Orchestrating Change tells the inspiring story of the only orchestra created by and for people living with mental illness and those who support them. Juilliard-educated Maestro Ronald Braunstein, who lives with bipolar disorder, started  Me2/ Orchestra ten years ago. The orchestra's mission is to erase mental health stigma one concert at a time. It is truly changing the lives of these musicians as well as challenging audiences to reconsider what it means to live with a mental illness.

 

Seen across the United States on public television stations, the film is the 2021 winner of the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media. The American Library Association & Media Round Table voted it “One of the Top Twelve 2022 Notable Films for Adults.”

 

 

With beautiful music, Orchestrating Change is informative, uplifting, sometimes humorous and most important, empowering. The film illustrates the possibilities for leading a full life while managing mental illness, much like any other chronic disease. Too often stigma prevents individuals from seeking a diagnosis or families from providing emotional support for family members living with mental illness.

 

“There is strength and passion in this remarkable conductor Ronald Braunstein, in the community he built, and in this film. As a person who listens for lessons in recovery, this film was music to my ears.”

Ken Duckworth MD, Chief Medical Officer, National Alliance on Mental Illness

 

“The film does a terrific job humanizing mental illness and demonstrating what people are capable of when they set their minds on an important goal and work together to achieve it.”

David S. Jones, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard University

 

“To the performers in the Me2/Orchestra, Mr. Braunstein is much more than a conductor. He’s a friend and a mentor, as well as a living example of what can happen when a person with mental illness is accepted unconditionally and treated with dignity and respect.” 

Jane E. Brody, Personal Health Columnist, The New York Times

 

Orchestrating Change has been screened at the following places, among many others:

 

American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting

American Public Health Annual Conference

Case Managers Society of America

Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates

Mental Health Assoc. of New Jersey

Schizophrenia Society of Canada

Numerous NAMI chapters

International Society of Music Educators Annual Conference

Friends of the Semel Institute/ UCLA

 

Further details will be shared, including cost. This event will be held at the Berney Theatre.