Kogan will discuss the effect of mental illness on Schumann’s music and perform pieces by the composer at the dinner, hosted at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. The event starts at 6 p.m.

Kogan, clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and artistic director of the Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program, has given lectures and concerts worldwide that explore the role of music in healing and the influence of psychological factors and illness on the creative output of classical composers.

Nearly 20 years ago, Kogan began investigating psychological issues of composers whose music he had played for years. He discovered that several – including Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Schumann – presented signs of serious psychiatric illnesses.

The connection between creative genius and mental illness has been well documented, and modern research suggests that the incidence of psychiatric illness is greater among writers, artists and musicians compared to the general population, according to Psychiatric Times.

Schumann, Kogan’s focus at the UofL event, likely had bipolar disorder, which first manifested in a severe depressive episode. Schumann had recurring panic attacks, mood swings and spent the final years of his life in an institution after an attempted suicide. He died in 1856 at age 46.

Kogan recorded the DVD “Music and the Mind: The Life and Works of Robert Schumann” for Yamaha. He has received numerous honors, including the Concert Artists Guild Award, the Liebert Award for Applied Psychoanalysis and the Alexander Award in Psychiatry.

Kogan studied piano at the Juilliard School of Music and earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Harvard. He has a private practice of psychiatry in New York City.

The dinner benefits the UofL Depression Center, Kentuckiana’s leading resource for depression and bipolar disorder treatment, research and education. Tickets are $125 per person and can be ordered by phone at 502-588-4886 or .

 will speak at the UofL Depression Center’s Annual Benefit Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. A book-signing featuring Jamison will begin at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m.

The dinner benefits the UofL Depression Center, Kentuckiana’s leading resource for depression and bipolar disorder treatment, research and education. Tickets are $125 per person and can be ordered by phone at 502-588-4886 or by email.

Jamison’s current book, “,” published in February, brings a fresh understanding to the work and life of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Lowell, whose intense, complex and personal verse left a lasting mark on the English language and changed the public discourse about private matters.

Jamison brings her expertise in mood disorders to bear on Lowell’s story, illuminating the relationships among mania, depression and creativity, as well as the details of Lowell’s treatment and how illness and treatment influenced the great work that he produced and often became its subject. 

Jamison herself battled mental health issues as early as her teenage years. While pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients, as her disorder launched her into ruinous spending sprees, episodes of violence and an attempted suicide. Her memoir, “An Unquiet Mind,” rose to the best-selling list upon its release in 1995 and was cited for its candor in its examination of bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication.