Last weekend, my wife and I watched Orchestrating Change, a documentary about the Me2/Orchestra, a Burlington, Vermont, group comprising people living with mental illness. I came across the Me2/Orchestra about a year ago, when I was looking into organizations that advocate for the mentally ill, so I knew what it does and whom it serves. What I got out of the documentary was an in-depth understanding of the Me2 members. Their individual stories were funny, touching, and harrowing, and the importance of the Me2/Orchestra is apparent throughout.
The Me2/Orchestra was founded in 2011 by Ronald Braunstein and his now-wife Caroline Whiddon, a year after he was fired as the head of the Vermont Youth Orchestra (Whidden was at the time the executive director of that group). No doubt, Braunstein’s bipolar disorder contributed to his dismissal, as it had in previous jobs since his diagnosis in 1985. In Orchestrating Change, Braunstein tells these stories with surprisingly good humor, but the hurt is there on the screen, and the viewer feels it. When Braunstein recalls how he received no support from his agent after disclosing his illness, you can sense the disappointment in his voice, decades later.
Helplessness in the face of others’ reactions is a theme that pops up again in the documentary when bassist Dylan tells us that it’s easier and less shameful to tell people he’s a drug addict than mentally ill. Later, Dylan gets arrested while in the midst of an episode, but his case is dismissed because he is deemed incompetent. The implication is clear: in the mind of the judge, someone with mental illness is incapable of making his own decisions; he is no better than a two-year-old.
There are lot of heartwarming stories too, reminding us that those with mental illness can rise above their conditions and people’s perceptions. We don’t hear about it until the credits, but violist Alana-Bethany has a full life that includes being a figure skater. Corey Sweeney, interviewed in a 2016 story on Me2, goes back graduate school for oboe performance toward the end of the documentary; today, she runs her own business making oboe reeds. Despite his problems with the law, Dylan returns for the concert that is the climax of the movie in a touching reunion with his bandmates. For Dylan, as for musicians like Alana-Bethany and Corey, the Me2/Orchestra is home base to which they can return at any time, no matter what has happened in the past, and judgement-free zone where they can recuperate and grow.
Of course, the formation and growth of the Me2/Orchestra is the most inspirational story told in Orchestrating Change. The final concert I mention above was a performance that brought together the original Vermont Me2/Orchestra with a satellite group from Boston. There are also orchestras in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Portland, Oregon, and plans to start a group in Portland, Maine. It appears that Braunstein’s dream, born of a desire to de-stigmatize mental illness, is a full-fledged phenomenon.
Mark Likes Music 