Dr. Marc Ruel is not only a cardiac surgeon, but he is also a pianist. As the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra opens its 2026-27 season with “The Measure of Us” on Saturday night, the concert will feature Dr. Ruel as a soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor.” The performance is presented in support of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation. “It’s also my great honour to support the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, an institution I have been part of, first as a trainee and then as a faculty member, for almost 30 of its 50 years,” Ruel said in a media release. The performance, called “The Measure of Us”, is taking place on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on Lisgar Street. “It is a true joy to bring friends and colleagues together to make music in support of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute,” Eve Legault, artistic director conductor for “The Measure of Us”, said. “The inspiration for this project came after Dr. Marc Ruel restored my father’s health through open-heart surgery.” While Ruel performs around 225 surgeries a year, he still says being behind the piano is “a little bit nerve wracking.” “In surgery you face a lot of very difficult situations, but you always have the luxury of, okay, you can take a few seconds, right?” he says. “In performance arts like music and ballet you don’t have that luxury.” Following the performance, guests are invited to a benefit reception in support of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation. Benefit reception tickets are $100 per person. Concert admission is sold separately, and a reception ticket is required to attend, according to the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.
