ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert Gupta - Violinist
Violinist Robert Gupta joined the LA Philharmonic at the age of 19 -- and maintains a passionate parallel interest in neurobiology and mental health issues. He's a TED Senior Fellow.

Why you should listen

Violinist Robert Vijay Gupta joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 19. He made his solo debut, at age 11, with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. He has a Master's in music from Yale. But his undergraduate degree? Pre-med. As an undergrad, Gupta was part of several research projects in neuro- and neurodegenerative biology. He held Research Assistant positions at CUNY Hunter College in New York City, where he worked on spinal cord neuronal regeneration, and at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine Center for Neurologic Diseases, where he studied the biochemical pathology of Parkinson's disease.

Gupta is passionate about education and outreach, both as a musician and as an activist for mental health issues. He has the privilege of working with Nathaniel Ayers, the brilliant, schizophrenic musician featured in "The Soloist," as his violin teacher.

More profile about the speaker
Robert Gupta | Speaker | TED.com
TED2010

Robert Gupta: Music is medicine, music is sanity

Robert Gupta: la musica è medicina, la musica è benessere

Filmed:
1,333,855 views

Robert Gupta, violinista della Philarmonic Orchestra di Los Angeles, parla di una lezione che una volta impartì ad un brillante musicista affetto da schizofrenia -- e di cosa apprese. In seguito, richiamato sul palcoscenico, Gupta suona la sua personale trascrizione del preludio tratto dalla suite per violoncello No. 1 di Bach.
- Violinist
Violinist Robert Gupta joined the LA Philharmonic at the age of 19 -- and maintains a passionate parallel interest in neurobiology and mental health issues. He's a TED Senior Fellow. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
One day, LosLos AngelesAngeles TimesVolte columnisteditorialista
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Un giorno, il cronista del Los Angeles Times
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SteveSteve LopezLopez was walkinga passeggio alonglungo
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Steve Lopez stava passeggiando
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the streetsstrade of downtowncentro LosLos AngelesAngeles
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per le strade del centro di Los Angeles
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when he heardsentito beautifulbellissimo musicmusica.
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quando sentì una musica bellissima.
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And the sourcefonte was a man,
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Essa proveniva da un uomo,
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an African-AmericanAfrican-American man,
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un uomo afro-americano,
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charmingaffascinante, ruggedrobusto, homelesssenzatetto,
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affascinante, con i tratti marcati, senza dimora,
00:33
playinggiocando a violinviolino that only had two stringsstringhe.
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che suonava un violino che aveva solamente due corde.
00:36
And I'm tellingraccontare a storystoria that manymolti of you know,
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Sto raccontando una storia che molti di voi conoscono,
00:38
because Steve'sDi Steve columnscolonne becamedivenne the basisbase
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perché gli articoli di Steve servirono da base
00:41
for a booklibro, whichquale was turnedtrasformato into a moviefilm,
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per la cstesura di un libro, che, in seguito, venne adattato al grande schermo,
00:44
with RobertRobert DowneyDowney JrJr. actingrecitazione as SteveSteve LopezLopez,
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con Robert Downey Jr che interpretava la parte di Steve Lopez,
00:46
and JamieJamie FoxxFoxx as NathanielNathaniel AnthonyAnthony AyersAyers,
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e Jamie Foxx nella parte di Nathaniel Anthony Ayers,
00:49
the Juilliard-trainedAddestrato a Juilliard doubleraddoppiare bassistbassista
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il contrabbassista formatosi alla Juilliard
00:51
whosedi chi promisingpromettente careercarriera was cuttagliare shortcorto
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la cui promettente carriera fu interrotta
00:54
by a tragictragico afflictionafflizione with paranoidParanoid schizophreniaschizofrenia.
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a causa della schizofrenia paranoide della quale era tragicamente affetto.
00:58
NathanielNathaniel droppedcaduto out of JuilliardJuilliard, he sufferedsubito a completecompletare breakdownripartizione,
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Nathaniel lasciò la Juilliard, ebbe un terribile esaurimento nervoso,
01:00
and 30 yearsanni laterdopo he was livingvita homelesssenzatetto
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e 30 anni più tardi viveva come un senza tetto
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on the streetsstrade of SkidSkid RowRiga in downtowncentro LosLos AngelesAngeles.
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per le strade di Skid Row nel centro di Los Angeles.
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I encourageincoraggiare all of you to readleggere Steve'sDi Steve booklibro or to watch the moviefilm
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Invito tutti voi a leggere il libro di Steve oppure a guardare il film
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to understandcapire not only the beautifulbellissimo bondlegame
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per capire non solo il bellissimo legame
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that formedformato betweenfra these two menuomini,
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che si creò tra questi due uomini,
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but how musicmusica helpedaiutato shapeforma that bondlegame,
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01:17
and ultimatelyin definitiva was instrumentalInstrumental -- if you'llpotrai pardonperdono the pungioco di parole --
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01:20
in helpingporzione NathanielNathaniel get off the streetsstrade.
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01:24
I metincontrato MrSignor. AyersAyers in 2008,
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two yearsanni agofa, at WaltWalt DisneyDisney ConcertConcerto HallHall.
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01:28
He had just heardsentito a performanceprestazione of Beethoven'sDi Beethoven First and FourthQuarto symphoniesSinfonie,
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01:31
and cameè venuto backstagedietro le quinte and introducedintrodotto himselflui stesso.
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01:33
He was speakingA proposito di in a very jovialgioviale and gregariousgregario way
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01:36
about Yo-YoYo-yo MaMa and HillaryHillary ClintonClinton
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01:39
and how the DodgersDodgers were never going to make the WorldMondo SeriesSerie,
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01:41
all because of the treacherousinfido first violinviolino passagepassaggio work
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01:44
in the last movementmovimento of Beethoven'sDi Beethoven FourthQuarto SymphonySinfonia.
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01:48
And we got talkingparlando about musicmusica, and I got an emaile-mail from SteveSteve a fewpochi daysgiorni laterdopo
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01:52
sayingdetto that NathanielNathaniel was interestedinteressato in a violinviolino lessonlezione with me.
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01:56
Now, I should mentioncitare that NathanielNathaniel refusesrifiuta treatmenttrattamento
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01:59
because when he was treatedtrattati it was with shockshock therapyterapia
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02:02
and ThorazineThorazine and handcuffsmanette,
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02:04
and that scarcicatrice has stayedrimasto with him for his entireintero life.
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02:08
But as a resultrisultato now, he is proneincline to
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02:10
these schizophrenicschizofrenico episodesepisodi,
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02:12
the worstpeggio of whichquale can manifestmanifesto themselvesloro stessi as
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02:14
him explodingche esplode
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02:16
and then disappearingscomparendo for daysgiorni,
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02:18
wanderingGirovagando the streetsstrade of SkidSkid RowRiga,
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02:20
exposedesposto to its horrorsorrori, with the tormenttormento of his ownproprio mindmente
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02:24
unleashedscatenato uponsu him.
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02:26
And NathanielNathaniel was in suchcome a statestato of agitationagitazione
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when we startediniziato our first lessonlezione at WaltWalt DisneyDisney ConcertConcerto HallHall --
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02:32
he had a kindgenere of manicmaniacale glintglint in his eyesocchi,
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he was lostperduto.
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And he was talkingparlando about
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invisibleinvisibile demonsdemoni and smokefumo,
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and how someonequalcuno was poisoningavvelenamento him in his sleepdormire.
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02:45
And I was afraidimpaurito,
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not for myselfme stessa, but I was afraidimpaurito
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that I was going to loseperdere him,
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02:52
that he was going to sinkLavello into one of his statesstati,
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02:54
and that I would ruinrovinare his relationshiprelazione with the violinviolino
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02:57
if I startediniziato talkingparlando about scalesbilancia
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and arpeggiosarpeggi and other excitingemozionante formsforme of
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didacticdidattico violinviolino pedagogypedagogia.
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03:03
(LaughterRisate)
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So, I just startediniziato playinggiocando.
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And I playedgiocato the first movementmovimento of the BeethovenBeethoven ViolinViolino ConcertoConcerto.
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03:11
And as I playedgiocato,
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I understoodinteso that there was a profoundprofondo changemodificare
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occurringverificano in Nathaniel'sDi Nathaniel eyesocchi.
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It was as if he was in the grippresa of some invisibleinvisibile pharmaceuticalfarmaceutico,
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03:21
a chemicalchimico reactionreazione, for whichquale my playinggiocando the musicmusica
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03:25
was its catalystcatalizzatore.
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03:28
And Nathaniel'sDi Nathaniel manicmaniacale ragerabbia
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03:32
was transformedtrasformato into understandingcomprensione,
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03:36
a quietsilenzioso curiositycuriosità and gracegrazia.
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03:41
And in a miraclemiracolo, he liftedsollevato his ownproprio violinviolino
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03:44
and he startediniziato playinggiocando, by earorecchio,
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03:47
certaincerto snippetssnippet of violinviolino concertosconcerti
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03:49
whichquale he then askedchiesto me to completecompletare -- MendelssohnMendelssohn,
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03:51
TchaikovskyTchaikovsky, SibeliusSibelius.
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03:53
And we startediniziato talkingparlando about musicmusica, from BachBach
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03:55
to BeethovenBeethoven and BrahmsBrahms,
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BrucknerBruckner, all the B'sDi B,
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from BartBartók, all the way up to Esa-PekkaEsa-Pekka SalonenSalonen.
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04:01
And I understoodinteso that he not only
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had an encyclopedicenciclopedico knowledgeconoscenza of musicmusica,
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but he relatedrelazionato to this musicmusica at a personalpersonale levellivello.
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04:09
He spokeha parlato about it with the kindgenere of passionpassione
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04:11
and understandingcomprensione that I shareCondividere with my colleaguescolleghi
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in the LosLos AngelesAngeles PhilharmonicFilarmonica.
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04:16
And throughattraverso playinggiocando musicmusica and talkingparlando about musicmusica,
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04:19
this man had transformedtrasformato
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04:21
from the paranoidParanoid, disturbeddisturbato man
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04:24
that had just come from walkinga passeggio the streetsstrade
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04:26
of downtowncentro LosLos AngelesAngeles
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04:28
to the charmingaffascinante, eruditeerudito,
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04:30
brilliantbrillante, Juilliard-trainedAddestrato a Juilliard musicianmusicista.
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04:34
MusicMusica is medicinemedicina. MusicMusica changesi cambiamenti us.
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04:39
And for NathanielNathaniel, musicmusica is sanitysalute mentale.
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04:43
Because musicmusica allowsconsente him to take his thoughtspensieri
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04:45
and delusionsdeliri and shapeforma them
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04:48
throughattraverso his imaginationimmaginazione and his creativitycreatività,
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04:50
into realityla realtà.
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04:52
And that is an escapefuga
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04:54
from his tormentedtormentato statestato.
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04:56
And I understoodinteso that this was the very essenceessenza of artarte.
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04:59
This was the very reasonragionare why we madefatto musicmusica,
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05:01
that we take something that existsesiste withinentro all of us
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05:03
at our very fundamentalfondamentale corenucleo,
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05:05
our emotionsemozioni,
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05:07
and throughattraverso our artisticartistico lenslente,
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05:09
throughattraverso our creativitycreatività, we're ablecapace to shapeforma those emotionsemozioni into realityla realtà.
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05:14
And the realityla realtà of that expressionespressione
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reachesraggiunge all of us
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05:18
and movessi muove us, inspiresispira and unitesunisce us.
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05:23
And for NathanielNathaniel,
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05:25
musicmusica broughtportato him back into a foldpiegare of friendsamici.
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05:28
The redemptiveredentrice powerenergia of musicmusica broughtportato him back
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into a familyfamiglia of musiciansmusicisti
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05:32
that understoodinteso him,
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that recognizedriconosciuto his talentstalenti
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and respectedrispettata him.
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05:39
And I will always make musicmusica with NathanielNathaniel,
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05:42
whetherse we're at WaltWalt DisneyDisney ConcertConcerto HallHall
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05:44
or on SkidSkid RowRiga, because he remindsricorda me
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why I becamedivenne a musicianmusicista.
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05:49
Thank you.
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05:51
(ApplauseApplausi)
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BrunoBruno GiussaniGiussani: Thank you. ThanksGrazie.
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06:01
RobertRobert GuptaGupta.
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06:03
(ApplauseApplausi)
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06:22
RobertRobert GuptaGupta: I'm going to playgiocare something that I shamelesslyspudoratamente stoleha rubato from cellistsvioloncellisti.
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06:25
So, please forgiveperdonare me.
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06:27
(LaughterRisate)
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06:28
(MusicMusica)
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09:13
(ApplauseApplausi)
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Translated by Chiara Brambilla
Reviewed by Tonito Solinas

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert Gupta - Violinist
Violinist Robert Gupta joined the LA Philharmonic at the age of 19 -- and maintains a passionate parallel interest in neurobiology and mental health issues. He's a TED Senior Fellow.

Why you should listen

Violinist Robert Vijay Gupta joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 19. He made his solo debut, at age 11, with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. He has a Master's in music from Yale. But his undergraduate degree? Pre-med. As an undergrad, Gupta was part of several research projects in neuro- and neurodegenerative biology. He held Research Assistant positions at CUNY Hunter College in New York City, where he worked on spinal cord neuronal regeneration, and at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine Center for Neurologic Diseases, where he studied the biochemical pathology of Parkinson's disease.

Gupta is passionate about education and outreach, both as a musician and as an activist for mental health issues. He has the privilege of working with Nathaniel Ayers, the brilliant, schizophrenic musician featured in "The Soloist," as his violin teacher.

More profile about the speaker
Robert Gupta | Speaker | TED.com