TCSYO String Quartet Performs at
the Chantilly Wegmans to an enthusiastic crowd!

FROM CHAPEL TO COFFEEHOUSE Empowerment & Community at Georgetown Lombardi’s Poetry Cafe Julia Langley (far right) with members of the Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities program. Photo credit: C. Cascio (June 15, 2018) — As Carl Powell Jr. tapped out a quick beat on a djembe drum, Julia Langley, faculty director of the Georgetown Lombardi Arts & Humanities program, welcomed members of the Georgetown Lombardi community to the third annual Poetry Cafe in the chapel at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. “The program’s role here is to encourage a creative and constructive response to illness for patients, staff, caregivers and students,” she said at the June 7 event. “To that end, we bring to the hospital musicians, dancers, expressive writers and visual artists to work with all of our communities in promoting holistic health care and wellness.” While converting a chapel into a coffeehouse may seem like an unusual practice, the intersection of spirituality and the arts goes back centuries. “Historically, the church in the early ages was a center for cultivating the arts. It was the public square where artists and writers and musicians were able to display and perform their works,” said Deacon Thomas (Tom) Devaney, director of Mission and Pastoral Care at the hospital. (continue reading)

A TCSYO quartet performed for a packed house at Sunrise Assisted Living at Reston Town Center.  Sunrise management was impressed and invited the quartet back for a holiday performance.  “These young ladies were wonderful and captured the hearts of our residents with their beautiful music.”  TCSYO is committed to reaching out to bring the arts to everyone in the community.

Georgetown University Hospital/Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center invited a quartet from TCSYO's Symphonic Orchestra to perform for patients and staff.  It was a welcome dose of holiday cheer for those needing it most.  Strains of The First Noel, Mozart's Divertimenti and Adeste Fideles reverberated throughout the hallways and into the rooms, bringing smiles to patients young and old and their visiting families and applause from grateful nurses and doctors.  TCSYO salutes Georgetown University Hospital/Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center for making music and arts a vital part of the healing process.  TCSYO is honored to participate in this effort.