Psychiatrist and concert pianist Richard Kogan, M.D. is renowned for his lecture/concerts that explore the influence of psychological factors and psychiatric and medical illness on the creative output of composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Gershwin, Bernstein, and Joplin. A master storyteller, he has captivated audiences with these programs at music festivals, concert series, medical conferences, and scholarly symposia throughout the world. Dr. Kogan is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and Artistic Director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program. The New York Times has praised him for his “eloquent, compelling, and exquisite playing” as a pianist. About his distinguished career as both a concert pianist and a psychiatrist, The Boston Globe wrote, “Kogan has somehow managed to excel at the world’s two most demanding professions.” Dr. Kogan is a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music Pre-College, Harvard College, and Harvard Medical School. He has won numerous honors in both music and psychiatry, including the Concert Artists Guild Award, the Chopin Competition of the Kosciusko Foundation, the Liebert Award for Applied Psychoanalysis, and the Alexander Award in Psychiatry.

Dr. Kogan will give an examination of how psychological forces influenced the creative output of the great Polish composer Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Dr. Kogan will explore Chopin’s exile from his beloved homeland, his chronic pulmonary disease, and his tempestuous relationship with the novelist George Sand. The discussion will be illuminated by piano performances of Chopin masterpieces including polonaises, mazurkas, ballades, and preludes.