Joseph Braun, PhD (Vice President)
JOSEPH BRAUN, PhD (Vice President) plays timpani and percussion in the symphony. He is the “other kind of doctor” having earned a PhD from the University of Chicago. He has spent most of his working life preparing teachers for inner-city schools, first in his native Chicago and later in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena and Compton. His 35 years in higher education were about evenly divided between teaching and administrative or grants management assignments. Joe studied piano and violin in elementary school and switched to percussion in junior high, taking private lessons and playing in school groups through high school. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley he played in the marching and concert bands, a Dixieland band that played in pizza joints and an opera company in Oakland. In Chicago he continued his “pit” work with community musical theater doing just about everything Gilbert and Sullivan wrote as well as other operettas and musical shows.
During his 24 year tenure at Cal State Dominguez Hills he was a regular member of the Carson/Dominguez Hills Symphony and also played occasionally with community orchestras in Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Glendale and LA City College. He currently plays with two community opera companies in southern California. Dr. Braun is also a member of the board of directors of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, which provides low cost and free music instruction for families in the Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silverlake communities.
Joe’s teacher in high school told him that if he wanted to continue to love music he should play as much as he could but not try to make a living at it. “It’s the best advice I ever received”, Joe relates. “Orchestra Nova LA continues to provide me with the opportunity to play classical music, and some pops at a high level that challenges me to continue to improve.”