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About David Helfgott
David Helfgott is an Australian pianist, born in Melbourne to Polish-Jewish parents, whose life inspired Australian director Scott Hicks' Oscar-winning film Shine. He is as well known for having schizoaffective disorder as for his piano playing.
David became known as a child prodigy after his father started teaching him the piano when he was six. When he was ten years old he won several local competitions. When David was fourteen, the Australian musical community, raised money to enable him to go to America.
However, his father denied him permission, on the grounds that he was not ready for independence. When he was nineteen, David won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music for three years. During his time in London he began showing more definite manifestations of mental illness.
He returned to Australia and married his first wife and also took part in several Australian Broadcasting Corporation concerts. After his marriage broke down he was institutionalised in a Perth mental hospital.
In 1984, he married again and continued a successful playing career throughout the 1980s and 1990s in both Australia and Europe. In December 1999, He also appeared on rock group Silverchair's album Neon Ballroom. These days David Helfgott with his second wife, Gillian and continues to perform concerts at his home, 'Heaven'.
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