Gallery of Virginia Art and Gifts LLC
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Arnold Popkin
For many years, Dr. Arnold Popkin has combined a medical career as an ophthalmologist with a very active musical life. He grew up in Trenton, N.J., and began piano lessons at age 3 and violin lessons at age 7. He realized while young that he would not make music a career, but it would always be a very important part of his life. He attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for 12 years, receiving his M.D. degree there as well as completing a residency in ophthalmology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced ophthalmology in the Princeton, N.J. area for 14 years, and was chairman of the Ophthalmology Department at both Princeton Hospital and Freehold Hospital. In 1980, he and his family moved to Charlottesville, where he has been practicing ever since. For several years, he maintained a branch office in Amherst-County, and also had a branch in Lynchburg for one year. His present office is in Charlottesville, where he specializes in the fitting of contact lenses and co-manages his patients who have LASIK eye surgery.
He has given over twenty solo recitals at the University of Virginia's Cabell Hall, and also performs frequently with other fine musicians and singers. He has given several recitals for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Wednesday Music Club, and First Night Virginia, as well as benefits for Habitat for Humanity in Nelson and Amherst counties, senior citizens groups, clubs, and religious organizations. He also has played frequently at retirement communities throughout Virginia, including Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Richmond, Irvington, Virginia Beach, Culpeper, and Winchester.
In recent years he has given several concerts with internationally-acclaimed cellist Tanya Anisimova and also two concerts with her teacher from the Moscow Conservatory, Igor Gavrysh. He has performed for the Staunton Center Stage community concerts and has given several concerts for Community Arts Associations in Virginia, (Fluvanna County and Smith Mountain Lake), and in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In addition, he and his wife enjoy offering concerts in their home, thus combining inspiring music and beautiful mountain views in an intimate setting.
Dr. Popkin has recorded eight CD's with a wide variety of music,
including two devoted entirely to Chopin and one to music from Spain
and Latin America. Selections from his CD's are frequently played on
classical music stations in central Virginia, especially WMRA in
Harrisonburg. His CD's are now available on the internet at
www.cdbaby.com.
In 2007 Dr. Popkin began composing music for the first time in his
life. His early works have been well received by his audiences, and
he is looking forward to a "new career" as a composer.
Dr. Popkin lives in Nelson County with his wife Phyllis (motivational speaker and author), their lovable Shih Tzu dog, Rocky, and their three cats, Shadow, Gypsy, and Lucy. Their older daughter Linda (a former jockey and horse trainer) and 13-year old granddaughter Claire live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and their younger daughter Sheila (a professional bassoonist) plays in a fine orchestra in Denmark.
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| Serenity CD available at the Gallery |
Arnold Popkin's first composition for cello and piano premiered February 17, 2008 as part of his "Salon Concert" series well established in Nelson county, VA. Tanya Anisimova was the featured cellist with Dr. Popkin at the piano.