It was a lovely early autumn day, the sort upon which New England’s reputation rests. Color was beginning to seep into leaves that were being illuminated by a golden sun shining in a clear blue sky. Meanwhile, music from my car’s sound system was bathing my ears with glorious melodies. I was honing my visual and auditory senses to prepare for my rendezvous with Vincent DeLuise, MD.

A highly accomplished gentleman, he has excelled at both the arts and the sciences throughout his life. Professionally, DeLuise attended Weill Cornell Medical College and trained in ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (Miami) and the Francis Proctor Foundation (San Francisco). He then practiced ophthalmology for more than 30 years in Waterbury, CT. During this time, he became highly adept at microsurgical techniques for the eye. Though now retired, he continues to stay abreast of developments in his specialty.

Artistically, DeLuise possesses a lifetime love of music. The clarinet is his instrument—he began playing it during childhood and continues to play it at a high level—and classical music is his preferred genre. He recalls playing in a classical music recital at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology for many years. “Mozart is my passion,” he observes. “It aligns my neurons.”

He credits his melding of medical and musical skills to his parents. Noting that he had the good fortune to be born into a family that was medical and musical, he was exposed to both while growing up. When he was a medical student, he played a leading role in developing the Music and Medicine Initiative1 at Weill Cornell, a program that continues to this day.

Over the........

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