A patient at a British hospital played Mahler and Gershwin on the violin while a tumour was removed from her brain.
Dagmar Turner performed the act so that surgeons could preserve her ability to play music.
The 53-year-old former management consultant from the Isle of Wight was diagnosed in 2013 with a slow-growing tumour after suffering a seizure during a concert.
She had radiotherapy to treat the tumour but, when it became more aggressive last year, she decided to undergo surgery to have it removed.
Ms Turner played her violin during an operation to remove a tumour from the right frontal lobe of her brain.