PROFESSIONHeartfelt composition deals with life-and-death conflictsInspired by his cardiac surgeon father, a composer creates an opera about a heart transplant.By Damon Adams, amednews staff. Nov. 11, 2002. In one Houston operating room, the surgeon sings bass, and a chamber orchestra plays during the procedure. Welcome to the drama of "Breath of Life," an opera being crafted by composer Todd Frazier, whose father is Houston thoracic and transplant surgeon Bud Frazier, MD. While in high school and college, Todd Frazier worked in a research lab and regularly watched his father perform heart transplants at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston. He discovered the artistry and beauty of the transplants, the thrill of seeing life beating anew with another heart. About a year ago, he began drawing upon those memories for inspiration to write an opera. "I was just always fascinated that this heart, when it's sewn into the recipient and the blood is let in, just sort of erupts and starts beating. It's like you're watching creation," said Frazier, 33, who wrote his first opera while in college. "Breath of Life" deals with the conflicts that surround a transplant -- life and death, fact and faith, technology and humanity, Frazier said. The Society for the Performing Arts will present the opera, likely in spring 2004, at Houston's Wortham Theater Center. "Art is a commentary on the times, and this is a commentary on modern times and modern challenges. Music can intensify and make it personal to people," said Frazier, founder and executive director of the American Festival for the Arts, a nonprofit organization in Houston. In the opera, a priest comforts a blind mother who wrestles with donating the heart of the young daughter she has lost. The heart recipient argues with his wife and questions if the girl's heart will keep him alive. An intern assisting the surgeon tells him of her spiritual dilemma because ancient Japanese beliefs say removal of someone's heart is akin to removing the soul.
[...]
Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewed
Nov. 9 issueHouse option for public plan wouldn't limit physician pay to Medicare rates New database for out-of-network pay set to replace disputed Ingenix system Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoGenetic testing issues land in primary care practices Nov. 8, 2004 
|
SHARE
