Ophthalmic pianist to entertain ASCRS attendees

Ophthalmology's very own "piano man," Roberto Pinelli, MD, will entertain attendees of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) symposium this week in Washington, DC.

As an ophthalmologist, concert pianist, and conductor, Dr. Pinelli will play popular and classical selections for the piano at 9:30 a.m., before the opening general session, Saturday, April 16, and at 9:30 a.m., before the Innovator's Lecture, on Monday, April 18.

Dr. Pinelli received his medical degree from the State University of Milan (Italy) in 1989 and specialized in ophthalmology at the same university in 1993. Concurrently, he obtained his piano diploma from the Conservatory in Milan and completed his studies in orchestra conducting in the United States at the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC), Boston, where he conducted for the Summer Season campus TMC orchestra.

In Italy, Dr. Pinelli has conducted at the Opera Theatre in Rome and the Verdi Orchestra in Milan. He has also conducted the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the St. Petersburg State Academy Orchestra with which he recorded Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and "Dance Concertante."

Today, Dr. Pinelli teaches conducting and score reading at the Conservatory of Trento, Italy.

Since 1998, he has served as the scientific director of the Instituto Laser Microchirurgia Oculare in Brescia, Italy. Dr. Pinelli is the president of the international seminar "Cataract & Refractive Surgery Updates," held annually in Italy, which offers the latest research in cataract and refractive surgery, with topics selected and presented by an international faculty of leading ophthalmic surgeons.