TED2010
Robert Gupta: Music is medicine, music is sanity
Robert Gupta: A música é terapia, a música é sanidade
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Robert Gupta, um violinista da Orquestra Filarmónica de Los Angeles, fala sobre uma aula que uma vez deu a um brilhante músico esquizofrénico -- e sobre o que aprendeu. Quando é chamado de volta ao palco, Gupta toca a sua transcrição do prelúdio da Suíte para Violoncelo nº 1 de Bach.
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.
00:15
One day, Los Angeles Times columnist
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Certo dia o colunista do Los Angeles Times
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Steve Lopez was walking along
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Steve Lopez, andava pelas
00:20
the streets of downtown Los Angeles
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ruas da baixa de Los Angeles
00:22
when he heard beautiful music.
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quando ouviu uma música maravilhosa.
00:25
And the source was a man,
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E a origem da música era um homem,
00:27
an African-American man,
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um Afro-Americano,
00:29
charming, rugged, homeless,
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charmoso, enrugado, sem-abrigo,
00:33
playing a violin that only had two strings.
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a tocar um violino com apenas duas cordas.
00:36
And I'm telling a story that many of you know,
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Muitos de vocês já conhecem esta história,
00:38
because Steve's columns became the basis
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porque as colunas do Steve serviram de base
00:41
for a book, which was turned into a movie,
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a um livro, que viria a inspirar um filme,
00:44
with Robert Downey Jr. acting as Steve Lopez,
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com o Robert Downey Jr no papel de Steve Lopez,
00:46
and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers,
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e o Jamie Foxx no papel de Nathaniel Anthony Ayers,
00:49
the Juilliard-trained double bassist
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o contrabaixista e ex-aluno da Juilliard
00:51
whose promising career was cut short
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cuja carreira promissora foi encurtada
00:54
by a tragic affliction with paranoid schizophrenia.
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por um caso trágico de esquizofrenia paranóide.
00:58
Nathaniel dropped out of Juilliard, he suffered a complete breakdown,
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O Nathaniel abandonou a Juilliard, sofreu um esgotamento,
01:00
and 30 years later he was living homeless
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estando 30 anos mais tarde a viver
01:02
on the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.
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nas ruas de Skid Row na baixa de Los Angeles.
01:06
I encourage all of you to read Steve's book or to watch the movie
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Aconselho-vos a todos a ler o livro do Steve, ou a ver o filme
01:09
to understand not only the beautiful bond
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para compreender não só a beleza do laço
01:12
that formed between these two men,
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que se formou entre estes dois homens,
01:14
but how music helped shape that bond,
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mas também a importância da música no estabelecer dessa ligação,
01:17
and ultimately was instrumental -- if you'll pardon the pun --
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e em última instância foi o instrumento, passe o trocadilho,
01:20
in helping Nathaniel get off the streets.
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que ajudou a tirar o Nathaniel das ruas.
01:24
I met Mr. Ayers in 2008,
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Eu conheci o Sr. Ayers em 2008,
01:26
two years ago, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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há dois anos, no Walt Disney Concert Hall.
01:28
He had just heard a performance of Beethoven's First and Fourth symphonies,
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Ele tinha acabado de ouvir uma apresentação da primeira e quarta sinfonias de Beethoven,
01:31
and came backstage and introduced himself.
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e veio aos bastidores, apresentando-se.
01:33
He was speaking in a very jovial and gregarious way
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Falava num tom muito alegre e afável
01:36
about Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton
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sobre o Yo-Yo Ma e a Hillary Clinton,
01:39
and how the Dodgers were never going to make the World Series,
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e como os Dodgers nunca chegariam à World Series,
01:41
all because of the treacherous first violin passage work
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tudo por causa da execução traiçoeira do primeiro violino
01:44
in the last movement of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony.
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no último movimento da quarta sinfonia 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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E falamos sobre música. E dias mais tarde recebi um email do Steve
01:52
saying that Nathaniel was interested in a violin lesson with me.
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a dizer que o Nathaniel gostaria de ter uma aula de violino comigo.
01:56
Now, I should mention that Nathaniel refuses treatment
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Convém referir que o Nathaniel recusa tratamento
01:59
because when he was treated it was with shock therapy
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porque quando foi tratado foi com terapia de choque
02:02
and Thorazine and handcuffs,
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e Torazina e algemas,
02:04
and that scar has stayed with him for his entire life.
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e esse trauma acompanhou-o toda a sua vida.
02:08
But as a result now, he is prone to
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Mas o que acontece agora é que ele tende a ter
02:10
these schizophrenic episodes,
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crises esquizofrénicas.
02:12
the worst of which can manifest themselves as
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As piores podem manifestar-se
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him exploding
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com ele a explodir,
02:16
and then disappearing for days,
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e a desaparecer durante dias,
02:18
wandering the streets of Skid Row,
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vagueando pelas ruas de Skid Row,
02:20
exposed to its horrors, with the torment of his own mind
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exposto aos seus horrores, e com os tormentos da sua própria mente
02:24
unleashed upon him.
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soltos sobre ele.
02:26
And Nathaniel was in such a state of agitation
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E o Nathaniel estava num estado de agitação tal
02:29
when we started our first lesson at Walt Disney Concert Hall --
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quando começamos a nossa primeira aula no Walt Disney Concert Hall
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he had a kind of manic glint in his eyes,
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que tinha uma espécie de brilho maníaco nos olhos,
02:35
he was lost.
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estava perdido.
02:37
And he was talking about
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E falava sobre
02:39
invisible demons and smoke,
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demónios invisíveis e fumo,
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and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.
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e como alguém o envenenava durante o sono.
02:45
And I was afraid,
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E eu sentia medo,
02:47
not for myself, but I was afraid
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não por mim, mas sentia medo
02:50
that I was going to lose him,
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medo de o perder,
02:52
that he was going to sink into one of his states,
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de que ele entrasse numa das suas crises,
02:54
and that I would ruin his relationship with the violin
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e que eu estragasse a sua relação com o violino
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if I started talking about scales
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se começasse a falar de escalas
02:59
and arpeggios and other exciting forms of
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e arpejos e outras formas emocionantes de
03:01
didactic violin pedagogy.
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pedagogia didáctica do violino.
03:03
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
03:04
So, I just started playing.
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Então, eu comecei a tocar.
03:07
And I played the first movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
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E toquei o primeiro movimento do concerto para violino de Beethoven.
03:11
And as I played,
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E à medida que eu tocava
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I understood that there was a profound change
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percebia que se dava uma profunda mudança
03:16
occurring in Nathaniel's eyes.
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nos olhos do Nathaniel.
03:18
It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical,
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Era como se ele estivesse sob controlo dum fármaco invisível,
03:21
a chemical reaction, for which my playing the music
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uma reacção química, para a qual a música que eu tocava
03:25
was its catalyst.
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era o catalisador.
03:28
And Nathaniel's manic rage
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E a fúria maníaca do Nathaniel
03:32
was transformed into understanding,
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transformou-se em compreensão,
03:36
a quiet curiosity and grace.
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uma curiosidade serena, e um estado de graça.
03:41
And in a miracle, he lifted his own violin
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E, como que por milagre, ele pegou no seu violino,
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and he started playing, by ear,
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e começou a tocar, de ouvido,
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certain snippets of violin concertos
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certos excertos de concertos para violino
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which he then asked me to complete -- Mendelssohn,
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que me pedia então para completar, 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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E começamos a falar sobre música, de Bach
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to Beethoven and Brahms,
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a Beethoven, e Brahms,
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Bruckner, all the B's,
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Bruckner, todos os B's,
03:59
from Bartók, all the way up to Esa-Pekka Salonen.
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de Bartók até Esa-Pekka Salonen.
04:01
And I understood that he not only
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E eu compreendi que ele não só
04:03
had an encyclopedic knowledge of music,
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tinha um conhecimento enciclopédico de música,
04:05
but he related to this music at a personal level.
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relacionando-se também com esta música a um nível pessoal.
04:09
He spoke about it with the kind of passion
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Ele falava sobre ela com o tipo de paixão
04:11
and understanding that I share with my colleagues
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e compreensão que eu partilho com os meus colegas
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in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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da Filarmónica de Los Angeles.
04:16
And through playing music and talking about music,
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E ao tocar e falar sobre música
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this man had transformed
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este homem tinha-se transformado
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from the paranoid, disturbed man
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do homem perturbado e paranóide
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that had just come from walking the streets
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que vagueava pelas ruas
04:26
of downtown Los Angeles
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da baixa de Los Angeles,
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to the charming, erudite,
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no charmoso, erudito,
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brilliant, Juilliard-trained musician.
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e brilhante músico treinado em Juilliard.
04:34
Music is medicine. Music changes us.
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A música é terapia. A música transforma-nos.
04:39
And for Nathaniel, music is sanity.
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E para o Nathaniel, a música é sanidade.
04:43
Because music allows him to take his thoughts
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Porque a música permite-lhe pegar nos seus pensamentos
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and delusions and shape them
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e delírios, e transformá-los
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through his imagination and his creativity,
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usando a sua imaginação e criatividade,
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into reality.
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em realidade.
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And that is an escape
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E isso é uma fuga
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from his tormented state.
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à sua mente atormentada.
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And I understood that this was the very essence of art.
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E eu compreendi que esta é a essência da arte.
04:59
This was the very reason why we made music,
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Esta é a razão pela qual criamos a música,
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that we take something that exists within all of us
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para captar uma coisa que existe dentro de todos nós,
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at our very fundamental core,
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no nosso âmago,
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our emotions,
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as nossas emoções,
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and through our artistic lens,
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e através da nossa lente artística,
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through our creativity, we're able to shape those emotions into reality.
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através da nossa criatividade, somos capazes de transformar essas emoções em realidade.
05:14
And the reality of that expression
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E a realidade dessa expressão
05:16
reaches all of us
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toca-nos a todos,
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and moves us, inspires and unites us.
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move-nos, inspira-nos, e une-nos.
05:23
And for Nathaniel,
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E no caso do Nathaniel,
05:25
music brought him back into a fold of friends.
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a música trouxe-o de volta a um grupo de amigos.
05:28
The redemptive power of music brought him back
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O poder redentor da música trouxe-o de volta
05:30
into a family of musicians
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a uma família de músicos
05:32
that understood him,
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que o compreenderam,
05:34
that recognized his talents
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que reconheceram os seus talentos
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and respected him.
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e o respeitaram.
05:39
And I will always make music with Nathaniel,
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E eu farei sempre música com o Nathaniel,
05:42
whether we're at Walt Disney Concert Hall
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quer seja no Walt Disney Concert Hall,
05:44
or on Skid Row, because he reminds me
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ou em Skid Row, porque ele me lembra
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why I became a musician.
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da razão pela qual me tornei músico.
05:49
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
05:51
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
05:58
Bruno Giussani: Thank you. Thanks.
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Bruno Giussani: Obrigado. Obrigado.
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: Gostaria de tocar uma música que descaradamente roubei dos violoncelistas.
06:25
So, please forgive me.
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Desculpem-me por isso.
06:27
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
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