In Sunday’s (8/10) Daily Mail (U.K.), David McCormack writes that Roger Frisch, an associate concertmaster in the Minnesota Orchestra, “was diagnosed in 2009 with essential tremors, a condition that occurs when sections of the brain that control movement start sending abnormal signals…. Frisch agreed to undergo experimental surgery which involved tiny electrodes being implanted into his brain. In order to determine if the electrodes were being positioned correctly, Frisch played his violin during the surgery in the spring.… An accelerometer was placed on the end of Frisch’s bow which translated his tremor into a graph on a computer screen that surgeons could watch. So while surgeons fitted the electrodes, he played his violin…. He now carries a small device which allows him to turn his tremor off and on with the push of a button that controls the stimulator. Three weeks after brain surgery he was able to play in a full-length sextet performance and a week after that he was performing again with the orchestra.” The article includes video taken during Frisch’s operation.
Posted August 13, 2014
