musician. On top of his regular schooling, he spent four hours every day with his viola. The routine of theory lessons, practice, and performance that filled his days for eight years seemed likely to continue forever. His future – conservatory lessons; a position with an orchestra; then a career of tours, performance, and recording – seemed assured.

In 1956, at age 14, Padjen contracted tuberculosis and was placed in a sanatorium for two years. And no more viola. It was deemed too strenuous for Padjen's fragile health. It was a brutal blow for the aspiring musician.

However, it turned out to be a pivotal event for the young man: Padjen's roommate in the sanatorium was a doctor who was also afflicted with TB. "He was an exceptional physician. He had such a tremendously impressive way of saying what medicine is – that it's not a job, but a vocation," recalls Padjen.

The young boy was impressed, but old ambitions die hard. After his release from the institution, Padjen continued to practice and perform in orchestras, perfecting his art. It was his consuming goal to enter the national conservatory in Zagreb. However, only one week before the entry exam into the music conservatory, he suddenly had doubts. "I was split in two directions," he recalls. In the end, he chose medicine as his career, not music.

Out of Chaos, Harmony

After completing a medical degree, and a PhD in neuropharmacology at the University of Zagreb, Padjen joined the faculty of McGill University, Montréal, as a pharmacology professor. But his passion for music remained.

I Medici di McGill now has about 55 musicians in its brass, woodwind, string, and percussion sections. It plays classical music of all periods, including baroque and 20th century; currently, as it enters its 13th season, its focus is on the romantic era. The orchestra usually performs in churches in Montreal, but has also played in conference halls and at medical school events. Most of the orchestra's funding comes from the musicians themselves, and from corporate sponsors.

Although the orchestra has grown in recent years to include the spouses and friends of its members, it is still composed almost entirely of healthcare professionals. These include doctors, researchers, physical therapists, and students drawn from McGill's medical school. Expanding I Medici di McGill's membership requirements has been necessary. Many healthcare professionals, who tend to work irregular schedules and have outside commitments, find that making the weekly rehearsals can be difficult. Medical students with their conflicting schedules of exams, rotations, and classes – find it especially difficult to maintain their commitments to the ensemble.

Despite all of these obstacles, this orchestra is acquiring more members, and receiving more requests to perform. According to Padjen, this is good not only for the orchestra, but also for the public image of healthcare professionals. "Our activities may give patients confidence that we are human too. It also shows to medical students that this is possible, that this is something outside of medicine that doctors can do," he says.

In addition to its public relations function, the orchestra provides a creative outlet for the musicians themselves. For many, the need to play is so strong that some – like John Kimpel, a viola player – chose to attend McGill's medical school in part because of the orchestra.

For Padjen the value of the orchestra – and the music – is something more fundamental, and more elusive. "You practice and practice, but once you're done it's in the air. That's it, it's gone. That's the mystery of music in human life – and people need mystery in their daily lives."

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