Virtual Alumni Concert | Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences

For the past two years, the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences has run a Reunion Weekend for the alumni of the Medical School and the Dental School.

Whilst reunion activities will not be happening this year due to restrictions, past cohorts expressed a strong interest in connecting with old classmates. As a result, the MDHS Alumni Team coordinated a digital reunion program to supplement missed catch-up activities.

One of the highlights of this virtual reunion program was a specially-commissioned concert, with music pre-recorded at the Athanaeum Theatre in Melbourne. The concert was performed by musicians from Corpus Medicorum, a Melbourne-based orchestra of doctors, medical students, and health professionals.

Corpus Medicorum is made up of talented individuals who are devoted professionally to public health and for whom the orchestra provides a satisfying creative outlet during their gruelling years of medical training. For example, one of the speakers, Dr. Malcolm Grenness, is both a double bass player in the orchestra and a busy dental practice owner in Hobart. Many orchestra members are University of Melbourne alumni and students.

The concert was hosted by our Head of School, Professor Alastair Sloan, who along with Dr. Malcolm Grenness, facilitated the live discussion and Q&A with the musicians after the performance. This was then followed by individual class networking Zoom events.

Perhaps because of the accessible nature of the concert, almost all cohort groups were represented in the audience, from the 10-year cohort (class of 2010) to the 50-year cohort (1970). It was fantastic to see so many individuals from different year groups tuning in for the first digital reunion program in the Faculty’s history.

A violinist performing