Piano star launches global assault on MS awareness

Piano star launches global assault on MS awareness with NZ tour

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Russian piano star Olga Bobrovnikova has more life stories to tell than most.

Born into privilege in the USSR, this young Jewish dissident became embroiled in a scandal that saw her ejected from CONSOMOL (the Soviet Youth Organization), she then married and divorced an internationally known violinist, remarried and suddenly became widowed around the same time as being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

But life is strange, from that disastrous period has come a new life. Instead of being a victim, this accomplished piano star now travels the world playing and fundraising exclusively for Multiple Sclerosis awareness. She has established – with the help of her partner Paul Mossman (NB: has NZ relatives) – Mu-Sic www.mu-sic.org, a symbol and non profit organisation.

Olga will launch the global activities of her Mu-Sic Foundation by playing six New Zealand concerts in support of regional Multiple Sclerosis Societies. The Foundation donates all funds raised, directly to the registered local MS Society.

http://www.bobrovnikova.com/

"Olga is a Pianist who plays in the 'Old Romantic Style' with a unique talent to play multi voices.

She also has a very wide repetoire from Bach to Rachmaninoff. She plays to entertain her audience."

WHERE & WHEN

Tickets are on sale now. See price and booking details below:

- Whangarei 4th March 2007 - 2pm. Tickets go on sale from February 1 through Ticketek phone Whangarei 09 430-4244. Price $17 or Adults 65+ and children under 15years $12. A booking fee may apply. Venue: Capitaine Bougainville Theatre -Forum North - Northland MS Society

- Auckland 8th March 2007 - Price: $25 (or $20 if booked by February 5). Bookings: (09) 8455921. email: info@msakl.org.nz. Venue: Holy Trinity Cathedral - MS Auckland & MS North Shore

- Hamilton 13th March 2007 - 7.30pm. Tickets available at Ticket Direct, local libraries, and at the Waikato MS office 07 834 4740 or email _mswaikato@mswaikato.org.nz. A booking fee may apply. Venue: Gallagher Concert Chamber. WEL Energy Trust - Academy of Performing Arts, Gallagher Concert Chamber, University of Waikato

- Blenheim - 15th March 2007- 6pm Bookings Essential......Phone 03-577-5775 Price: $25 each. Venue: Montana Brancott Winery State Highway 1 Blenheim - Marlborough MS Society

- Palmerston North - 18th March 2007 (with Amy Hunt) Booking details to come. Venue: Regent Theatre on Broadway – Manawatu Multiple Sclerosis Society

- Dunedin - 1st April 2007 (2 Piano Concert - with Terence Dennis) Booking details to come. Venue: Otago University - Marama Hall – Otago MS Society

The Concert programmes will consist of popular classics by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and the exceptional rediscovered works of Paul Pabst (1854-97).

--

OLGA BOBROVNIKOVA
www.bobrovnikova.com

As a Multiple Sclerosis patient Olga Bobrovnikova is exceptional!

Although her first neurological symptoms of MS appeared in Moscow in 1985, it was not until December 2000 in Brussels, that a diagnosis of Relapsing Remitting MS was confirmed by MRI scan. Since this date she says, her life took a positive turn and she is now working full time as a solo concert pianist, become the leading expert and exponent on the life and works of the lost Russian musician called Paul Pabst, who Olga says was the virtuoso that Tchaikovsky admitted (but never named) had assisted him to complete his most famous, first piano concerto.

In the course of her disease Olga has had five recognisable MS flares each associated with stress and emotional events, including the break-up of her first real love affair, the break up of her first marriage and with it, her Piano Trio and the tragic sudden death of her second husband.

Through these events she found therapy in her music, not surprising as she has a postgraduate diploma in Musical Therapy from the Gnessin Institute in Moscow which she completed after graduating from the Moscow Conservatoire.

Fortunately the permanent neurological damage from these events has been limited to a severe weakening of one leg and a poor sense of balance. Although Olga says she experienced problems with her concentration, sight and coordination, she was lucky that these were temporary.

After her diagnosis in 2000 Olga has been on weekly interferon treatment which, although it can have some short lived, unpleasant side effects, allows her to live a busy life, teaching, researching, writing and playing an international concert schedule.

After her diagnosis, like all patients Olga was faced with the “tell” “no tell” decision not knowing how it might affect her career prospects. The decision to tell was forced by the coincidence of a Concert Date and a European MS Platform Symposium, both in Malta in May 2001 – Having taken the decision to “tell” Olga made an impromptu lunchtime recital to delegates and has, since that day, dedicated all her musical talents to the world wide fight against MS. Her dedication and activities in this field were recognised by the NMSS of America at their Atlanta Conference in November 2005 where Olga was given an award alongside Neil Cavuto, Fox News anchor and business editor, David Lander, Hollywood and TV actor and Rain Pryor daughter of the recently deceased Richard Pryor.

Olga has particular interest in promoting the right to diagnosis and treatment and research into childhood incidence of MS.

She has just completed books on Piano Performance and Paul Pabst the Lost Virtuoso.

MS SUPPORT ACTIVITIES

Two years after her MS diagnosis Olga was playing a concert in Malta when she discovered that the “European Union MS Platform” were holding a symposium the very same day. Olga offered to play for the delegates and this was the beginning of her new career in Support of Multiple Sclerosis. Since her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis Olga has dedicated her music performance and recording effort entirely to the cause of raising awareness and funds in the fight against the disease.
Since May 2003 in Malta Olga has played for MS audiences in

Namur Belgium
Brussels (3) Belgium
Montreal Canada
Prague Czech Republic
Oxford England (Jaqueline Du Pre Centre)
London England
Manchester England
Tallin Estonia
Paris France
Megeve France
Grenoble France
Athens Greece
Amsterdam Holland
Vlissingen Holland
Keurkenfof Holland
St Julians Malta
Bratislava Slovakia
Moscow (3) Russia
Grangemeouth Scotland
Cambridge MA USA
Atlanta GA USA
Philadelphia USA
Le Havre France
Dieppe France
Rouen France
Livorno Italy
Vienna Austria
Bratislava Slovakia

Olga’s current focus in support of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation’s “Quality of Life Principles” is to play for patient groups, to highlight, two basic principles:
The right to Diagnosis
The right to Treatment
At the same time Olga has a particular interest in the awareness and treatment of Childhood MS

MUSIC HISTORY AND INTERESTS

Olga was trained as a pianist in the Gnessin Music School moving on to gain a degree in Piano Performance at the Moscow Conservatoire. Returning to the Gnessin as Assistant Class Master Olga studied for a Post Graduate Diploma in Musical Therapy – being one of the first students of Professor Riker.

Olga has performed solo concerts and recitals throughout her musical career, touring the former eastern block States in her late teens playing piano solo and duo (4 hand and 2 piano).

Marriage to violinist Mikael Bezevehrkny took Olga into Chamber performance with the formation of the Shostakovich Trio – She toured in USA and South America and throughout Europe. When the trio broke up, Olga played solo concerts but concentrated on musical therapy and teaching, giving Master Class in Piano Performance at Moscow Conservatoire in 2004

The accidental discovery of the works of a lost pianist – Paul Pabst changed Olga’s musical life. She found in Pabst the ultimate challenge of the Romantic Virtuoso genre, music more difficult and more rich than that of Franz Lizst.

The CD of Paul Pabst Concert Paraphrases of Tchaikovsky Opera was her final commercial recording but it marked the beginning of a period of research during which time Olga uncovered a number of musical mysteries.
o That Pabst was the virtuoso hand behind the Tchaikovsky B flat Piano Concerto
o That Paul Pabst was the appointed editor of Tchaikovsky Piano works
o That a several hundred historic recording from 1882-95 including ones of Paul Pabst, lost in WW ll are still secretly held in Russia
o That Rachmaninoff breakdown occurred on the day of Pabst death
o That Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto appears to be about the circumstances of the death and funeral of Pabst
o That there was an active anti-Semitic campaign to alter the course of piano performance by killing the true romantic style as un-Christian.

Olga has, from her work in musical therapy created a new approach to performance - The Performance Triangle – which radically simplifies the elements of performance to allow the creation of images which support the memorization and interpretation of particularly the romantic works.

MU-SIC FOUNDATION
www.mu-sic.org

In 2004 Olga was seeking a logo for her DVDs and CDs and quite simply the use of her music in the cause of MS became Mu Sic. After two years of playing at MS events Olga decided to be more proactive and plan he own events to raise funds for local MS Societies. This led to the foundation of her Mu Sic Foundation a non-profit organization that supports Olga’s performance and travel costs. This enables Olga to offer her performances free to any Registered MS Charity. It also led to the design of the Mu Sic lapel pins, which Olga gives free to be sold as a fundraising token. The longer term aims of Mu Sic are to involve the music and entertainment industries in MS Awareness and ultimately to establish a music download site for MS fund raising.

PERSONAL LIFE

Olga was a strong minded child and this and her Jewish religion created difficulty for her in the Soviet musical education system.

Constantly criticised for her free musicality and dynamic style Olga fought her way to graduation by achieving constantly high marks – She is amused by the first subject on her degree citation “Scientific Communism”.

A scandal in the final months of her degree course led to her being ejected from CONSOMOL (Soviet Youth Organization). This misjudgement (an affair with her Professor Eugene Malinin) gave opportunity to the system to seek retribution and Olga was prevented from following the High Degree course at the conservatoire. Only intervention of her Grandmother, a war hero of the Soviet Union allowed Olga to gain a place in the Gnessin Institute to study for a Post Graduate Diploma in Musical Therapy. This proved invaluable and Olga still provided lessons to Children with behavioural and learning difficulties. The loss of training in the High degree she looks on as a blessing as she retains her individual style and is in good company – Serge Rachmaninoff also left before the high degree!

Olga married International Violinist Mikael Bezverhkny in 1988 shortly after the qualification for her Post Graduate Diploma. They left the Soviet Union in 1990 claiming asylum in Belgium – given refugee status by the UN – Olga became a Belgian Citizen in 1996.

The strain of two strong minded musicians living and playing together proved to be too difficult and Olga was separated in 1996. Working as an accredited Court Interpreter, Music Sales Consultant as well a part time pianist and teacher Olga continued to raise her young son on her own. Another marriage followed in 1999, which was tragically ended by the sudden death of her second husband.

Olga still lives in Belgium with her son Leon and dog Gypsy in a cottage in Alsemberg. She speaks fluent Russian, English, French some Flemish (Dutch) and is learning German.

CLINICAL STORY

Olga had her first “neurological event” at the age of 20 in 1985 when she collapsed in the street in Moscow. After lumbar puncture and heavy treatment and considerable physio therapy in the National Neurological Institute under Professor Zavalishin. Olga returned to normal life with slight impairment to her left leg.

Two further neurological events of weakness and loss of balance occurred at about 5 year intervals, both associated, like the first, with stressful emotional periods of her life – These were not diagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis as Olga refused further lumbar punctures and cortisone treatment as no other treatment was available.

A fourth event occurred in December 2000 when Olga suffered with some loss of memory function, dizziness and loss of co-ordination, causing the cancellation of a concert date. In some distress Olga was recommended to Profussor Pierre Noel at St Lukes Hospital in Brussels where Olga was finally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis following an MRI scan.

Since May of 2001 Olga has been on weekly Interferon treatment. She manages her injection cycle in a variable window of 6-9 days, planning performances for days 5-7 of the cycle. Olga also manages a 3-4 hour daily practice schedule.

Olga also suffers from an asthmatic condition for which she constantly carries medication.

In spite of these limitations Olga plays concert piano to the highest levels of musical virtuosity, from memory. She has a unique talent and the ability to articulate three and sometimes four separate but simultaneous voice from the piano.

ENDS

© Scoop Media