Orchestrating Change: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

When? Tuesday, May 16th at 6:30pm
Where? Holy Family Retreat Center | Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT
Who? Open to parents and adults in the community
What? Private screening followed by panel discussion

ORCHESTRATING CHANGE tells the inspiring story of Me2/Orchestra. Ronald Braunstein was on the trajectory to becoming one of the world’s leading conductors until he made his diagnosis of bipolar disorder public and was shunned by the classical music community. He decided to create an orchestra for people like him with the mission of erasing mental health stigma one concert at a time. The film follows Braunstein and several of the musicians for two years — capturing their setbacks and their accomplishments. The musicians’ stories are told entirely in their own words, augmented with striking animation. The film culminates in a joyous concert at a major venue. It is a triumph for Braunstein, who thought he might never conduct again, the musicians, and the audience, whose perspective on mental illness is forever changed.

Join us for a special screening of this inspiring film followed by a panel discussion with members of the film joining us live on Zoom! Please RSVP.

We are fortunate to have five panelists from the making of Orchestrating Change joining us for a discussion following a screening of the documentary film (Run time 1 hour 34 minutes).

Download a Flyer for this Event.

Share this event on Facebook!

Watch the 30-second Promo

Panelists

MARGIE FRIEDMAN & BARBARA MULTER-WELLIN
Orchestrating Change, Executive Producer/Directors

Margie Friedman and Barbara Multer-Wellin are both EMMY award winning producers with years of non-fiction television experience. They have produced shows for CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, Showtime, Lifetime, HGTV, Disney Channel and others. Their previous films have aired on PBS including, the prestigious series, “Independent Lens.”

RONALD BRAUNSTEIN
Music Director and co-founder, Me2/Orchestra

A graduate of The Juilliard School, he won the Gold Medal in the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition. He has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, among many others. Mr. Braunstein was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and created Me2/Orchestra to support others who struggle to maintain good mental health.

CAROLINE WHIDDON
Executive Director and co-founder, Me2/Orchestra

Caroline has more than two decades of experience in orchestra leadership. She is a past Chair of the Youth Orchestra Division of the League of American Orchestras. Caroline received her Bachelor’s degree in French horn performance from the Eastman School of Music. She was first diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder nearly 30 years ago.

Braunstein and Whiddon launched Me2/in the fall of 2011. They married in 2013.

MAREK LORENC
Marek plays clarinet with Me2/Burlington. His other love is hip hop and he recently completed an album under the name Mavstar on indie label, Equal Eyes Records.

Want to learn more about this inspiring story? Read on.

Seventy musicians wait on stage, poised to begin a concert at the beautiful Art Deco Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, Vermont. The conductor strides to the podium and raises his arms for the downbeat. But this is not an ordinary orchestra; in fact, it is quite extraordinary because roughly half of the musicians are living with diagnoses of bipolar disorder, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, associative disorder, borderline personality, depression or addiction. And, half have no diagnoses – which is the point. Conductor Ronald Braunstein graduated from Juilliard and at the age of 24 became the first American to win the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Conducting Prize. Instantly he was circling the globe to conduct major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. But his professional triumphs were often interrupted by intense mood swings and alternating periods of depression and mania. At age 30, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After making his diagnosis pubic, his manager dropped him and the classical music community shunned him. His once meteoric career plummeted. Ronald spent decades teaching when he was well but never really coming to terms with his diagnosis. He filled notebooks with suicidal thoughts. Then, on the brink of destitution, he moved to Burlington, Vermont to take a job with a local orchestra. The job proved short-lived but in Burlington Ronald met and married Caroline Whiddon, a career orchestra executive director. In 2011, they founded Me2/Orchestra, Inc. in Burlington, Vermont. A few years later, a second orchestra started in Boston.

Ronald dreamed of creating an orchestra where he and others like him (Me2/) could make music in a supportive and caring atmosphere. Me2/’s mission is to combat the stigmatization of the mentally ill at every concert through music, understanding, compassion and open dialogues about living with mental illness with each audience.

Me2/ has created a transformative model where people living with and without mental illness can come together in an environment where inclusion and acceptance are a priority. The goal is to form Me2/Orchestras across the country, even internationally. There is now a third orchestra in New Hampshire and a smaller ensemble in Portland, Oregon. Orchestras are currently in the works in Los Angeles and Denmark.

Told in their own words and with striking animation, ORCHESTRATING CHANGE captures the poignant and powerful ways Me2/Orchestra has transformed the lives of Ronald and his musicians, enabling them to come out of the shadows and be heard.

The film presents the growth of Me2/Orchestra from Ronald’s dream to an organization that is becoming a recognized voice in the national dialogue about mental illness as Ronald and Caroline are featured speakers at the annual Kennedy Forum on Mental Health in Chicago. Filled with beautiful music and New England scenery through the seasons, ORCHESTRATING CHANGE highlights the small, intimate moments between husband and wife, parents and children, friends and partners all living with the daily realities of mental illness.

The film follows several of the musicians’ experiences living with mental illness during the course of two years in which two experienced breakdowns during that time requiring hospitalization and one was briefly incarcerated. But they always return to the orchestra knowing they have the support of Ronald, Caroline and their fellow musicians.

Ronald’s vision has not just come to life. It is changing lives. The Me2/ Orchestra is erasing the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, dispelling stereotypes, and promoting dialogue with each exhilarating performances.

ORCHESTRATING CHANGE culminates with the two orchestras, Me2/Burlington and Me2/ Boston, coming together for the first time for a triumphant performance at Burlington’s Art Deco jewel, the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. It is a powerful and emotional accomplishment for Ronald who thought he might never conduct again and for the musicians who have so often been stigmatized and cast aside. Audiences will never look at those living with mental illness in the same way again.