The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman

Music, mental illness and ending stigma with Vermont's me2 Orchestra


Listen Later

Ronald Braunstein was a musical prodigy, becoming the first American to win the prestigious Karajan International Conducting Competition in Berlin in 1979. He was leading top orchestras around the world and his career was soaring -- but his mental health was deteriorating. He was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his thirties. In 2010, he came to Vermont to lead an orchestra but was fired in less than a year. In 2011, his career in shambles, he and Caroline Whiddon, an orchestra administrator, decided to come out about his mental illness and turn his vulnerability into an opportunity. They formed the me2 Orchestra in Burlington, VT, the only orchestra in the world created by and for people living with mental illness and those who support them. Me2 now has orchestras in Burlington and Boston, and new affiliates are forming elsewhere. Now a new film, Orchestrating Change (click for show times on PBS), documents the remarkable musical and mental health odyssey of Braunstein and me2 and the orchestra's mission to end the stigma around mental illness.

Guests: Ronald Braunstein (co-founder & conductor), Caroline Whiddon (co-founder & executive director), Marek Lorenc (musician)

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Vermont Conversation with David GoodmanBy VTDigger

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

31 ratings


More shows like The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman

View all
On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,165 Listeners

Democracy Now! Audio by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! Audio

5,653 Listeners

On Point | Podcast by WBUR

On Point | Podcast

3,907 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,872 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,535 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

37,827 Listeners

Selected Shorts by Symphony Space

Selected Shorts

2,825 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,890 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,121 Listeners

Rumble Strip by Erica Heilman / Rumble Strip, Erica Heilman

Rumble Strip

1,160 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,697 Listeners

Outside/In by NHPR

Outside/In

1,466 Listeners

Brave Little State by Vermont Public

Brave Little State

382 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,269 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,053 Listeners