Biography

Michael Braudy is a violinist who specializes in performing and teaching Western classical, Celtic and Indian music.  A versatile improviser, he regularly collaborates with poets, storytellers, dancers, theater and mime, and teaches workshops in sound and health, and music for meditation in the US, Europe and India. He often plays a unique combination of Western classical, Celtic and Indian classical music in the same concert, including solo Bach and Jewish melodies of the soul.

Michael’s interest in Indian music was first sparked when he heard Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha perform in Carnegie Hall. He was immediately struck by the meditative and emotive quality of Indian music, and shortly afterwards began his studies of Indian violin with Acharya Roop Verma, a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar. At the same time, he began to study Irish music, and later the music of Scotland and Brittany.

Since 2000, Michael has given regular recitals in Kolkata, India, at the Calcutta School of Music and the American, and at the invitation of the U.S. Consulate in 2004, he gave a concert dedicated to World Peace. In January of that same year , he performed at the Jaipur International Festival in Rajasthan. Since that time, besides continuing to perform in Kolkata, he has given violin recitals and led workshops in Delhi, Mumbai, Shantiniketan, Auroville, Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Collaborations with storytellers include a longtime association with Diana Wolkstein, with whom he played violin with her stories from around the world.

From a deep commitment to music for meditation and health, Michael also gives workshops in sound and health in the US and abroad, called Sound and Health through Music, in many venues, including hospitals and companies, bringing people together to experience both the vitality and the peace that music can provide.  Michael teaches Western, Indian and Celtic violin and his students discover a deeper level of relaxation and grace in their posture and playing.

Teacher Acknowledgements

Michael studied Western violin with Kazuko Kawamoto, Raphael Bronstein and Dorothy Delay. He has studied North Indian classical music and violin with Acharya Roop Verma, Pandit V.G. Jog and Debaprasad and Sulaya Banerjee, and is currently under the guidance of Pandit Krishna Bhatt. Michael began his studies of Irish fiddle with Brian Conway, and he has continued to develop his Celtic playing through travels to Ireland and Scotland, and listening to recordings and concerts, and he often composes Celtic tunes inspired by Indian ragas. Michael is a member of the Scottish Cameron Ensemble in Queens, New York.

Recordings & Performances

Michael’s recordings include a series of ragas for health: Vriddhi (Ragas for Growth), Sumanas (Music for the Heart) and Awakening Peace (Healing Ragas for the World), all recorded in Chennai with veena player and medical doctor, P. Bharathi, who has pioneered music for therapy in India. He has also recorded three live concerts: Celtic Afternoon at Sufi Books in New York City, From the Ganga to the Tay at Gorgie Church in Edinburgh, and Hymns of the Rig Veda at the Bakehouse in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Michael is featured on children’s CDs produced in Argentina and Germany, by Mariela Chintalo and Tato Gomez respectively. He has also played at the bedside in many health care facilities, including the Long Island College Hospital, in addition to presenting the Sound and Health workshops.

Interview with Michael from KSFR Santa Fe radio