TED2010
Robert Gupta: Music is medicine, music is sanity
Robert Gupta: La música es medicina, la música es cordura
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Robert Gupta, violinista de la Orquesta Filarmónica de Los Angeles, habla sobre una lección que una vez dio a un brillante músico esquizofrénico -- y lo que él aprendió. Llamado luego a regresar al escenario, Gupta toca su propia transcripción del preludio de Bach para Cello de la Suite No. 1.
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. Full bio
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.
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One day, Los Angeles Times columnist
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Un día el columnista de Los Angeles Times
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Steve Lopez was walking along
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Steve Lopez estaba caminando por
00:20
the streets of downtown Los Angeles
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las calles del centro de Los Angeles
00:22
when he heard beautiful music.
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cuando escuchó una bella música.
00:25
And the source was a man,
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Provenía de un hombre,
00:27
an African-American man,
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un hombre afroamericano,
00:29
charming, rugged, homeless,
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encantador, de rostro duro, sin hogar,
00:33
playing a violin that only had two strings.
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tocando un violín que sólo tenía dos cuerdas.
00:36
And I'm telling a story that many of you know,
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Les estoy contando una historia que muchos de ustedes conocen,
00:38
because Steve's columns became the basis
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porque la columna de Steve fue la base
00:41
for a book, which was turned into a movie,
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para un libro que después se convirtió en una película,
00:44
with Robert Downey Jr. acting as Steve Lopez,
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con Robert Downey Jr actuando como Steve Lopez
00:46
and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers,
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y Jamie Fox como Nathaniel Anthony Ayers,
00:49
the Juilliard-trained double bassist
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el contrabajista entrenado en Julliard
00:51
whose promising career was cut short
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cuya prometedora carrera fue interrumpida
00:54
by a tragic affliction with paranoid schizophrenia.
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por una aflicción trágica de esquizofrenia paranoica.
00:58
Nathaniel dropped out of Juilliard, he suffered a complete breakdown,
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Nathaniel abandonó Julliard, sufrió una crisis total
01:00
and 30 years later he was living homeless
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y 30 años más tarde estaba viviendo
01:02
on the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.
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en las calles de Skid Row en el centro de Los Angeles.
01:06
I encourage all of you to read Steve's book or to watch the movie
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Les animo a que lean el libro de Steve o vean la película
01:09
to understand not only the beautiful bond
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para entender no sólo el bello vínculo
01:12
that formed between these two men,
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que se creó entre estos dos hombres
01:14
but how music helped shape that bond,
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sino cómo la música ayudó a moldear ese vínculo,
01:17
and ultimately was instrumental -- if you'll pardon the pun --
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y finalmente jugó un papel decisivo
01:20
in helping Nathaniel get off the streets.
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para ayudar a Nathaniel a salir de las calles.
01:24
I met Mr. Ayers in 2008,
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Conocí al Señor Ayers en el 2008,
01:26
two years ago, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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hace dos años, en el Walt Disney Concert Hall.
01:28
He had just heard a performance of Beethoven's First and Fourth symphonies,
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El acababa de escuchar una interpretación de la primera y cuarta sinfonía de Beethoven
01:31
and came backstage and introduced himself.
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y vino detrás del escenario a presentarse.
01:33
He was speaking in a very jovial and gregarious way
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Hablaba de una forma muy jovial y sociable
01:36
about Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton
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acerca de Yo-Yo Ma y de Hillary Clinton
01:39
and how the Dodgers were never going to make the World Series,
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y de cómo los Dodgers nunca llegarían a la Serie Mundial,
01:41
all because of the treacherous first violin passage work
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todo debido a la traicionera ejecución del pasaje del primer violín
01:44
in the last movement of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony.
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en el último movimiento de la cuarta sinfonía de Beethoven.
01:48
And we got talking about music, and I got an email from Steve a few days later
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Y hablamos sobre música. Y unos días después recibí un correo electrónico de Steve
01:52
saying that Nathaniel was interested in a violin lesson with me.
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diciendo que Nathaniel estaba interesado en una lección de violín conmigo.
01:56
Now, I should mention that Nathaniel refuses treatment
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Ahora, debo mencionar que Nathaniel se niega al tratamiento,
01:59
because when he was treated it was with shock therapy
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porque cuando fue tratado emplearon terapia de choque,
02:02
and Thorazine and handcuffs,
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Toracina y esposas,
02:04
and that scar has stayed with him for his entire life.
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y esa cicatriz ha permanecido en él toda su vida.
02:08
But as a result now, he is prone to
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Pero como resultado ahora es propenso a
02:10
these schizophrenic episodes,
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estos episodios esquizofrénicos.
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the worst of which can manifest themselves as
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Los peores episodios se pueden manifestar con él
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him exploding
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explotando
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and then disappearing for days,
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y luego desapareciendo por días,
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wandering the streets of Skid Row,
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errando por las calles de Skid Row,
02:20
exposed to its horrors, with the torment of his own mind
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expuesto a sus horrores, con el tormento de su propia mente
02:24
unleashed upon him.
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sin control.
02:26
And Nathaniel was in such a state of agitation
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Y Nathaniel estaba en tal estado de agitación
02:29
when we started our first lesson at Walt Disney Concert Hall --
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cuando iniciamos nuestra primera lección en el Walt Disney Concert Hall
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he had a kind of manic glint in his eyes,
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que tenía un tipo de destello maniaco en sus ojos,
02:35
he was lost.
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estaba perdido.
02:37
And he was talking about
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Y hablaba de
02:39
invisible demons and smoke,
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demonios invisibles y humo,
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and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.
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y de cómo alguien lo estaba envenenando mientras dormía.
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And I was afraid,
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Y yo sentí miedo,
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not for myself, but I was afraid
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no por mí, sino miedo
02:50
that I was going to lose him,
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de que iba a perderlo,
02:52
that he was going to sink into one of his states,
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de que iba a hundirse en uno de sus estados
02:54
and that I would ruin his relationship with the violin
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y de que yo arruinaría su relación con el violín
02:57
if I started talking about scales
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si comenzaba a hablarle de escalas
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and arpeggios and other exciting forms of
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y arpegios y otras formas excitantes de
03:01
didactic violin pedagogy.
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pedagogía didáctica de violín.
03:03
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:04
So, I just started playing.
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Por ello sólo empecé a tocar.
03:07
And I played the first movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
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Y toqué el primer movimiento del concierto para violín de Beethoven.
03:11
And as I played,
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Y mientras tocaba
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I understood that there was a profound change
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entendí que un profundo cambio estaba
03:16
occurring in Nathaniel's eyes.
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ocurriendo en los ojos de Nathaniel.
03:18
It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical,
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Fue como si estuviese bajo el control de algun fármaco invisible,
03:21
a chemical reaction, for which my playing the music
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una reacción química, para la cual el que yo tocara música
03:25
was its catalyst.
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era su catalizador.
03:28
And Nathaniel's manic rage
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Y la cólera maniaca de Nathaniel
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was transformed into understanding,
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se transformó en entendimiento,
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a quiet curiosity and grace.
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en una curiosidad quieta y en gracia.
03:41
And in a miracle, he lifted his own violin
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Y como por milagro, levantó su propio violín
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and he started playing, by ear,
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y comenzó a tocar de oído
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certain snippets of violin concertos
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algunos fragmentos de conciertos para violín,
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which he then asked me to complete -- Mendelssohn,
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que luego me pedía que completara, Mendelssohn,
03:51
Tchaikovsky, Sibelius.
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Tchaikovsky, Sibelius.
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And we started talking about music, from Bach
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Y comenzamos a hablar sobre música, desde Bach
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to Beethoven and Brahms,
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hasta Beethoven y Brahms,
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Bruckner, all the B's,
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Bruckner, todos los Bs,
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from Bartók, all the way up to Esa-Pekka Salonen.
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desde Bartók, todo el camino hasta Esa-Pekka Salonen.
04:01
And I understood that he not only
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Y entendí que él no sólo
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had an encyclopedic knowledge of music,
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tenía un conocimiento enciclopédico de música
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but he related to this music at a personal level.
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sino que se identificaba con esta música a un nivel personal.
04:09
He spoke about it with the kind of passion
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El habló sobre ello con el tipo de pasión
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and understanding that I share with my colleagues
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y entendimiento que yo comparto con mis colegas
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in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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en la Filarmónica de Los Angeles.
04:16
And through playing music and talking about music,
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Y a través de tocar música y hablar de música
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this man had transformed
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este hombre se transformó
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from the paranoid, disturbed man
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del hombre paranoico perturbado
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that had just come from walking the streets
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que había venido de caminar las calles
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of downtown Los Angeles
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del centro de Los Angeles
04:28
to the charming, erudite,
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al encantador, erudito,
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brilliant, Juilliard-trained musician.
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brillante músico educado en Julliard.
04:34
Music is medicine. Music changes us.
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La música es medicina. La música nos cambia.
04:39
And for Nathaniel, music is sanity.
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Y para Nathaniel la música es cordura.
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Because music allows him to take his thoughts
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Porque la música le permite tomar sus pensamientos
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and delusions and shape them
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y sus delirios y transformarlos
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through his imagination and his creativity,
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a través de su imaginación y su creatividad
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into reality.
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en realidad.
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And that is an escape
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Y esto es un escape
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from his tormented state.
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de su estado atormentado.
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And I understood that this was the very essence of art.
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Y yo entendí que esto era la misma esencia del arte.
04:59
This was the very reason why we made music,
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Esto era el verdadero motivo por el que hacemos música,
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that we take something that exists within all of us
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que tomamos algo que existe dentro de todos nosotros,
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at our very fundamental core,
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en nuestra verdadera esencia fundamental,
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our emotions,
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nuestras emociones,
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and through our artistic lens,
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y a través de nuestro lente artístico,
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through our creativity, we're able to shape those emotions into reality.
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a través de nuestra creatividad, somos capaces de transformar esas emociones en realidad.
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And the reality of that expression
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Y la realidad de esa expresión
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reaches all of us
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nos alcanza a todos,
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and moves us, inspires and unites us.
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nos mueve, nos inspira y nos une.
05:23
And for Nathaniel,
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Y para Nathaniel,
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music brought him back into a fold of friends.
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la música lo trajo de vuelta al grupo de amigos.
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The redemptive power of music brought him back
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El poder redentor de la música lo regresó
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into a family of musicians
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a la familia de músicos
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that understood him,
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que lo entendió,
05:34
that recognized his talents
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que reconoció sus talentos
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and respected him.
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y lo respetó.
05:39
And I will always make music with Nathaniel,
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Y yo siempre haré música con Nathaniel,
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whether we're at Walt Disney Concert Hall
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ya sea que estemos en el Walt Disney Concert Hall,
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or on Skid Row, because he reminds me
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o en Skid Row, ya que él me recuerda
05:46
why I became a musician.
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porqué me convertí en músico.
05:49
Thank you.
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Gracias
05:51
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
05:58
Bruno Giussani: Thank you. Thanks.
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Bruno Giussani: Gracias. Gracias.
06:01
Robert Gupta.
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Robert Gupta
06:03
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
06:22
Robert Gupta: I'm going to play something that I shamelessly stole from cellists.
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Robert Gupta: Quiero tocar algo que sin verguenza alguna robé de los celistas.
06:25
So, please forgive me.
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Así que por favor discúlpenme.
06:27
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
06:28
(Music)
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(Música)
09:13
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robert Gupta - ViolinistViolinist 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.
Robert Gupta | Speaker | TED.com