In an article on Dr. Richard Kogan, an alumni of The Julliard School, Julliard wrote:

Parallel tracks as a pianist and psychiatrist would characterize the following 20 years of Dr. Kogan’s career until 10 years ago, when he was asked to present a symposium on musical creativity and mental illness at the American Psychiatric Association. In preparation for the symposium, he studied detailed biographies of composers he had played all of his life, such as Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, and discovered that many of them had experienced symptoms and syndromes that were similar to those of patients he had treated. He also recognized the enormous influence their illnesses had on their work and conversely the positive effects music had on their mental health. For example, Schumann’s bursts of creativity seemed to coincide with hypomanic episodes, characterized by sharpened imagination, increased energy, and decreased need for sleep, whereas when he was depressed, he almost never composed.

“We would say [today] that he suffered from bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness,” Dr. Kogan, 54, said in a recent interview. “Some of the most distinctive characteristics of his music, like the rapid oscillations and abrupt transitions, seemed to emerge naturally from the composer’s mood swings. Tchaikovsky, who faced ongoing depression and used alcohol to blunt his emotional pain, once said, ‘Without music, I would go insane.’ Beethoven demonstrated mood volatility, persecutory delusions, and suicidal ideation but showed a remarkable psychological resilience in transcending the trauma of his deafness through his decision to fulfill his artistic destiny.”

With a distinguished career both as a concert pianist and as a psychiatrist, Dr. Kogan will present a lecture and recital on Sunday, November 21. He will explore the connection between the mental illness and the creative genius of the composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Tickets are just $10 for the show.

Related: Catch a free concert performed by the 92nd Street Y Community Orchestra on February 13, 2011.

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