I hope Mike Lasserson was watching over us at the Sage, Gatehead, last November. There we were — a 90-strong amateur orchestra furiously rehearsing Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony — brought to a resounding silence just seconds later not by the baton of a powerful conductor, but by being asked to remember Mike. It was a profoundly moving moment for those of us who had known him.
The European Doctors Orchestra was created in 2004 by Mike, a London-based GP, and a few other medical musicians, growing rapidly in stature from a sketchy idea to an established symphony orchestra, with players from all over Europe. We have travelled as far as Bucharest and Budapest, meeting twice yearly in different countries for intense and long weekends of music making. The only requirement for players is to work hard and play hard. On Friday mornings we are reticent and retiring; by Sunday afternoon we are performing with creative confidence.
Mike was diagnosed in early 2011 with metastatic mucosal melanoma. We played without him in Oslo in May while he underwent palliative treatment, and he died in July. While grateful patients will remember his quiet care, a whole orchestra ensures his musical legacy lives on (www.europeandoctorsorchestra.com).