From left: Nadir Aslam; Kristin Olson; Andrea Wolf, MD; and Andrew Kaufman, MD
Kristin Olson and Nadir Aslam, professional musicians who met when they were treated for recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung) at The Mount Sinai Hospital in August 2015, ardently believe in the power of music to soothe and heal. After treatment, they asked their surgeons—Andrea Wolf, MD, and Andrew Kaufman, MD, both Assistant Professors of Thoracic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai—if they could perform free baroque chamber music concerts for staff, patients, and visitors. Ms. Olson, an oboist, and Mr. Aslam, a violinist, have since given two performances with guest musicians in the Guggenheim Pavilion, and now are working with the Mount Sinai Department of Volunteer Services to start a regular series of concerts.