According to Dr. Joel Ang, his vocation as a full-time family physician and his avocation as a violinist are irrevocably intertwined.
In family medicine, he explained, “you have to think of a patient as someone who is multidimensional. In music, you do the same thing. You're trying to put things together, trying to work on very specific details of that piece.”
Born in the Philippines, Dr. Ang was raised in Raleigh, N.C., where he started playing violin at the age of 12 years in an orchestra at the public school he attended and went on to excel with the instrument. He enrolled in music camps each summer, played in state orchestras in high school, and earned a spot in the Duke University Symphony in Durham, N.C., as a college undergraduate.
He kept playing during medical school—though not as much as he would have liked—and viewed his avocation as “a way to keep stress from building up.”
As he improved, he became intrigued by the technical demands of the violin, noting that “a lot of brain power and technical work is required before you achieve proficiency with the instrument,” said Dr. Ang, who practices family medicine in Washington.
These days, Dr. Ang is a violinist with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Association orchestra and serves as its associate concertmaster. He is also a member of the World Doctors Orchestra, which convenes twice a year for concerts in different cities around the globe and donates concert proceeds to charity (www.world-doctors-orchestra.org). The group's most recent performance was in Berlin on July 4, 2009, an experience that was unforgettable for Dr. Ang.
“Berlin was a standout because the music our conductor chose was pretty difficult, a piece by [the late composer] Gustav Mahler,” he said. “The symphony was about 75 minutes long, and we only had 4 days to rehearse before the performance. We played from 9 a.m. until about 6 p.m. each day. It was a pretty intense time, but it was good because I shared it with close to 100 other physicians. It was inspirational to me.”
Dr. Ang practices on a daily basis and is currently taking private lessons from a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra. “I keep myself pretty full with the music,” he said.
Steered Clear of Burnout
When Dr. Marilyn Kellam started practicing internal medicine in 1985, she quickly realized that she could easily become a “serious workaholic” if she didn't find an outlet for creativity.
“I could see it coming that I could spend all of my time in the hospital taking care of patients,” said Dr. Kellam, who currently practices at Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox, Va. “This drove me to make sure that I had a healthy mix of work and avocation and to make sure that I was more well rounded.”
That outlet became singing, an avocation she pursued after attending a production of “The Fantasticks” at the local Trawler Dinner Theater. The cast members “looked like they were having so much fun,” recalled Dr. Kellam, who took piano lessons as a youngster but no formal voice lessons. After the show, attendees were informed that the theatre's next production would be Camelot. Dr. Kellam decided that she “would like to get involved with that show in some way,” so she auditioned and earned a role as a tree.
“It also turned out to be a part as one of the ladies of the roundtable,” she said. “I also got a part as a singer and dancer as part of the chorus. At the first rehearsal, I was totally hooked; I was sucked in.”
Mindful that she would benefit from professional voice training she enrolled at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne and took personal lessons from voice teacher Dr. Gerald W. Johnson for several years, developing a proficiency in classical music style. She performed in about 35 productions at the Trawler Dinner Theater under the direction of Judi Beck before it closed in 2000.
Determined to pursue singing as a creative outlet, she auditioned for a role in a production of Turandot staged by the Norfolk-based Virginia Opera. She earned a role in the chorus, and since then has performed in about two Virginia Opera productions each year and has understudied for some principal roles as well.
“When I'm involved with an opera it only involves 2 months of my time,” she said. “But it's an intense amount of time. It involves rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and commuting 60 miles each way.”