About the Israeli Doctors Orchestra

The Israeli Doctors Orchestra is a groundbreaking and unique national initiative that brings the worlds of medicine and music together under one roof.

Founded in 2025 through the vision of Dr. Orit Gourgy Hacohen and established together with conductor and musical director Mr. Dudi Sofer, the orchestra operates as a registered non-profit organization. It is comprised of dozens of physicians from across Israel, representing a diverse range of medical specialties.

Our musicians perform entirely on a volunteer basis, united by a profound calling to play for vital medical and philanthropic causes.

With this initiative, Israel proudly joins a celebrated global tradition of physician orchestras in the world’s cultural capitals, highlighting the compassion, humanity, and creativity of the Israeli medical community.

Since its inception, the orchestra has performed in schools and for frontline medical staff. Today, we are driven by an incredible momentum as we prepare for our upcoming performances, which include a special benefit concert. This initiative, alongside our other projects and concerts, is designed to resonate deeply, touch hearts, support the community, and raise essential funds for medical and social causes.

We invite you to be a part of our musical journey—where sound heals, and melody becomes medicine.

Founder and Chairwoman Dr Orit Gourgy Hacohen

Dr. Gourgy Hacohen is an MD-PhD graduate from Tel Aviv University. After completing her PhD in Physiology, she relocated to the United States to pursue research in Allergy and Immunology. During her time in California, she spearheaded the establishment of a multi-center asthma education unit focused at John Muir Health. Upon returning to Israel in 2017, she joined Carmel Medical Center where she completed her residency in internal medicine, and served as an attending physician. She completed her allergy and immunology fellowship in Israel, and today, she serves as an Allergy and Immunology specialist at Carmel Medical Center and throughout the Haifa and Western Galilee District.

Alongside her extensive medical career, Dr. Gourgy Hacohen is an accomplished flute player. She has performed both as a soloist and as a dedicated ensemble member in numerous orchestras, including the World Doctors Orchestra (WDO).

“The journey to founding the Israeli Doctors’ Orchestra began in 2016. While living in California, I was first introduced to the World Doctors Orchestra. After returning to Israel, I had the privilege of organizing the first and only international WDO session in the country in 2019, envisioned by Dr Ronald Strauss. Since then, I have continued to represent Israel at multiple WDO gatherings around the globe.

In 2025, I decided to establish the Israeli Doctors’ Orchestra to serve as a home for our local physician-musician community. My vision is to use music as a bridge—to inspire our healthcare teams and, together with them, raise vital resources for life-changing humanitarian and social causes. Our ultimate goal is to turn every note into a gesture of giving.”

Musical director and conductor Mr. David (Dudi) Sofer

Mr Sofer is a conductor and pianist, In his work, Dodi combines artistic excellence with an educational and social vision, and dedicates himself to cultivating the next generation of musicians in Israel.

a graduate of the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. He specialized in conducting under the guidance of renowned mentors, including Yoav Talmi and Ronen Borshevsky, and participated in prestigious masterclasses with Maestro Zubin Mehta and Prof. Noam Sheriff.

Sofer currently serves as the Musical Director and Chief Conductor for several esteemed ensembles: the Thelma Yellin Symphony Orchestra, the Technion Symphony Orchestra, the HaSharon Orchestra of Herzliya, and the Hod HaSharon Intergenerational Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he frequently appears as a guest conductor with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra, and the Ra’anana Symphonette.

Beyond the concert stage, Sofer is deeply committed to educational and community leadership. He serves as the Director of the Herzliya Municipal Conservatory and is the Artistic Director of both “Interwoven Sounds” (Tzlilim Shluvim)—an educational concert series in collaboration with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra—and the “Alhan” program, which promotes Jewish-Arab partnership through the power of music.

Today he is a co-founder of the Israeli Doctors Orchestra and serves as its musical director, while harnessing his rich experience to lead the unique enterprise

Meet our board of directors

Dr. Max Frist

Max Frist, psychiatrist at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center – Kfar Shaul. With a background in musicology prior to medical studies, currently integrating mental health and music in my professional practice

Prof. Shai Hacohen Gorgi

Physicist and head of a laboratory and research team at the Technion in the field of quantum computing. Additionally, founder and CTO of the startup company “Quamcore”

Dr. Dekel Homotzani Hagag

Intern at Meir Medical Center. Clarinet player. “Ah, music… A magic beyond all we do here!”

Dr. Yitzhak Eden

Specialist in psychiatry at Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot. Violinist. “Music is therapy without words”

Dr. Nurit Shelfman

Specialist in psychiatry and medical administration. Director of the Patient Safety Unit at Meir Medical Center. French horn player. “For me, playing music is mindfulness—it connects me to the past, present, and future.”

Dr. Rauma Shapira

Specialist in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. In 2019, she retired from managing the Emergency Department at Emek Medical Center. Since then, she has been working as a family physician in a private clinic in Haifa. Alongside her work as a physician, she plays the viola in orchestras and chamber ensembles and plays basketball in the women’s league (the oldest active player in the league)