Healing hands and soothing music steal the show at annual seminar
This year's DeeDee Arrison Holistic and Integrative Wellness Seminar featured Dr. Carolina Medina, a Clinical
Assistant Professor from the University of Florida's College of Veterinary
Medicine. In lectures and presentations offered throughout the day,
she explored various aspects and the therapeutic benefits of acupuncture. A
special performance by Rising Stars of the Stradivari Society was held at
12:45.
In morning sessions, Dr. Medina provided an introductory overview of acupuncture, including acupuncture's mechanisms of action,
acupuncture point locations, methods of acupuncture stimulation, clinical
indications, and contra-indications. She also offered a more advanced presentation that explored the therapeutic benefits of acupuncture, including an overview of veterinary research and a discussion of
case examples related to the research studies presented. 
In the afternoon, Dr. Medina (pictured at left, standing) was assisted by Dr. Ingrid Rhinehart, a graduate of Cornell's DVM class of 2010, in a laboratory that allowed people to practice the techniques and skills discussed in the morning sessions. The hands-on opportunity focused on defining the anatomical location of commonly used acupuncture points, how to needle acupuncture points, how to perform an acupuncture treatment, and how to remove acupuncture needles.
For the third consecutive year (as long as the series has existed), Rising Stars of the Stradivari have performed. Timothy Fain, who has emerged as a mesmerizing presence on the music scene, has performed at Cornell every year.
The “charismatic young violinist with a matinee idol profile, strong musical
instincts, and first rate chops” (Boston Globe) was featured as the sound of
Richard Gere’s violin in Bee Season. Selected as one of Symphony magazine’s
“Up-and-Coming Young Musicians of 2006,” and a StradMagazine 2007 “Pick of Up
and Coming Musicians,” Fain has recently captured the Avery Fisher Career Grant
and a Young Concert Artists International Award. As The Washington Post
raved, “Fain has everything he needs for a first-rate career.”
This year, Tim was joined by 16-year-old violinst Anna Lee who was born in Seoul, Korea, and
started playing violin at age 4. When she was 5, she performed the Paganini
Violin Concerto with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and at age 6 she played
the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Bradell Heights Symphony Orchestra
(Singapore). Anna has participated in the Aspen Music Festival on a full
scholarship where she gave a live National Public Radio performance to much
acclaim. In 2006, Anna made her Avery Fisher Hall debut playing with the Little
Orchestra Society. In 2007, Anna was a top Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
scholarship winner on the NPR Program From the Top, and she was recently named a
Young Scholar by the same Foundation.
She has also appeared on the radio shows,
Good Morning Singapore and Good Morning Japan and she has claimed top prizes in
the 2010 Menhuhin Competition. In April 2011, she played with the New York
Philharmonic after winning their Young Artist Competition. Anna attends the
pre-college division of the Juilliard School on a full scholarship where she has
studied with Masao Kawasaki since age 6. Her violin was made by Nicolo Amati
violin in 1637, and it is on loan from the Stradivari Society.
Both Tim and Anna were accompanied by pianist Robert Koenig, who has quickly established a reputation as a much sought-after collaborative pianist and chamber musician. He performs regularly in major centers throughout the world with many of this generation’s most renowned musicians. Recent engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, The Concertgebuow in Amsterdam, and the Louvre Museum in Paris. He has performed with many of today’s leading artists including Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Pamela Frank, Roberto Diaz, Elmar Oliveira, and Aaron Rosand.
