Dr. Richard Kogan

LIVE CONCERT LECTURE

Schumann: Music, Mood Swings & Madness

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Sunday, September 21, 2025, 3:00pm

 

Creative artists are especially vulnerable to mental illness, and the German composer Robert Schumann is one of the finest examples of the blurred boundary between genius and insanity. Dr. Kogan explores how the racing thoughts, flight of ideas and sharpened imagination of Schumann’s hypomanic states induced prodigious bursts of creativity until the onset of psychosis led to his tragic final years in an insane asylum.
 

“Through a unique combination of brilliant psychiatric insights and superb musicianship, my musical colleague Richard Kogan presents a rich multidimensional profile revealing some of the most intimate sources of Schumann’s enormous creativity, imagination and artistry.” – Yo-Yo Ma