Neurosurgeon a musical talent
Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld has been playing music since the age of six when he learned the recorder before progressing to woodwind instruments including the clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn.
The hidden musical talent of an esteemed neurosurgeon will be revealed when he delivers a national academy performance in celebration of his 60th birthday.
Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld AM will celebrate his 60th birthday with an Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) performance at the South Melbourne Town Hall this weekend.
Playing the recorder and clarinet, which he mastered as a child, Professor Rosenfeld will perform in the chamber of music concert alongside ANAM student musicians selected from around Australia. He will be joined by two of Australia's most accomplished musicians - Paul Dean and Jeffrey Crellin.
The evening’s repertoire, coordinated by ANAM’s artistic director and clarinettist Paul Dean, will feature performances of a variety of musical selections including a recorder sonata by Handel with harpsichord and cello, the clarinet quintet by Mozart and the famous Gran Partita for 13 wind instruments by Mozart.
Professor Rosenfeld, Head of Monash University’s Department of Surgery and Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at The Alfred hospital, has been playing music since the age of six when he learned the recorder before progressing to woodwind instruments including the clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn.
“Performing alongside this first-rate, professional group of students and accomplished musicians is a great privilege,” Professor Rosenfeld said.
“Paul Dean and Jeffrey Crellin, who is principal oboe in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, are two of the finest woodwind players in the world. To perform with them on stage is very special and there’s no better way to celebrate this milestone.”
Professor Rosenfeld studied music over the years and performed with jazz groups and dance bands when he was a medical student. He went on to learn the saxophone and studied at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin in the US. He also studied classical music with Phillip Miechel, former principal clarinet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
“I performed in the Australian Youth Orchestra with long-standing friend Jeffrey Crellin in 1971 and I enjoy playing in the Australian Doctors Orchestra and Corpus Medicorum,” Professor Rosenfeld said.
Professor Rosenfeld is a campaign committee member for the new Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash.
“When I eventually retire from being a neurosurgeon, I look forward to completing a degree at the School of Music and studying conducting,” Professor Rosenfeld said.
“The new School of Music is a tremendous asset for Monash that will boost the University’s ability to provide the finest environment for developing the 21st century musician.”