For The Love Of America
By Sally Bishai (03/06/06)
I recently had the opportunity to attend a concert at the auditorium of the Pentagon.
The “artist” was actually a group of artists, each of whom has an affiliation with the VA.
This group, collectively known as the Veteran’s National Medical Musical Group (VA-NMMG), is made up of doctors and nurses and other medical folks who also work for various chapters of the Veteran’s Administration.
The NMMG meets up twice a year--each person paying his or her own way--to bring the healing message of hope to those who have served their country, and those who are still serving their country.
The venues for these musical concerts (well, the Veteran‘s Day Concert, anyway), which generally feature choral and symphonic music played and sung by these hard-working doctors, have included Carnegie Hall, the White House, and several international destinations. And the Pentagon, obviously.
There is also a yearly Flag Day Concert which is generally held at Capitol Hill, although the concert that I attended last month was actually the group’s first-ever “Valentine’s Day Concert,” which I am confident will develop into an annual thing.
The show always has some fun guest hosts and performers, such as Cokie Roberts, Ed McMahon, Bill Kurtis, Pat Boone, Shirley Jones, Andy Williams, Lee Greenwood, Mara Liasson, Eric Braeden, Tony Blankley, a ton of senators and congressman, not to mention the guy from The McLaughlin Group.
Furthermore (check out some recent photos of some of these people at www.xculturemag.com and hit “Politics and Photography”), the musicians are really standouts. From the dedicated choir-members to such evocative soloists as SFC Antonio Giuliano, Dr. Joe Harrell and opera sensation Susan Joy, from the orchestra to the group’s gifted founder and conductor Dr. Victor Wahby, it’s a proven fact that one can’t easily find a more enthusiastic bunch!
At any rate, visit www.medicalmusical.org for more information on this special group of people, and pray to God that they’ll hold a concert in your neck of the woods in the near future!
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Corrections from last time:
The English translation of Dr. Sallam’s note of resignation originated at:
http://freecopts.blogspot.com/2006/03/head-of-pediatrics-department-resigns.html
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