Ronald Braunstein, Music Director of ME2/orchestra, won first prize in the Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition in Berlin. He received his musical training at The Juilliard School, Salzburg Mozarteum, Fontainbleau, and Tanglewood Music Center. His primary teachers were Herbert von Karajan, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, and Nadia Boulanger. At Juilliard, he studied composition with Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt and was a winner of the BMI award to Student Composers. He then entered the conducting program, graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in conducting.
Mr. Braunstein later joined the Juilliard conducting staff and the American Opera Center where he conducted orchestral concerts, opera productions, musicals, and was Music Director of the Juilliard pre-college orchestra for six seasons. He later took on the position of Music Director of the Mannes School of Music’s Philharmonia, which he held for seven seasons. The orchestra was cited as “the #1 training orchestra in New York City.” (New York Magazine, 2007)
Mr. Braunstein has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, Israel Sinfonietta, Svizzera-Italiana Radio Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Oslo Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony, Osaka Symphony, National Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Tokyo Symphony.
In addition to his music career, Mr. Braunstein is also an accomplished visual artist. He studied two-and three-dimensional design at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York, where he later taught on the Master’s level. Recently, he has been expressing himself in painting as a counterbalance to his experiences in music.
In 1985, Braunstein was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He launched ME2/orchestra in September 2011. The orchestra was created for individuals with mental health issues and those who support them. ME2/strings, a professional string orchestra, was recently added to the organization. Braunstein serves as Music Director and Conductor for both ME2/orchestra and ME2/strings. To learn more about our organization please visit ME2/orchestra.org
Mr. Braunstein later joined the Juilliard conducting staff and the American Opera Center where he conducted orchestral concerts, opera productions, musicals, and was Music Director of the Juilliard pre-college orchestra for six seasons. He later took on the position of Music Director of the Mannes School of Music’s Philharmonia, which he held for seven seasons. The orchestra was cited as “the #1 training orchestra in New York City.” (New York Magazine, 2007)
Mr. Braunstein has conducted the San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, Israel Sinfonietta, Svizzera-Italiana Radio Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Oslo Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony, Osaka Symphony, National Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Tokyo Symphony.
In addition to his music career, Mr. Braunstein is also an accomplished visual artist. He studied two-and three-dimensional design at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York, where he later taught on the Master’s level. Recently, he has been expressing himself in painting as a counterbalance to his experiences in music.
In 1985, Braunstein was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He launched ME2/orchestra in September 2011. The orchestra was created for individuals with mental health issues and those who support them. ME2/strings, a professional string orchestra, was recently added to the organization. Braunstein serves as Music Director and Conductor for both ME2/orchestra and ME2/strings. To learn more about our organization please visit ME2/orchestra.org
