Professional violinist and composer Dan Flanagan has suffered from chronic Lyme Disease and coinfections for about thirty years. While he was undergoing intensive treatment, he realized that one of his tick-borne disease coinfections, ehrlichiosis, was named after the German microbiologist Dr. Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), who coincidently had the same surname as Paul and Vicky Ehrlich, longtime friends and members of the string group, Trio Solano. Amused at the coincidence, the Ehrlichs asked him to compose a chamber music piece on the disease which he titled “Ehrlichia, Rhapsody in Discomfort #6.”
“Ehrlichia” is written in Rondo form, and it represents the disease traveling through the body as a fast-moving, feverish collection of scales in C minor. Beginning with a pizzicato tick bite, “Ehrlichia” brings the listener through the tribulations of a Lyme Disease patient, ending with joyous relief and tranquility...followed by a relapse.
To add a visual component to his creation, he commissioned a painting by Lyme Art Association member Nancy Schroeder, an artist with Ehrlichia whom he discovered while visiting a Lyme doctor in Guilford, CT.
If you like the healing power of his music, Flanagan invites you to his solo recital at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan on October 3, 2022; where he’ll be playing all new pieces inspired by paintings.
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