Beirut, March 02, 2020: The Cancer Support Fund (CSF) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in collaboration with Al Bustan Music Festival held a walk-in concert Entitled “Beethoven – Where Hope Grows”. The concert was led by the internationally renowned pianist Gloria Campaner who serenaded cancer patients and guests with the “Moonlight” Sonata.
The CSF is a charitable initiative at the AUBMC’s Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute and one of its main pillars is to bring financial and psychological support to underprivileged adult cancer patients and their families. This time the fund chose to bring them a new kind of support that is healing through music.
“Music has been around since the start of civilization and has played an integral role in human life. It has been referred to as a universal language, an acoustic phenomenon, a symbolic medium and an agent of change. The idea that music has healing powers goes back to ancient times. Apollo was the god of both music and healing. Hippocrates is said to have played music to help treat his patients. In the Old Testament, King Saul’s fits of depression were alleviated by the music of young David. As the Director of NKBCI and co-founder of the Cancer Support Fund, I strongly believe that active music engagement will allow all patients, especially cancer patients, to reconnect with the healthy parts of themselves, even in the face of their debilitating condition. Today, we are leading the move in Lebanon by bringing the arts into our hospital environment through musical performances,” said Dr. Ali Taher, Director of Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute and Co-founder of the Cancer Support Fund.
“We are fighting cancer with music, we are beating sickness with art, today our medical combat doesn’t come with hospital instruments, today our battle is melodic. To date, we have helped in less than a year 225 patients,” added Ms. Hala Dahdah Abou Jaber, President and Founder of Cancer Support Fund.
The event was organized in collaboration with Al Bustan Music Festival, to alleviate cancer patients’ suffering and divert their mind from the illness. “AUBMC is the place where Hope grows, when we face a problem, hope is renewed we salute cancer patients and their courage and wish them all the best, music gives hope and healing powers and we hope we can spread this to our beloved patients,” said Ms. Laura El Khazen Lahoud, Vice President of Al Bustan Music Festival.
The event took place at the AUBMC, Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Building Lobby where the baby grand Yamaha piano, generously offered by Mr. Salim Abou Samra, found its new home. The piano was painted by Billy The Artist, who donates his time to paint pianos in collaboration with the New York based NGO Sing for Hope whose mission is to spread music and art to those who need it the most in healthcare facilities and schools. In addition to it being a special piece of art, the piano is also signed by music icons like Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora, manifesting its uniqueness even further.
This occasion is a continuity of a series of events during which the CSF will go on to lead on the initiative of combining art and medicine to make it an integral part of the patient recovery journey. The CSF continues to stand by its patients, offering them the newest treatments available, despite the difficult times that Lebanon is facing. Such efforts bring to life and reaffirm the CSF’s vision of being the national and regional reference for adult cancer patient treatment and support.
About AUBMC
Since 1902, AUBMC has been providing the highest standards of care to patients across Lebanon and the region. It is also the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at AUB (established in 1867), which has trained generations of medical students and physicians, and whose graduates can be found at leading institutions around the world. AUBMC is the only medical institution in the Middle East to have earned the five international accreditations of JCI, Magnet, CAP, ACGME-I and JACIE attesting to its superior standards in patient-centered care, nursing, pathology/laboratory services and graduate medical education.
The Faculty of Medicine has graduated over 4,000 medical students and physicians; the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing provides excellent education for the nursing staff, and the Medical Center meets the healthcare needs of over 360,000 patient visits annually.