Virtual pomp and circumstance prevailed on Thursday night in a graduation of 62 Mount Sinai residents, and while commencement exercises via Zoom have become the new normal, a special performance by celebrity performers added an element of surprise for the newly minted doctors: an original song written just for them. The ceremony was held by the Department of Medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital, which is part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
An offering of The Clear Day Project, the song, “Keep Your Head Up Child,” was written by actor Joe Tippett and performed by him and his Grammy award-winning collaborator, Sara Bareilles. The song was dedicated to the graduates of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and their instructors who have worked tirelessly and selflessly throughout the pandemic.
“Our Internal Medicine residents were on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Their dedication, compassion, and commitment were extraordinary. So I wanted to do something special for these residents who gave so much of themselves during this pandemic. I am thrilled that Sara Bareilles and Joe Tippett wrote this song to honor them and their hard work. I am so very grateful to them for recognizing their sacrifice and for helping us celebrate this important milestone in their medical careers,” says Barbara Murphy, MD, the Murray M. Rosenberg Professor of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Medicine for the Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health.
The Clear Day Project is a living theatre project co-founded by former Carnegie Mellon drama classmates Jordan Dean, Kersti Bryan, and Dan Amboyer. Mr. Dean had two surgeries, including a 13-hour open-heart surgery, at The Mount Sinai Hospital in 2019. Reacting to the gravity of the pandemic, Clear Day Project assembled an eclectic series of New York performers, including Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winners, to create artistic messages of gratitude and solidarity for front-line workers at the Mount Sinai Health System titled, “Songs for Mount Sinai”.
“The Clear Day Project was started as a space for New York City artists to bolster those most affected by COVID-19: the front-line workers and their families. We are in awe of the incredible, life-saving work performed by those on the front lines in the Mount Sinai Health System. Their tireless devotion to the people of New York during this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic deserves the highest recognition. We hope the graduates, their families, and staff love Joe and Sara’s performance as much as we do,” says Mr. Dean.