December 2009 eNews: InterNetzo
Alumni, Faculty & Staff News and Goods

The Walden School welcomes news and information from members of the Junior Conservatory Camp and Walden communities to include in our print and online newsletters. News may be sent via mail or email. We will publish your contact information only if you specifically request that we do so. Please send info to alumni@waldenschool.org or The Walden School, 31A 29th St., San Francisco, CA 94110. We reserve the right to edit submissions and regret we cannot publish all information provided. For upcoming event listings, go to www.handoverhand.org.

Joshua Clampitt (YMP ’08-09) received The ASCAP Foundation Irving Berlin Summer Camp Scholarship at the 14th Annual ASCAP Foundation Awards in New York City. Joshua's award was presented by songwriter and recently appointed president of ASCAP, Paul Williams.

Stacy Garrop (YMP ‘87-88, faculty) writes: “My orchestra piece ‘Becoming Medusa’ is up on a concert music website called Instant Encore for the next few weeks (until around Christmas). This performance was given last month by the Albany Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Alan Miller. ‘Becoming Medusa’ is a programmatic piece that depicts Medusa's transformation from a beautiful woman to a hideous gorgon. Please check it out here!"

The music of Alexander Jones (YMP ’08-09) was played on NPR in an interview with the author Jeannette Walls, who wrote the best-selling memoir The Glass Castle. Alexander read The Glass Castle when it was released, and was so moved by it, he composed music to it. Alexander traveled to meet Ms. Wells at a book signing so he could give her the recording of his music about her life/book. She was so moved by it she brought it to her interview on NPR that evening, on a regional program called Charlotte Talks. To listen, click here. Alexander’s music comes on in the last 17 minutes of the show just as a break ends.

In early December, Leo Liebeskind (YMP ’08-09) performed in a concert with folk legend Pete Seeger. Leo joined two other musicians and Seeger and two choruses of children. Leo also opened the concert with a set of his own music.

A recent show by Nat Osborn (YMP ’00-03) was reviewed on a blog called friendswithbotharms.com, which you can read here. Nat did a mini-tour the first week of November, and wrote a long piece of music for York Dance Works, also performed in early November.

Jane Rigler (TTI ’08-09) will be living in Japan for the next six months, on a Japan US Creative Artist Friendship Fellowship. You can read her blog to find out more details here.

Music by Joan Tower (Visiting Composer ’09), Joel Friedman (TTI ’07), Pamela Layman Quist (YMP and TTI faculty and administration '68-09) and Patricia Plude (TTI Director, faculty '77-09, myriad administrative roles, including Executive Director) was featured in the Santa Clara University New Music Festival in November, along with a piece composed by SCU student, Sally Lynne Mitchell (YMP ’00-’04) to commemorate the legacy of the Jesuit martyrs who were assassinated in 1989 at the University of Central America. You can learn more here.

W. Christian Vick (YMP ’09) performed in San Francisco at Grace Cathedral for a Labyrinth Walk. He played Arvo Pärt, Satie, Chopin, and a piece he composed. He also improvised and played other original compositions before the walk began.

Tamsin Waley-Cohen (Visiting Artist '09), sister of Freya Waley-Cohen (YMP ’00-07), was featured in ES magazine, distributed with the London Evening Standard. On January 11, Tamsin is playing the opening concert of the 2010 Park Lane Group Young Artists series. This long-running initiative is for new work, and Tamsin's solo violin program includes a world premiere and a UK premiere.

The Yesaroun’ Duo (visiting artists ’01) self-titled release is now available on iTunes and Amazon, featuring works by Shawn Crouch (YMP '93-94, '96, Faculty '97, '99-00, '02, '05-07, TTI '08) , Charles Ives, and Ken Ueno. They also released HeavyUpHeavyDown, a two-disc collection featuring the world premiere recordings of works by Jefferson Friedman, CromTech, Tolga Yayalar, Curtis Hughes, Lei Liang, Dominique Schafer, and Robert Hasegawa, plus works by Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, and Louis Andriessen.

Transitions
Major Life Events in the Walden/JCC Family

Rebecca Hammann (YMP '76-80) died on Dec. 7, 2009, at the age of 46, at her home in the N Street Co-Housing Community in Davis, Calif., 13 months after a diagnosis of metastatic brain cancer. You can read her obituary here.

On December 13, 2009, Walden lost Raymond Kenneth Hebden, beloved husband of Walden co-founder Lynn Taylor Hebden, loving father of Kenneth , Jeffrey (Summer staff ’74, ’76-80) and Douglas (Ruth) Hebden, and grandfather to Taylor (YMP ’94) and David Hebden (YMP ’99-02). Raymond had a hand in most everything that happened at Walden School, from its founding in 1972 through to his retirement from Walden in 1994. Through his tireless volunteer work for those many years, he changed hundreds of young people’s lives through their experiences at the camp he so devotedly worked to support. A memorial service was held on December 17 in Baltimore.

Gary Monheit (JCC ’72)’s mother, Diane Monheit, passed away at age 75 on December 1, after a long illness. He and his brother Michael were with her when she died. Gary thanks everyone for their thoughtful notes and phone calls.

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Josh Clampitt

Jeanette Walls and Alexander Jones

Nat Osborn

Sally Lynne Mitchell

Yesaroun' Duo