Classical music for a good cause: The Faculty of Medicine MU organizes the first benefit concert to build a memorial to body donors
The Medical Students' Association of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University has received a unique opportunity to organize a concert in support of the construction of a memorial to body donors to be built at the Central Cemetery in Brno. Every year, the Faculty pays tribute to the body donors by holding a commemorative meeting during the Souls' Day period, but we want to build a dignified place where the bereaved can come to honour the memory of their dead. The concert will feature one of the finest violinists of his generation, the young Czech violinist Josef Špaček, accompanied by the Collegium musicum chamber orchestra conducted by Filip Urban.
"Whether we educate future surgeons, orthopedists, neurologists, dentists or even physiotherapists, no medical student can do without the study of anatomy. Anatomy is absolutely fundamental for a doctor. It is an everyday topic that our students come into contact with from their first year. Some would say 'Queen of the medical sciences'. But regardless of the advances and technologies that my generation could only dream of, what was true hundreds and thousands of years ago is still true today. That nothing in the study of anatomy can replace working with the real human body. The experience a student gains from practical training on human bodies is absolutely non-transferable and constitutes the basis for all medical professions," says doc. MUDr. Marek Joukal, Ph.D.
Generations of medical students have passed, are passing and will pass through the Anatomical Institute of the Faculty of Medicine. In the course of their studies, they learn about the structure and arrangement of the organ systems of the human body, which would not be possible without the noble decision of voluntary donors who agree in the form of a donor contract that after death their body will be used for the purpose of teaching future doctors. Since 2018, the Institute, in cooperation with the Society of Medics of the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University, organises an annual commemorative event on the occasion of the feast of the deceased. Now it is a great wish to build a memorial to the body donors at the Central Cemetery in Brno, thus expressing our gratitude to all donors of bodies for anatomical dissections. The cost of the reconstruction of the existing memorial and other modifications is approaching one million crowns, so the students from the Medical Students' Association of the Faculty of Medicine have set up a collection on a transparent account.
This year, we managed to establish contact with one of the best violinists of his generation, the young Czech virtuoso Josef Špáček, in order to present the first benefit concert of the MU Faculty of Medicine. The concert will take place on 5 May 2023 at 7 pm at the Jan Amos Komenský Evangelical Church on Komenský Square in Brno (Red Church). The concert will feature works by Jean Sibelius - Pelléas et Mélisande Op. 46 and Ludwig van Beethoven - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major Op. 61, accompanied by the Collegium musicum chamber orchestra. The concert is conducted by Filip Urban, who belongs to the youngest generation of Czech conductors. Admission to the concert is voluntary and it is also possible to donate directly to the account 2901871435/2010. Proceeds from the concert will be used by the Medical Association of the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical University of Prague to build a memorial to the body donors.
Josef Špaček is currently combining a successful solo career with a career as concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The Czech version of Forbes magazine included him among the most important young Czech personalities in the "30 under 30" poll. He plays a "LeBrun; Bouthillard" Guarneri del Gesù violin c. 1732 on loan from Ingles & Hayday.
