YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow.com)–An orchestra made up of medical professionals will perform a charity concert in Yerevan on January 17.

A group of 80 representing the World Doctors Orchestra arrived this week. Most of the orchestra members have come to Armenia for the first time.

Founded in 2007 by Stefan Wilich, Professor of Medicine at the Charite University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany, the orchestra exists “to make medical care more accessible and develop medical policy throughout the world through music,” according to its founder.

Wilich created the orchestra by placing announcements in medical journals and on the Internet (www.world-doctors-orchestra.org). Currently the orchestra has some 400 members in 20 countries.

All 1,300 tickets for Sunday’s concert at the Aram Khachaturyan Concert Hall sold out, with proceeds from the performance going to benefit the Prkutyun center for disabled children. All of the musicians from 12 countries travel at their own expense. Among the group are six Armenians, including three from Armenia.

A special concert has been added for Saturday, 4.00 p.m. which will be free.

World Doctors Orchestra Armenia representative Armine Mazhinyan, who helped organize the concert, is a dentist and violinist. She will have her second performance as part of the group.

The soloist of the concert will be the Germany-based violinist and laureate of several prestigious prizes Sergey Khachatryan. The 25-year-old plays a 1708 Haggins Stradivarius instrument.

Compositions by Alexander Harutyunyan, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven will be performed by the Orchestra during the concert.

“We chose not to perform Aram Khachaturyan, because Armenians know his music pretty well,” Wilich said.