eNews: InterNetzo – December 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
The holiday season is upon us, and we are gearing up for another wonderful Walden year in 2023.
I’m thrilled to announce that applications are now open for our 2023 Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). Read on for information about program dates and locations, application deadlines, and upcoming YMP info sessions. And spread the word to any creative musicians who may be interested in learning more about Walden!
This edition of InterNetzo also features competitions for young composers, along with plenty of exciting community news. Plus, Walden merch is on sale, so if you’re looking for a great holiday gift, be sure to check it out.
I wish you all the best this holiday season, and I hope to see you at a Walden event or program soon!
Best wishes,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
#GivingTuesday Success
Thank you to the many generous supporters who collectively contributed $3,345 to Walden’s Annual Fund on #GivingTuesday, far surpassing our goal of raising $2,023 for Walden’s summer 2023 programs!
#GivingTuesday is a global day of generosity, supporting our communities and the organizations we love. Walden’s amazing donor community keeps us thriving—THANK YOU.
It’s not too late to support Walden this holiday season. Any day is a good day to give the gift of music!
Summer 2023 Programs
Apply to be part of Walden 2023!
We are now accepting applications for summer 2023. We hope you (and your friends, family members, acquaintances, and neighbors!) will apply to join us at one of our programs next summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 10 - June 18, 2023, at Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 24 - July 30, 2023, at Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials for both programs are available on our website.
Application deadlines:
Early Round: Applications due December 21
Regular Round: Applications due February 1
Final Round: Applications due April 5
Write to us with any questions.
Walden Holiday Parties
The holiday season is just around the corner! Walden community members will be gathering for holiday potlucks in cities throughout the country in December and January. Look for an email announcement of dates and cities soon, and if you are interested in hosting a party in your area or want to learn more in the meantime about these upcoming gatherings, please email us. We are so grateful to the many volunteers who have hosted Walden holiday parties over the years.
Currently, we have one party scheduled, with more to come:
New York: Sunday, January 22, 2023, 3-5 pm
RSVP by email or call (415) 587-8157.
Give the Gift of Walden!
There are two great ways to bring some Walden-y summer magic to your holiday season while also supporting our programs.
Order Walden merchandise before December 15 for 10% off and delivery by Christmas. We have logo shirts, hoodies, hats, keychains, decals, and more.
Check out Walden’s discography on Bandcamp, which includes a wealth of summer program recordings available to stream and purchase for download.
Young Musicians Program (YMP) Online Information Sessions
Join us at one of our online interactive information sessions led by Walden’s Executive Director, Seth Brenzel, alongside YMP faculty and staff members.
Learn more and register for one of the info sessions below:
Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 7 pm Eastern / 4 pm Pacific
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at 7 pm Eastern / 4 pm Pacific
These events are open to prospective students, music teachers, and anyone else who would like to learn more about Walden’s award-winning Young Musicians Program—the music camp that changes lives.
Competitions and Calls for Scores
Walden encourages the sharing of opportunities and resources for composers, including competitions and calls for scores that may be of interest to our community. We maintain a searchable list of competitions, awards, and calls for scores on our website. Opportunities are often posted in Walden’s community Facebook group as well.
Here are some opportunities that were recently shared with us:
- Emerging Composer Completion Grants: The San Francisco ARTZenter Institute and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players offer these grants to young composers currently enrolled in a degree-granting program of study in composition. The grant program offers $3,000 completion grants to six winners, who will then have the opportunity to participate in a three-day open rehearsal workshop. The workshops will culminate in a recorded “open work-in-progress rehearsal” of the six works. Applications are due January 20, 2023.
- New Voices Project: San Francisco Choral Artists is soliciting new works for chamber choir from composers under 30. Composers are encouraged to submit new and creative settings of poetry for consideration for a June 2023 concert set entitled Shakespeare & Friends. The first-prize winner receives a $500 cash prize, and all winners receive a professional-quality recording of the performance. Applications are due March 1, 2023.
- Biennale College Musica 2023: The Biennale College Musica 2023 will take place at the 67th International Contemporary Music Festival in Venice, Italy, and will feature a program of research, creation, and residency for ten musicians between the ages of 18 and 30. The theme of the festival is “Micro-Music,” focused on the processing and diffusion of digital sound. The interdisciplinary program will include four two-week residencies in Venice, supervised by mentors from the world of digital music. Applications are open until January 31, 2023.
- NIH Community Orchestra (NIHCO) Call for Scores: The NIHCO, a community orchestra in Maryland, has announced a new competition for composers aged 30 or younger, especially those studying or based in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC. Composers are invited to submit a new work 8-10 minutes in length that is inspired by the theme of “Reflection and Rejuvenation.” The winner will receive a $3,000 honorarium and a video-recorded premiere in June 2023. Up to three honorable mentions may be named. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2023.
Community News
Walden at the GRAMMY awards
Recordings by past Walden visiting artists and ensembles were among the 2023 GRAMMY nominees:
Dave Eggar was a featured performer on two GRAMMY-nominated compositions by Paquito D’Rivera and Pascal Le Boeuf. A former member of The Walden School Players, Dave has brought his artistry to numerous Walden events. Most recently, he performed at our benefit concert in Washington, DC, last May.
Hub New Music was the featured performing ensemble on Carlos Simon’s Requiem for the Enslaved, which was GRAMMY-nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. This powerful work honors the lives of 272 enslaved people sold to pay the debts of Georgetown University, where Simon is an assistant professor of music. Hub’s recording of the work was released in celebration of Juneteenth this year. Hub New Music was the ensemble-in-residence for Walden’s YMP Faculty Commissioning Concert in 2021.
Del Sol String Quartet was the performer on Huang Ro’s A Dust in Time, one of the albums for which Judy Sherman was nominated for a GRAMMY as Producer of the Year, Classical. The album-length composition traces a meditative journey inspired by Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas.
Congratulations to the nominees!
Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy appointed to faculty chair in India
UCLA ethnomusicology professor Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, a JCC alumna, has been named the inaugural holder of the Bakë-Jairazbhoy Chair for Indian Ocean Studies at the Pocker Sahib Memorial Orphanage College in Kerala, India. The chair was created to recover and preserve the musical culture of the Muslim community on the Malabar coast. Catlin-Jairazbhoy will have the songs digitally re-mastered and archived, and she plans to transcribe and translate the lyrics into English. She credits JCC founder Grace Newsom Cushman with encouraging her interest in the music of different cultures.
Loretta Notareschi composition featured on new recording
Veteran YMP and CMR faculty member Loretta Notareschi’s composition Moon Jazz: River on the Moon was recorded on the album Windswept Vol II: Modern Chamber Music for Winds by the New London Chamber Ensemble, from Navona Records. The album was released in June, and Loretta’s piece has been aired on several local radio stations.
Amy Beth Kirsten Joins Juilliard Composition Faculty
Amy Beth (A.B.) Kirsten, who was YMP Composer-in-Residence in 2022—and will fill the same role at CMR in 2023—has been named to the faculty of the Juilliard School’s music composition department. A.B. is known for her multiyear multimedia theatrical collaborations, and her body of work spans 18 years. She has been recognized with numerous awards and fellowships, including from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the John S. Guggenheim Foundation. She is currently working on Jacob in Chains, a present-day Christmas ghost story commissioned by Alarm Will Sound.
Prizewinning composition by Michael Kropf premiered
A new work by YMP faculty member Michael Kropf was premiered at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) on November 1. Sweet Baby Movie Child was the winning composition in the school’s annual Hoefer Prize competition. Kropf won every prize available in the composition department while completing his master’s degree at SFCM. His new piece is a collaboration with fellow SFCM student and poet Patrick Smith, who wrote the text for the piece, and it was sung by soprano Erin O’Meally, another SFCM graduate. A video of the premiere performance is available here.
Augusta Cecconi-Bates interviewed
Composer Augusta Cecconi-Bates, a CMR alumna, was interviewed on The William Pace Show, broadcast from Dayton, Ohio, and available on YouTube here. The interview traces Augusta’s life story and varied musical career, including her numerous operas and cantatas on historical and humanistic themes.
Mivos Quartet records Steve Reich
The Mivos Quartet, a past Walden visiting ensemble, has released a new album on Deutsche Grammophon featuring a trilogy of works by Steve Reich. The album, titled Steve Reich: The String Quartets, includes Reich’s Different Trains, Triple Quartet, and WTC 9/11. The Mivos players worked closely with Reich to develop their interpretations of the works, and the composer himself supported the project from start to finish. The album is available digitally, on CD, and on vinyl. A limited number of LPs including art prints signed by Reich are also available.
Ruth Franklin speaks on prestigious lecture series
On November 2, YMP alumna Ruth Franklin, the author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, was a featured lecturer at the University of Rochester’s Plutzik Series, a long-running reading series featuring leading contemporary literary artists. Franklin is a book critic and former editor at The New Republic. Her book on Shirley Jackson won numerous awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. Franklin has also received a Guggenheim Fellowship in biography and a Leon Levy Fellowship in biography.
Quarter-tone piece by Ned McGowan premiered
Former YMP visiting artist Ned McGowan’s Three Pieces for Quarter-tone Extended Clarinet was premiered on November 27 at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, where McGowan lives. The pieces were written for clarinetist Gregory Oakes. The concert also featured former YMP visiting artist Ere Lievonen on the Fokker Organ and McGowan on flutes. An excerpt of the piece, along with the score, is available on YouTube.
Walden friends at the San Francisco Symphony
Tenor soloist Issachah Savage, who gave a memorable recital at YMP in 2008, was featured in the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under conductor Xian Zhang in early December. Several other Walden friends performed as part of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus: Walden Executive Director Seth Brenzel, CMR alumni Drew Kravin and Malcolm Gaines, Walden bookkeeper Brielle Morgan Neilson, former development associate Chung-Wai Soong, and several Walden donors. The chorus, led by David Xiques (himself a Walden supporter!), was praised for its “full-bodied and eloquent sound.”
Mary Fineman chamber suite premiered
Suite from the Faraway Pavailion by Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna Mary Fineman was premiered in November in San Francisco and Belmont, California. The performance can be viewed here. The suite, for Pierrot ensemble, includes a piece titled “Watercolor” that Fineman originally wrote for piano at the age of 16 with her beloved teacher Shari Fleming, a JCC alumna and faculty member and the composer of “Goodnight Music.” The piano version of the piece was performed by Yarn/Wire at Walden’s online Alumni Composers Forum in 2021.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – October 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
Happy Halloween! Fall is in the air, and we are starting to plan another wonderful Walden summer in 2023 while looking back with gratitude on the summer past.
I hope you enjoy this spooky edition of InterNetzo, which celebrates our fiscal year-end fundraising efforts, looks ahead to Walden holiday parties, and features the diabolically inventive Walden tradition of Halloween in July. Plus, catch up on some dreadfully exciting community news.
I wish you a fun-filled and frightful Halloween, and I hope our paths cross again soon—perhaps in some haunted wood!
BOO!
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(603) 563-8212
Walden Holiday Parties
The holiday season is just around the corner! Walden community members will be gathering for holiday potlucks in cities throughout the country in December and January. Look for an email announcement of dates and cities soon, and if you are interested in hosting a party in your area or want to learn more in the meantime about these upcoming gatherings, please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org. We are so grateful to the many volunteers who have hosted Walden holiday parties over the years.
Fiscal Year-End Fundraising
Walden’s fiscal year ended on September 30. Over the year, the Annual Fund raised more than $337,000 from 434 individuals, families, and institutions, including 95 new donors. Thank you. We are inspired by your generosity, and we are grateful for the transformative experiences of music and community you make possible.
If you missed the deadline, don’t worry—it’s never too late to support Walden! You can always make a gift online or mail a check to our office:
The Walden School
7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204
San Francisco, CA 94131
Happy Halloween. . . In October
From Kittie Cooper, Director of De(Composers) Forums
From Kittie Cooper, Director of De(Composers) ForumsWe asked Young Musicians Program (YMP) faculty member Kittie Cooper to tells us about Halloween in July, a beloved YMP tradition that she introduced six years ago.
Halloween in July is one of those beautiful days at Walden that bring out peak levels of wackiness in the community. It’s always a surprise when it’ll happen—some space is just decorated on campus for the students to discover. They then have the afternoon to come up with costumes while the offices are converted into a haunted house for students to trick-or-treat in later. The decorating is done secretly, under the cover of some complicated and blatantly fictional story that keeps the students away (this year, spiders had nested up in the offices and needed to be relocated).
Halloween in July is one of Walden’s more recent traditions—the first one was in 2016 and we’ve had one every year since (even 2020 when Walden was online). Some faculty and staff were talking about how we have winter holidays in July, and we were kidding around that we should have Halloween in July.
I really wanted it to happen though, because it sounded awesome and very summer-campy, so I kept bringing it up and asking people to help so we could make it happen. I convinced Sam Pluta to suggest Halloween as one of the musicianship frolic themes (which ended up being “Welcome to the Hallolympic Games” or some such), because then I knew we’d at least have some Halloween decorations to start with. People were honestly so trusting that year—I still can’t believe they just let us take over the offices and jumped right in to running around decorating things.
The rooms of the haunted house change every year, and are always a mix of spooky, scary, funny, nerdy, and just plain beautiful. This year two rooms that were on the particularly beautiful side of things were the hidden room of rainbows and unicorns (and other glittery, happy things curated by Rebekah Griffin Greene), and the room of 12-tone solfege bots (where Francesca Hellerman made a Max patch that randomly generated tone rows for the students to solfege). We also had a jump scare hallway with a bunch of DIY synths and lights (thanks to Alex Christie), and a room of planned obsolescence (featuring antiquated Walden merch and technology, dreamed up by Theo Trevisan), and there were many more stand-outs that I’d love to list but then this would be too long! My favorite thing about Halloween is that it’s always a group effort, and you get to see people’s personalities and senses of humor coming out in their own unique ways—just through costumes and decorations. And the Walden students are of course extremely clever, so they come up with some really amazingly original (and spooky, and hilarious) stuff every year.
Community News
Washington Master Chorale performs Walden composers
No fewer than five Walden-affiliated composers had works premiered by the Washington Master Chorale on its October 23 “Autumn Harvest” concert in Washington, DC. The Chorale is a mixed chorus of 60 professional and volunteer singers led by Artistic Director Tom Colohan, who has been the choral conductor at Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) for several summers. The composers and pieces featured were Bob Bassett, CMR alumnus and member of Walden’s Board of Directors, with Chinook; Caroline Mallonee, YMP alumna, longtime faculty member, and current CMR director, with Morning Porch and two selections from Wind Songs; and CMR alumni Drew Kravin (Redwood Tree) and Dan Maguire (“October-November” from Falls Like Slow Rain). Tom Colohan’s composition Make Me an Instrument was also performed. Congratulations to all!
Lukáš Janata’s prizewinning composition premiered
Catch, a new composition for orchestra by CMR alumnus and YMP faculty member Lukáš Janata, was premiered by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Orchestra and conductor Edwin Outwater. Lukáš’s work was the winning composition in SFCM’s 2021 Highsmith Competition. Lukáš graduated from SFCM in 2019 and now teaches composition there. He calls the piece “a contemplative, urgent, and lamenting work, that delivers a reflection, reconciliation, and imploration for humane values.” Watch the performance here or listen here along with the score.
Sarah Riskind featured on Illinois Public Media
Former YMP faculty member and choral director Sarah Riskind was interviewed by Illinois Public Media about her upcoming concert with the Baroque Artists of Champaign–Urbana (BACH), of which she is the music director. The concert will feature Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri and Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, a 2016 work that responds to Buxtehude. As Sarah explains, “since one of my primary goals as the Music Director of BACH is to use Baroque music as a foundation for exploring a more diverse collection of works, I resolved to build a program out of these two deeply connected pieces separated by 336 years.”
Lei Liang and Mivos Quartet
Past CMR visiting ensemble Mivos Quartet premiered Six Seasons by Lei Liang, a past YMP and CMR composer-in-residence. The work, for string quartet and electronics, was commissioned by Mivos and written in collaboration with scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, who collected recordings from the floor of the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic. The title refers to the six seasons observed by Nunavut indigenous communities based on hunting and migration patterns. The concert took place on October 15 at the University of California at San Diego, where Lei is a professor of music. The project was featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Photo: Lei Liang and oceanographer Joshua Jones
Rebekah Griffin Greene collaborates with Poet Laureate of Alabama on piece honoring Harriet Tubman
YMP faculty member Rebekah Griffin Greene has collaborated with Ashley M. Jones, the Poet Laureate of Alabama, on Hymn for Harriet’s Hands, a work for orchestra and poet inspired by the life of Harriet Tubman. The piece was premiered on October 21 by young musicians from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, along with Jones, who spoke her poetry together with the music.
Photo: Rebekah Griffin Greene and Ashley M. Jones
Judith Temkin Irvine honored by Bryn Mawr School
JCC alumna Judith Temkin Irvine was honored by her alma mater, Baltimore’s Bryn Mawr School, with the school’s Senior Alumna Award. Judith is an anthropologist recognized for her work on language and communication in social, cultural, and historical context, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. She has taught at Brandeis University and the University of Michigan. She is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship. Congratulations, Judy!
New film and book from Alicia Jo Rabins
Last month saw the release of two creative projects from YMP alumna Alicia Jo Rabins. Her film A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff is a hybrid of musical memoir and narrative fantasy that explores the dangers of capitalism and perfectionism through the story of Bernie Madoff. Its premiere in Portland, Oregon, was covered in Willamette Week, and it is now available for streaming. In addition, Alicia’s book of short personal essays about early parenthood and Jewish spirituality, Even God Had Bad Parenting Days, is now available for purchase.
Welcome to Marguerite Ladd’s daughter
Walden alumna and former staff and faculty member Marguerite Ladd announces the birth of her daughter, Arda Earle Ladd, coming in at 9 pounds and 12 ounces and 22 inches long. Welcome Arda!
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
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eNews: InterNetzo – September 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
Walden’s 50th summer has come to a close. It was a joyous one, filled with close mentorship, artistic collaborations, inspired music-making, and creative growth for nearly 100 students ages 9 to 88(!) at our Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). More than 150 original works of music composed by Walden students were premiered on our Concert Series, which was offered free of charge to the public and livestreamed online.
I hope you enjoy this September edition of InterNetzo, which includes a recap of our 2022 YMP, a look at our successful summer fundraising events, a roundup of changes on Walden’s Board of Directors, and lots of community news.
Plus, Friday, September 30 is the last day of Walden’s fiscal year. Please consider making a gift to our Annual Fund today, so that these amazing summer programs can continue to thrive for generations of creative musicians to come. This year’s community of nearly 400 donors (and counting!) made Walden 2022 possible. We simply could not have done what we did this summer without our donors’ loyal and generous contributions. On behalf of the entire Walden community, I am so very grateful.
Best wishes,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(603) 563-8212
Reflecting on the 2022 Young Musicians Program (YMP)
From Seth Brenzel, Executive Director and Director of YMP
What a summer we had! Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) was by many accounts a smashing success. During 2022, 14 teaching faculty, 8 staff, 3 nurses, and 47 students from across the United States, about 50% of whom were themselves alumni of YMP, enjoyed five weeks (or in some cases three weeks) of summer fun, creativity, chorus, musicianship classes, Composers Forums, concerts, and so much more. They composed inventive, exciting music; attended three classes each day (from a schedule of nearly 30 classes); sang in chorus led by our chorus director Kari Francis; created a remarkable musical and artistic community; and made some friends for life. 25 visiting artists presented 24 concerts, composer presentations, open rehearsals, and Composers Forums, during which dozens of exciting new pieces written by our imaginative students were premiered.
We had a lot of fun along the way: five dances, five open mics, one slide show, one fancy dinner on the last night, three mountain hikes (one was cancelled due to heat!), one “heat-out” Saturday excursion to an ice-skating rink, one weekend of bouncy house, one dunk tank (yours truly was dunked by four different students and staff!), one spirited game of Gold Rush, one Halloween-in-July (complete with Haunted House—thank you, Kittie, Alex, and team!), one non-denominational-
It was a summer to remember, for sure. All of our concerts and Composers Forums—for the first time ever—were both livestreamed and open to the public, all free of charge. One parent of a YMP student remarked that Walden 2022 was “as close to a perfect summer for a young creative as one could ask for.” We hope to see you (or your student or cousin or neighbor or child) at Walden 2023(!), for which we are planning in earnest and about which we are already dreaming . . .
Fiscal Year End Fundraising Drive
Walden’s fiscal year ends on September 30—this Friday! That means we have less than a week to reach our Annual Fund goal of $395,000. We are getting close, and we need your help.
Donate Today
Thank you to the nearly 400 individuals and families who have contributed to Walden’s Annual Fund during the current fiscal year. If you haven’t given yet this year, please join us. Every gift counts and makes a tremendous impact on our community.
To have your contribution to Walden’s annual fund included in this fiscal year, make a gift online until 11:59pm PDT on September 30, or mail a check (postmarked by September 30) to our office:
The Walden School
7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204
San Francisco, CA 94131
Summer Fundraising Events
Walden’s loyal community of supporters turned out in force for three wonderful fundraising events this summer.
Giving Day
July 25 was Walden’s third annual online Giving Day. We were overjoyed to share a day at the Young Musicians Program (YMP) by livestreaming snippets of classes, mealtime blessings, a festival piece rehearsal, and interviews with YMP students as well as Composer-in-Residence Amy Beth Kirsten. The day concluded with a livestream of the first Composers Forum of Festival Week. This virtual event raised $9,241 from 58 individuals and families. Thank you to everyone who participated!
The videos produced on Giving Day are still available for viewing here.
New Hampshire Summer Celebration
On July 30, Walden held its first summer fundraiser in New Hampshire since 2019. Approximately 80 attendees, including YMP parents, Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumni, Walden Board members, and New Hampshire community members gathered for a spectacular afternoon of music and refreshments.
First, YMP alumnus Mackenzie Melemed performed a breathtaking piano recital featuring works of Beethoven, Scriabin, and Gottschalk in Dublin’s School’s Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall. Then, guests were invited to Windy Knowe, the home of Ellen and Ed Bernard, for a wonderful reception in their newly completed barn. The event raised a total of $12,475 from 34 individuals and families. We are so grateful to Mackenzie, to Ellen and Ed, and to our dedicated host committee for making this such a memorable and successful event.
Seth Brenzel’s 50th Birthday
For his 50th birthday—which coincides with the 50th anniversary year of Walden’s founding—Executive Director Seth Brenzel held a fundraiser on Facebook, which raised a stunning total of $37,041 from more than 50 individuals and families. This was an amazing testament to the love that our community has for Seth and Walden. Thank you to Seth and to all who contributed!
Transitions on Walden’s Board of Directors
In the midst of this summer’s Young Musicians Program (YMP), Walden’s Board of Directors held its first in-person meeting since March 2020, when it last met in person in New York City in the Empire State Building! For two days in July, this group of dedicated volunteers met to work on plans for Walden’s long-term growth and sustainability. Board members also joined the YMP community for a barbecue dinner and a concert by The Walden Schools Players. The weekend was capped off by a celebratory dinner hosted by Charlie and Dede MacVeagh at their home.
As always at the Board’s July meeting, additional directors were welcomed, and new officers were elected. Here is a roundup of the changes:
Board Chair Changes Hands
Rita Mitra has stepped down after 5 years as Walden’s Board chair. Walden owes Rita a debt of gratitude for her tireless and wise leadership during a time of unexpected challenges. Rita will remain on the Board as one of its two vice-chairs. Ever humble about her many contributions, Rita, the mother of YMP alum Danielle Oberdier LeBlanc, says: “I can never pay back what Walden has given my daughter.” Thank you, Rita, for all that you have done and continue to do for Walden.
Taking over as chair is Peter Colohan, a Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumnus and a member of Walden’s Board since 2015. Peter is Executive Director of the Internet of Water, a project based at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Congratulations, Peter, on your new leadership role at Walden, and thank you in advance for your service in this important position.
New Board officers
The officers of Walden’s Board of Directors for 2022–23 are as follows:
Chair: Peter Colohan
Vice-Chairs: Rita Mitra and Danielle Schindler Cheung
Treasurer: Steve Messner
Secretary: David Roberts
New board members
JoAnn Balingit
JoAnn is a poet, essayist, and K12 arts-in-education advocate who served as Delaware’s poet laureate from 2008 to 2015. She is a Delaware Division of the Arts teaching artist for Poetry Out Loud, a national high school recitation contest, and teaches poetry and memoir classes for libraries and nonprofits. The recipient of several fellowships and writing recognitions, JoAnn identifies as a next-gen, or 2nd-generation writer whose poems and essays explore cultural memory and loss, family history and parenthood. She lives with her husband Fred Hofstetter and Julian—who has attended both YMP and CMR—in Newark, Delaware, on Leni Lenape tribal homeland. Watching a Composers Forum for the first time in the summer of 2016, JoAnn Balingit was moved and delighted by the confidence, creativity, and sense of belonging everyone radiates at Walden.
Jamie Hamilton
Jamie is passionate about creating communities that thrive in the life of service, generosity, listening, and learning. For twenty years, she was both an educator and administrator at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, teaching religion and philosophy and overseeing the health and welfare of students in her role as dean. Jamie is a past Rector of All Saints Church in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a summer congregation located next to the Dublin School campus. Jamie is returning to the Walden Board after having served from 2013 to 2016. She lives in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.
David Keller
David Keller, CMT, is Chief Market Strategist at StockCharts.com and President of Sierra Alpha Research LLC, where he helps investors make better decisions using behavioral finance and technical analysis. He is the host of The Final Bar, the daily closing bell show on StockCharts TV, and he relates mindfulness techniques to investor decision making in his blog, The Mindful Investor. David is a classically trained musician and student pilot, and resides in Duvall, Washington, with his wife and two children. David’s perpetual pursuit of musical experiences led him to CMR in 2018, and he has literally not stopped thinking about it ever since.
Kate Valenta
Through her career in arts administration, Kate has worked for the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where she served as Associate Director of Development. She now lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her husband and daughter. Kate serves as a trustee of the Hoboken Historical Museum and as board chair of the Fund for a Better Waterfront in Hoboken. Kate is honored that Walden has given her the opportunity to be directly involved in the non-profit arts sector again, and to support transformative experiences for young people through music and composition.
Ellen Bernard becomes Director Emerita
It was a bittersweet moment as we bade farewell to Ellen Bernard as a regular Board member, while welcoming her as a Director Emerita. Ellen’s 18 years of service on Walden’s Board of Directors, consisting of two nine-year terms, have been nothing short of extraordinary. As former Board member Molly Pindell said when Ellen stepped down after her first nine-year term, “Her work on the board stands as one of the pillars of Walden’s successful growth over the past decade. Walden has blossomed in such positive ways and Ellen’s guidance of the board was certainly one of the major forces that shaped the path of this growth.” Those statements are even truer today. Walden is enormously grateful for all of Ellen’s service, past, present, and future!
Photo: Rita Mitra (left) and Ellen Bernard at the Board dinner in July.
Ryan Muncy in Memoriam
From Executive Director Seth Brenzel
Walden is a community in grief at the loss of Ryan Muncy, an acclaimed saxophonist, educator, arts administrator, and frequent visiting artist Walden, who passed away in July. Ryan was a dear friend of mine, a dear friend and colleague to so many of us in the Walden community, and an inspirational performer for and mentor to hundreds of Walden students for many years. His passing leaves a big hole in the Walden community. We join with all those who were touched by Ryan’s artistry and dedication over the years in grieving his passing and sending peace and comfort to his family and loved ones.
Ryan first came to Walden as part of Dal Niente in 2013. With Dal Niente, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and The Walden School Players, he was in residence at Walden eight different times. Some people who come to Walden are immediately part of the fabric of the place, and you start to imagine that they literally are Walden, have always been part of Walden, and will always be. Ryan was one such person. He will always be part of Walden, and I’m so grateful to have known him and for all that he gave to me, this community, and our students. Ryan is and will be forever missed.
As a testament to how deeply Ryan touched so many of us at Walden, we share a reflection from Theo Trevisan, a Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumnus and staff member, who explains the significance of the yellow bat Ryan is holding in the photo above, captured by Composer-in-Residence Marcos Balter around the firepit during CMR 2021:
Back in summer 2014, Ryan was one of The Walden School Players, and Zünder Jones (who had already done several hilarious pranks that summer) had an idea for one more small prank during YMP Festival Week. He decided arbitrarily to create the “Ryan Muncy Fan Club” and gather a bunch of us to prank Ryan by mobbing him at the breakfast line as his fan club (as if we were paparazzi). Funnily enough, the prank primarily consisted of us flash mobbing Ryan at breakfast, and signing the wiffleball bat was only a small part of the idea. Ryan was an extremely good sport about it (especially considering he hadn’t had any coffee yet!), and even though he was confused at what was happening, he signed the bat.
The next summer in 2015, Ryan was back as both a Walden School Player and a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble. I remember checking the rec room for some reason and finding the signed bat among the rest of the wiffleball bats, and I thought it would be hilarious to have him sign the bat again. At the end of that summer, he signed the bat and dated the signature to 2015, and thus a tradition was born. Every subsequent year, Ryan would sign the bat while he was at Walden, and after my last summer as a student in 2017, Sasha Paris-Carter took over as the “Chair” of the Ryan Muncy Fan Club. I believe he signed it every year from 2014 all the way until 2021, when he was in residence at the Creative Musicians Retreat while I was a participant.
Ryan’s graceful response to a bizarre prank, and its subsequent transformation into a Walden tradition, showed Ryan’s extraordinary kindness and good humor. I wrote for Ryan at every opportunity I could after that (four times between 2015 and 2021, more than I wrote for anyone else at Walden) because of his warmth and generosity as well as his amazing musicianship. He was a role model for how the collaborative process should work and how that can tie into communities like Walden, and I strive to approach all of my collaborative endeavors with the professionalism, generosity, and humor that Ryan exemplified. He helped make so many Walden students’ summers excellent and fun.
Community News
Walden at TIME:SPANS
In August, several Walden-affiliated performers and composers were featured at this year’s TIME:SPANS contemporary music festival at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York. Among them: past YMP and current CMR faculty member Sam Pluta’s piece Atens was premiered by Splinter Reeds (an ensemble that includes bassoonist Dana Jessen, a past YMP faculty member and current Walden School Player.) Splinter Reeds, itself a past Walden visiting ensemble, also performed past YMP faculty member Sky Macklay’s piece Choppy, featured on Splinter Reeds’ album Hypothetical Island. Another piece by Sky Macklay, Microvariations, was performed by the Argento New Music Project. Dana Jessen also performed Seismologics, a piece for bassoon and electronics that was written for her by past YMP and CMR Composer-in-Residence George Lewis. Other premieres included phrēn, by past visiting artist and Walden School Player Eric Wubbels, performed by JACK Quartet, and drip music, by past YMP faculty member Katie Balch, performed by Talea Ensemble.
Photo: Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta with the members of Splinter Reeds.
Constantine Darie wins two composition competitions
Constantine Darie, a 2022 YMP student and sophomore at Potsdam Central School in New York, has won two prizes from the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA): one for the Young Composers Honors Concert and another for the Electronic Music Composition Showcase. His compositions Waves and Other Side will be performed at the NYSSMA Winter conference in Rochester, New York, December 1 through 3. An article about the composition of Waves can be found here. Congratulations, Constantine!
Lila Mertezky awarded with Sandbox Percussion’s Creator Mentorship Program
YMP faculty member Lila Meretzky was one of two composers chosen for the inaugural Creator Mentorship Program by Sandbox Percussion. Over the next year, the ensemble will commission a piece from each of these two creators and will bring them to New York City to rehearse, workshop, perform, and record these pieces. Congratulations, Lila!
Nick Benavides’s opera available for streaming
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the one-act opera Tres Minutos, by TTI and CMR alum Nicolas Benavides, is available for viewing in a high-quality video stream until October 15. Also, congratulations to Nick on successfully defending his dissertation to complete his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at USC Thornton School of Music!
Mivos Quartet on NPR
Former CMR ensemble-in-residence Mivos Quartet was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, playing works by Robert Honstein and Henry Threadgill. The ensemble is also holding its twelfth Mivos/Kanter String Quartet Commission Prize designed to promote preexisting works of talented emerging composers residing in the United States. The application deadline is October 15.
Anuj Bhutani wins ASCAP award
CMR alumnus Anuj Bhutani won the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award for his piece On Letting Go for cello and electronics. A recording and score are available here. A short video of Anuj speaking about the piece is here. Congratulations, Anuj!
Wendy Griffiths piano works recorded
An album of piano works by CMR alumna Wendy Griffiths is available now on all streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. Featuring pianist Elizabeth Rodgers, the album is entitled Views from the Keyboard.
John Weaver Memorial Organ Concert
An organ concert celebrating the late John Weaver, a JCC alumnus and faculty member, was performed on the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ in the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, where John concertized annually for half a century. The concert was performed in August by Richard Elliott, one of John’s students and now principal organist of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and it featured two of John’s compositions. He has included two of John’s own compositions. A recording of the concert is available for purchase here, and today is the last day to view it.
Sky Macklay commission premiered
Past YMP faculty member Sky Macklay’s Canon Cadenza Cadence Cluster, was premiered by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble in Berkeley and San Francisco on September 18 and 19. The commission was made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The piece features the double bass.
Eric Huebner releases solo piano recording
New Focus Recordings has released Earth: Music for Solo Piano by Stephen Barber, featuring former YMP visiting artist Eric Huebner. Eric is pianist of the New York Philharmonic and a professor of music at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Zach Layton in residence at MacDowell
CMR alumnus Zach Layton, a guitarist, composer, curator, teacher, and visual artist based in New York, has been awarded a residency at MacDowell, the storied artist residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, just down the road from Walden’s summer home at the Dublin School!
We want to hear from you!
What’s been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – July 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear friend,
Summer is here, bringing with it Walden’s 50th season! After wrapping up a phenomenally successful Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), we are now in the second week of our Young Musicians Program, where nearly 50 students are spending another transformative summer composing, improvising, singing, and building a lifelong creative community.
I hope you enjoy this July edition of InterNetzo, which includes reflections from Caroline Mallonee on this summer’s CMR, an announcement of our July 25 Giving Day and our fabulous fundraiser on July 30 in New Hampshire, and plenty of exciting community news.
Plus, read a fascinating interview with Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumnus Bob Weaver, and watch a video made by JCC faculty member Ron Nelson with priceless footage from Walden’s predecessor program.
Stay tuned throughout the summer for announcements of our free, public, livestreamed concert series. I wish you a fun-filled and creative summer, and I hope our paths cross soon!
Best wishes,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(603) 563-8212
Reflecting on the 2022 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR)
From Caroline Mallonee, Director of CMR
It all seems a bit of a dream. The Creative Musicians Retreat feels like Walden in fast-forward. Nine quick days of music-making in New Hampshire, including all the salient elements of Walden: composition, improvisation, electronic music, musicianship, chorus, Composers Forums, concerts, lake swimming, a mountain hike...
We held CMR in a different place this summer, on the campus of Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. It proved a stunning setting for the Retreat: There were views of Lake Winnipesaukee from every building! Tom Colohan led choral rehearsals in the boathouse, a gorgeous space with a vaulted ceiling, from which we could gaze at the blue water.
There were world premieres of nearly 40 works, including five new choral pieces performed by the CMR Chamber Choir, led by Thomas Colohan. The three Composers Forums and two concerts featured amazing performances by our artists-in-residence, Kyle Flens, David Friend, Tyler J. Borden, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (Teagan Faran, Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, Dan Lippel, and Emmalie Tello,) as well as many talented participants.
Composer-in-Residence Lei Liang gave an illuminating talk on his own music, moderated the three Composers Forums, and hosted two master classes. What a kind and inspiring presence!
One cannot say enough about Sammi Stone and the Walden staff (Kittie Cooper, Anastasia Baker, Arté Warren, and Luke Schroeder), all of whom had worked at Walden previously. Such pros! They ensured that the week was smooth. Our faculty was also entirely made up of veteran Walden teachers: Alex Christie, Renée Favand-See, Osnat Netzer, Loretta Notareschi, Sam Pluta, and me (Carrie Mallonee). The classroom demo showcased their inspired teaching and deep expertise, as well as their creativity and sense of humor.
Our participants came from seventeen states plus Canada, and they ranged in age from 19 to 88! We welcomed 13 CMR alumni back. This year, more than ever, the group felt like a huge family, supporting and learning from each other. There were nightly fire pits where we toasted marshmallows and roasted weenies, and a final CMR open mic which, for at least the fourth time, ended in dancing. The Walden magic is strong. I can’t wait for next year!
Caroline Mallonee
Director, The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat
Upcoming Events
TONIGHT: YMP Faculty Commissioning Concert featuring Warp Trio
Friday, July 8, 7:30 pm Eastern
Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall
Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (and online!)
A concert of world premieres by YMP faculty members, performed by this summer’s YMP commissioning ensemble, Warp Trio.
As Walden’s concerts are open to the public, we are asking all audience members, including Young Musicians Program students, to wear a mask while attending any of our events that take place indoors.
Described as “a talented group that exemplifies the genre-obliterating direction of contemporary classical music” (Columbia Free Times), Warp Trio is an internationally touring cross-genre chamber music experience. Reflecting the combination of Juilliard-trained members juxtaposed with members steeped in rock and jazz styles, the one-of-a-kind trio (which even has a fourth member!) can be seen performing classical works in prestigious halls on the same tour where they headline a standing-room-only show at a rock venue. In addition to their electrifying public performances, they have gained a reputation for their innovative educational workshops with students from grade school through university level.
Featuring music by Walden YMP faculty composers Emi Ostrom, Cara Haxo, Kittie Cooper, Rebekah Griffin Greene, Lila Meretzky, Terry Greene II, Lukáš Janata, Michael Kropf, Nate Trier, and Loretta Notareschi.
Watch the livestream here.
July 25: Giving Day
On July 25, we will be sharing live video updates from our Young Musicians Program in Dublin, New Hampshire. Join us online as we share the joy of music and community with Walden friends near and far. Stay tuned for more information about this opportunity to experience and support Walden!
July 30: New Hampshire Fundraiser
Save the date for a fabulous Festival Week celebration at the end of our 2022 Young Musicians Program. The event will feature a performance by award-winning concert pianist Mackenzie Melemed, a YMP alumnus and 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.
For details or to RSVP, contact Noah Mlotek, our Interim Development Manager, by email or at 415-587-8157.
In the Spotlight
Bob Weaver
Bob Weaver is an alumnus of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), the predecessor program to The Walden School, and has been a participant at Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). Bob and his wife Anne, a fellow JCCer who is a physician as well as an accomplished musician and choral director, are longtime Walden donors and active members of the JCC/Walden alumni community. Bob is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Computer Science at Mount Holyoke College. He is a published composer, particularly of hymns and anthems, and an avid choral singer. Bob and Anne live in a retirement community in Needham, Massachusetts.
Bob began attending JCC in 1956. Anne started in 1962, which is when they first met.
How did you first get involved with the Junior Conservatory Camp, and what has been your involvement with JCC and Walden since?
My brother John, a concert organist, composer, and teacher, started as a teenager at the JCC in about 1952. My family and I, from Baltimore, visited camp at Manor Vail in Lyndon Center, Vermont, for a couple of days in summer 1955, and I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of this friendly and supportive community and to study with Mrs. Grace Cushman. So I started there the following summer and continued coming to camp for eight years—right through college. I was on the dishwashing crew and later served as boys’ counselor. Many will remember that the dish crew filled the kitchen with wonderful vocal harmonies and resolving seventh chords while we scraped and loaded the dishwasher.
For my last two summers at camp, Anne Conley attended, and we were married when she graduated from Wellesley College in 1967. Later, when we were living in western Massachusetts, we saw an article in our local newspaper, the Greenfield Recorder, announcing a concert to be given by JCCer Nansi Carroll at The Walden School. Not wanting to miss that, we made our first trek up to Dublin, New Hampshire. We were immediately impressed that the warmth and supportive atmosphere that we had known at JCC, years earlier, was most palpably present at Walden in a way that brought back vivid memories of our camp experience. We have since attended all of the JCC/Walden reunions at the Dublin School, and some of the Composers Forums, and we have taken part in fundraising and committee work for the school. Several years ago, I attended the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), a week full of inspiring musical events and superb faculty and fellow attendees.
Many JCC folks will remember singing the hymn tunes that I wrote while at camp (“Dear Lord and Father” and “Lord, Thy Glory Fills the Heavens”). Over the years, and especially since I retired from teaching at Mount Holyoke College, I have continued composing and have written a number of other hymn tunes, setting some beautiful texts by my friend, William Pasch, of Atlanta. Together, Bill and I have expanded these tunes into choral anthems and have published with Augsburg Fortress Publishers and the St. James Music Press.
I understand you have a video of JCC that you’d like to share with us. How did the video come together, and what does it show?
In 2007, we attended the JCC/Walden reunion in Dublin. Dr. Ron Nelson, who had been a JCC faculty member and composer-in-residence for a number of years, was unable to be there but made a video to share. It was a silent video with footage from JCC that Ron had taken in 1960. Last spring, I rediscovered the video and worked with Ron to edit it and add some of Ron’s original compositions in the background. You can watch the video here. Ron is now living in Arizona in retirement from the music department of Brown University.
Why do you give to Walden? Do you have any hopes for Walden’s future as we embark on its 50th summer?
Anne and I know how profoundly the Junior Conservatory and Walden have affected and enriched our lives. We contribute to the school in the knowledge that the Walden experience (in both of its forms, YMP and CMR) can have the same positive effect on others who want to learn and compose and share interests. This is a precious program that must be preserved and extended into the future. I urge everyone to give generously to Walden.
Do you have any stories of Walden/JCC connections that you have made and maintained over the years?
So many of the people whom we knew in our summers at JCC have remained our valued friends to this day. We hear of their musical accomplishments, we remain close through email, Zoom, letters, and visits in person. We were so pleased when Walden arranged for a Zoom gathering of JCC alums this past year. That was a real treat that got many of us together for a wonderful virtual sharing of memories.
And here is a “small world” anecdote. At the 2018 Walden reunion at the Dublin School, Anne and I were chatting with a group and mentioned that we are living at the North Hill Retirement Community in Needham, near Boston. Former JCCer Tom Terwilliger said that his mother had lived at North Hill. At that moment, Solon Snider, who was himself a Young Musicians Program alumnus and attending the reunion, overheard us and interjected: “North Hill—my grandparents live there.” It turned out that his grandparents, Stanley (now deceased) and Mary Ann Snider, were fellow residents whom we knew and had visited with over dinner.
Not long ago, I happened to meet a gentleman, Jim Snider, who was reading in one of the lounges at North Hill, and we struck up a conversation. He said that he has a son, Solon, who is very much into music. I immediately recognized that name and said, “I've met your son!” He looked puzzled until I said it was at the Walden School! And yes, Jim knew all about Walden and its wonderful programs.
We all have heard that your brother John and his wife Marianne both passed away in 2021. They had a profound effect on the sacred musical scene in this country, and both are remembered for their many years at JCC.
Yes, John graduated from the Curtis Institute and remained a fixture at JCC as a faculty member and as Assistant Director of the camp, except for the years when he was drafted into the Army. For his Army service, he was named the organist and choir director of the Post Chapel at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Later, when John’s teacher, Alexander McCurdy, retired from Curtis, John was recruited to replace him in the Organ Department there. Also the organist of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, he happily commuted to and from Philadelphia by train—his favorite form of transportation. Some years later, the Juilliard School asked him to chair their organ department, which he did while continuing at Curtis for many years until his retirement in 2005.
Marianne was a wonderful flutist who performed frequently with John, including at JCC where she was on the staff for many years. She helped lead the music ministry at Madison Avenue, including directing the Junior Choir, and earlier, she and John established the Bach cantata series at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York. John and Marianne spent their summer months at a house that they built in their beloved northern Vermont, not far from Lyndonville, and they eventually retired there.
For more details about John and Marianne, and about my own music, check out my website. There is a link on that site to the JCC/Walden connection. There is also a page that I’ve developed describing John’s career, including videos of John and Marianne in concert in New York and a wonderful 90-minute Public Radio interview (“Pipedreams”) from 2007 in honor of John’s 70th birthday. My contact information is also there, and I’m always happy to hear from people in the JCC and Walden communities.
Community News
Eliza Brown composition premiered by Spektral Quartet
In one of its final performances as an ensemble, Chicago-based Spektral Quartet (former YMP visiting artists) premiered a work by YMP alumna, past YMP staff member, and and current YMP faculty member Eliza Brown, who is an assistant professor of music at DePauw University. The five-song cycle for soprano and string quartet, entitled the light that blurred the stars, was co-commissioned by Spektral and Scrag Mountain Music, and the performance featured soprano Mary Bonhag. Setting poetry by Susan Stewart, the work touches on themes of human survival and renewal.
Christopher Luna-Mega featured on Music from Other Minds
Composer Christopher Luna-Mega, a former YMP faculty member, was featured on the radio program Music from Other Minds, in an episode that aired May 8 on KALW in the Bay Area. Luna-Mega discussed growing up in Mexico City, his use of nature as a musical model, and the compositional approaches used in the pieces on his new album Time’s Arrow. Listen to the episode here.
Marco Roberts and Ensemble Dal Niente
On June 10, Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente performed the world premiere of On the Road to Urhoy by YMP alumnus (and current Walden intern) Marco Roberts. The piece is inspired by traditional Assyrian, Armenian, and Syrian folk and sacred music, and evokes the bloodstained history of the Jazira region (Upper Mesopotamia) during its occupation by colonial powers, specifically the creation of the state of Turkey and its relationship to tragedy and resistance by the people of the region today. The piece was commissioned as part of an annual collaboration between Walden and Dal Niente, providing an invaluable opportunity for young composers to receive professional performances of their work. Congratulations, Marco!
Davey Hiester leads performance with Center City Chamber Orchestra
YMP alumnus Davey Hiester is music director, president, and a co-founder of the Center City Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that unites a diverse group of student musicians in the Philadelphia area. On May 27, Davey led the orchestra in REORCHESTRATION, a concert that included the premiere of his own orchestration of Remembrance, a song cycle by E. A. Alexander. Watch the concert here.
Nnenna Ogwo presents Juneteenth Celebration Concert
Nnenna Ogwo, a YMP and CMR alumna, former YMP visiting artist, an
d former Walden Board member, presented her popular annual Juneteenth Celebration Concert in four locations across New York City from June 14 to 19. The concert is part of The Juneteenth Legacy Project (of which Dr. Ogwo is the founder and artistic director) is a musical collaborative whose mission is to share the music of the African Diaspora through the unique lens of black classically trained musicians with a focus on access, outreach, and community building through music. Watch one of the performances here.
New theater work and book from Alicia Jo Rabins
YMP alumna Alicia Jo Rabins presented a staged reading of her new work in progress, a theatrical adaptation of her Girls in Trouble song cycle, weaving stories of biblical women with personal narrative, at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education on June 16. The working title is Girls in Trouble: A Feminist Mystery Play. Rabins has also written a book, Even God Had Bad Parenting Days: Ancient Jewish Wisdom for New Parents, which is available for preorder and will be published in September by Behrman House. An excerpt from the book, on the rabbinic concept of “the pain of raising children,” was published in Kveller.
Solon Snider starts new job at Princeton
YMP alumnus Solon Snider has taken up a full-time faculty position at Princeton University as Lecturer in Music Directing and Choral Programs. This is a joint appointment between the Department of Music and the Lewis Center for the Arts Programs in Theater and Music Theater. At Princeton, Solon is the founding director of the Playhouse Choir and Playhouse Orchestra. He also works with Trenton Arts at Princeton as Director of the Trenton Youth Singers. Congratulations, Solon!
Two premieres of choral works by Caroline Mallonee
With Streaks of Light, a suite of Shakespeare songs by CMR Director and Walden alumna Caroline Mallonee, was premiered by the Cecilia Chorus in New York on May 25. The piece was commissioned by the Cecilia Chorus and its director, Mark Shapiro. A conversation between Mallonee and Shapiro about the work can be viewed here. And on June 4, another choral commission, The Right and True, was premiered by Concentus Women’s Chorus in Pittsford, New York. The piece was written in honor of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women’s suffrage in the United States. Watch a video about the piece here.
Premiere of Matthew Cummings’s composition for video game and orchestra
Tropical Trial, a composition by Online Young Musicians Experience (OYME) alumnus Matthew Cummings, was premiered on May 22, in Alexandria, Virginia, by Matthew’s former youth orchestra, the American Youth Philharmonic. The piece was accompanied by the video game “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” which was spliced by Matthew and projected onto a video screen during the performance. Matthew’s composition shared a program with works by Jim Colonna, Sibelius, and Dvořák.
Lukáš Janata co-organizes Concert of Compassion for Ukraine
CMR alumnus and current YMP faculty member Lukáš Janata was a co-organizer of the Concert of Compassion, a benefit that raised more than $100,000 for groups aiding the Ukrainian people. Held at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco on May 9, the evening featured musical talent including Frederica von Stade, Jake Heggie, musicians from the San Francisco Symphony, the Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (including Walden’s Interim Development Manager, Noah Mlotek), The Bay Brass, Orthodox bells authority Victor Avdienko, and Ukrainian soprano Alina Ilchuk, conducted by Jonathan Dimmock and Nicole Paiement. The event also included a powerful statement by Ukrainian Consul-General to San Francisco Dmytro Kushneruk. Watch the concert here.
Osnat Netzer choral work premiered
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Boston-based Jewish community chorus Koleinu commissioned a new piece of choral music, A Funkl Gleybik (A Spark of Belief) by Osnat Netzer, a TTI alumna and former YMP and current CMR faculty member. The work was premiered on June 9 at Temple Shalom in Newton, Massachusetts, by Koleinu with Hankus Netsky and Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band. The piece is an evocation of nature and time on poems by Rosa Nevadovska, Malka Tussman, and Anna Margolin.
Ruby Landau-Pincus and Annie Gosfield at YIVO
After graduating from Columbia University with a BA in Yiddish Studies, YMP alumna Ruby Landau-Pincus (seen at right with parents Caroline Pincus and Esther Landau, Walden’s former Development Director) has started a new job as an exhibition developer for the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research in New York. Mazel tov, Ruby! In other Walden-YIVO news, a new piece for string quartet by former YMP and CMR composer-in-residence Annie Gosfield, Rivulets Ripple and Rivers Flow, was premiered as part of YIVO’s festival “Continuing Evolution: Yiddish Folksong Today.” The piece was inspired by the Yiddish song “Ale vaserlekh flisn avek” (“All the Rivers Flow Down to the Sea”). You can watch the concert here.
Sarah Riskind presents music by Italian nuns
Sarah Riskind, a former YMP and CMR faculty member and former YMP choral director, conducted a concert entitled “Behind the Walls: Music from the Italian Convents” with the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, of which she is the music director. The concert featured music written by Italian women composers in the 1500s and 1600s and was led by Riskind with “scholarly expertise,” according to a review in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. Riskind is also the director of choral activities and an assistant professor of music at Eureka College.
Joel St. Julien releases album
CMR alumnus Joel St. Julien’s album Masking was released June 10 on Dragon’s Eye Recordings. St. Julien’s inspiration for the album came from a midlife discovery that unexpectedly pushed him into understanding his neurodivergence, and the work mirrors his shift from self-blame toward self-acceptance. Jay Adams contributed artwork, visuals, and creative direction for the album, the last two tracks of which can be streamed with visuals here.
Nicolas Lell Benavides’s opera Tres minutos premiered
A new one-act opera by CMR and Teacher Training Institute (TTI) alumnus Nicolas Lell Benavides was premiered in Seattle and San Francisco on May 15 and 22. With a libretto by Marella Martin Koch, Tres minutos follows the story of a sister and a brother who wrestle with questions of identity, duty, and belonging during their brief reunion at the US-Mexico border. Benavides, a doctoral student at USC Thornton School of Music, conducted the performances of the opera, which was commissioned by Music of Remembrance.
Shawn Crouch releases album
A new album of compositions by YMP alumnus and former YMP and CMR faculty member Shawn Crouch was released on June 7 by the label Acis. Chaos Theory and Other Chamber Works features Crouch’s instrumental chamber works, inspired by science, autobiography, and news cycles, written over the past 25 years. The album features performers including past YMP visiting ensemble Yesaroun’ Duo, [Switch~ Ensemble], cellist Craig Hultgren, and Ensemble Ibis, of which he is the artistic director.
Hub New Music releases Requiem of the Enslaved
Requiem for the Enslaved, an album featuring former YMP visiting ensemble Hub New Music, was released by Decca Classics on June 17. The album premieres a work by Carlos Simon honoring the lives of 272 enslaved people sold in 1838 by Georgetown University, where Simon is an assistant professor of music. The work, which was profiled in an NPR article, was commissioned by Georgetown University with support from the President’s Office and the committee for Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – May 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Greetings!
Summer is just around the corner, with two wonderful Walden programs ahead. We still have just a few spots open in our Young Musicians Program—get started on your application today!
This edition of InterNetzo highlights Walden’s upcoming celebration in Washington, DC; our fabulous Summer 2022 faculty, staff, and visiting artists; and our June concerts in New Hampshire (stay tuned for July event announcements in next month’s newsletter!), along with plenty of exciting Community News.
Plus, enjoy an interview with Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta, longtime Walden faculty members who have recently started new teaching roles at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
I look forward to catching up with you soon—in DC on Sunday or New Hampshire during June and July!
Best wishes,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(415) 587-8157
Walden News
Upcoming: Walden in Washington, DC
On May 15, Walden will host its first in-person fundraiser in more than two years! The celebration will feature a performance by world-renowned cellist and frequent Walden visiting artist Dave Eggar, along with special guests Martín Zarzar and Tanner Perry. Join us for an electrifying afternoon of music, delicious bites, and wonderful Walden community.
While there is no charge to attend, gifts to support Walden’s award-winning programs may be made online, by check payable to The Walden School (7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204, San Francisco, CA 94131), or at the event.
2022 Summer Programs
YMP is enrolling for this Summer!
Applications are still open for Walden’s Young Musicians Program (ages 9–18). We will continue to review applications as they are submitted. Please tell your friends, family, and colleagues that YMP is currently enrolling, with just a few spots left! Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat (ages 18–89+) is only accepting applications for the waitlist at this time.
Start your application here. Financial aid is available.
2022 Program Dates
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR)
June 11–19, 2022
on the campus of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Young Musicians Program (YMP)
June 25–July 31, 2022
June 25–July 17 (3-week option only available to students 7th grade and younger)
on the campus of the Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire
Summer 2022 Faculty, Staff, and Visiting Artists
We have a tremendous team of faculty, staff, and visiting artists gathering this summer for the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) and the Young Musicians Program (YMP):
CMR Faculty
Alex Christie, Director of Electronic Music
Renée Favand-See
Caroline Mallonee, Director
Osnat Netzer
Sam Pluta
D. J. Sparr
CMR Staff
Anastasia Baker
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Kittie Cooper, Director of Composers Forums
Sammi Stone, Director of Operations
Luke Schroeder
Arté Warren
CMR Visiting Artists
Members of the International Contemporary Ensemble:
- Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flutes
- Emmalie Tello, clarinets
- Dan Lippel, guitars
- Teagan Faran, violin
T.J. Borden, cello
Kyle Flens, percussion
David Friend, piano
Tom Colohan, Choral Conductor
Lei Liang, Composer-in-Residence
YMP Faculty
Alex Christie, Academic Dean and Director of Computer Music
Kittie Cooper, Assistant Academic Dean and Director of Composers Forums
Kari Francis, Choral Director
Terry Greene, II
Rebekah Griffin Greene
Cara Haxo, Academic Dean
Rachel Iba
Lukáš Janata
Michael Kropf, Assistant Academic Dean
Lila Meretzky
Loretta Notareschi
Emi Ostrom
Nate Trier
YMP Staff
Anastasia Baker
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director and Director of YMP
Will Hawkins
Francesca Hellerman
Evan Johnson
Gree Jordan, Nurse
Luke Schroeder
Sammi Stone, Director of Operations
Theo Trevisan
Karissa Ulrich, Nurse
YMP Visiting Artists
Julia Bruskin, cello, and Aaron Wunsch, piano
Aurora Nealand and Friends
The Warp Trio with Julia Henderson, cello
Members of the International Contemporary Ensemble:
- Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flutes
- Wendy Richman, viola
- Fay Victor, voice
- Josh Modney, violin
- Ross Karre, percussion
- Dan Lippel, guitar
The Walden School Players:
- Dana Jessen, bassoon
- Laura Cocks, flutes
- Erica Dicker, violin
- Kyra Sims, French horn and actor
- Mabel Kwan, piano
- Chris Wild, cello
Amy Beth Kirsten, Composer-in-Residence
June 2022 Concerts
We are thrilled that our series of free summer concerts will once again be open to the public. All events start at 7:30 pm.
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR)
At Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Saturday, June 11: Opening concert featuring works by Walden faculty and composer-in-residence Lei Liang
Sunday, June 12: Composer presentation by Lei Liang, CMR Composer-in-Residence
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, June 14, 15, 17: CMR Composers Forums
Thursday, June 16: Chamber music performances by CMR students alongside visiting artists
Young Musicians Program (YMP)
At Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire
Sunday, June 26: YMP opening concert featuring Julia Bruskin and Aaron Wunsch (cello and piano), co-artistic directors of the Skaneateles Festival
Tuesday, June 28: First YMP Composers Forum, featuring original music by Walden YMP students
Stay tuned for our lineup of July 2022 concerts and events!
Walden Goes to Oberlin
The Walden School Young Musicians Program (YMP) Leadership Team went to Oberlin College and Conservatory last weekend, May 7–8, where they were hosted by Oberlin administrator Mike Straus, friend of Walden and husband to longtime Walden School Player and former Walden faculty member Dana Jessen. The 2022 YMP Leadership Team, comprising Kittie Cooper, Cara Haxo, Sammi Stone, Seth Brenzel, Michael Kropf, and Alex Christie, spent the weekend planning the 2022 curriculum, laying out the summer calendar, and brainstorming about all of the wonderful plans for YMP 2022. Mike and Dana hosted the team at their home for dinner on Saturday night, where we got to connect with Walden alumnus and Oberlin faculty member Eli Stine, along with Oberlin faculty member Peter Swendsen. And on Friday night, May 6, Michael Kropf and Seth Brenzel got to meet up with Walden YMP alumni Evan Tiapula, Cashel Day-Lewis, Arturo Orso, and Sasha Paris-Carter for dinner. Also of note, the Leadership Team stayed together in The Inspiration House, a reportedly-haunted house just blocks from the Oberlin campus. Spooky!!! Many thanks to Mike, Dana, and everyone at Oberlin for making Walden feel so welcome.
In the Spotlight
Sam Pluta and Sky Macklay
Sam Pluta is a composer, laptop improviser, electronics performer, and sound artist who was on faculty at Walden for 16 summers. Though his work has a wide breadth, his central focus is on using the computer as a performance instrument capable of sharing the stage with groups ranging from new music ensembles to world-class improvisers. Sam is the Technical Director for the Wet Ink Ensemble, a group for which he is a member composer as well as principal electronics performer. He studied composition and electronic music at Columbia University, where he received his DMA in 2012.
Sky Macklay is a composer, oboist, and installation artist who was on faculty at Walden for nine summers. Her music is conceptual yet expressive, exploring extreme contrasts, surreal tonality, audible processes, humor, and the physicality of sound. As a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, her next project is a chamber music album that will synthesize her work as a composer and her raucous, multiphonic-rich oboe performance practice. She is a founding member of the New York-based Ghost Ensemble. Macklay completed her DMA in composition at Columbia University.
In the last year, Sky and Sam have taken up teaching positions at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, continuing a long and deep association between Peabody, The Walden School, and the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program. JCC founder Grace Newsom Cushman, along with Walden co-founders Pam Quist, David Hogan, and Lynn Taylor Hebden, each enjoyed a long association with Peabody, and hundreds of Walden and JCC alumni first learned of JCC and Walden while studying music at the Peabody Prep. For many decades, there was a bus that left Peabody early in the morning on the last Saturday of June, filled with eager campers bound for New England to kick off each amazing summer of Walden (and perhaps JCC, too?).
How and when did your relationship with Walden begin, and what has been your involvement since then?
Sam: My relationship with Walden started in 2001 when I was on staff just after finishing college. In 2002, I was hybrid staff and faculty, and then from 2004 to 2016 I was on faculty at YMP. I was also Director of Computer Music at YMP from 2008 to 2016, and Academic Dean for at least 5 years until 2016. I was one of the founding faculty members of the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) in 2012, and on faculty at CMR for five years. When I was teaching at the University of Chicago, the quarter system made it impossible for me to do CMR, but now I’ll be back teaching at CMR this summer.
Sky: My relationship with Walden began in 2009 when I attended the Teacher Training Institute (TTI), and I absolutely loved it! I applied to be on faculty at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) the next year and got the job, and I was a faculty member at YMP from 2010 to 2018. I have also been on staff and a participant at CMR. I haven’t been on faculty for a few years now, but it’s my dream to teach at Walden again in the future.
Could you describe a favorite memory from your time at Walden?
Sky: One of my favorite parts of Walden is open mic night. I would host open mic nights a lot, and it was just such a wonderful time for everyone to share their creativity. One open mic night coincided with Christmas in July, and a YMP student named Evan Johnson [a 2022 YMP staff member] was my Secret Santa. For my present he gave me a really beautiful song that he wrote about me and Sam, so Sam and I danced to it at the open mic, but Sam was wearing Santa makeup, and the Santa makeup got all over my face while we were dancing!
Sam: Alex Christie [current YMP and CMR faculty and leadership team] wrote the Mountain Song almost 20 years ago, and the students still sing it whenever they hike Mt. Monadnock. It’s amazing to see a student get up to present something and you don’t know what it’s going to be, and then it’s something amazing that becomes part of the fabric of Walden, which will be passed down by generations of students.
Could you share some highlights from composing or performing in the last year?
Sky: I had a string quartet premiered by Kronos Quartet as part of the Bang on a Can Loud Weekend at Mass MoCA. I also made a new harmonica installation called Harmonitrees at Stetson University, and now I’ve integrated two of the trees into a new piece of chamber music called Harmonifriends with Ghost Ensemble, which was recently premiered at Uptown Underground in New York.
Sam: This weekend the double-bar bandit arrived and put the double bars on my piece for orchestra and electronics, called Seeker, for the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music in September.
What are your current positions at Peabody?
Sam: I’m an associate Professor of Computer Music. At Peabody, composition and computer music are separate departments, but they’re both departments for composition, just with a different focus.
Sky: I’m a Lecturer in Composition. I mostly teach composition, and in the fall I’ll also be teaching a class called Composers of the AACM (Association of for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), which I’m really excited about. I’m also the composition coordinator for the low-residency master’s program, which is a new format that offers more flexibility for composers who may not be able to relocate for a master’s degree. It’s an intense summer experience, followed by two semesters of online classes, and then another intense summer experience. My Walden skills are especially helpful in creating an amazing summer festival experience and fostering a musical community in a short period of time.
How has Walden pedagogy informed your university teaching?
Sam: Part of the job in teaching is creating a community, creating situations where students get together to make music and teach each other. There’s nothing better than teaching for 16 years at Walden to make you understand how to foster community.
Sky: I take that same attitude from Walden, where composers forums provide a model for respectful dialogue involving composers and performers. I use creative musicianship and “Discover, Drill, Create” all the time in my composition lessons. If a student is stuck, I try to find a piece where we can discover something related to what they’re working on and create a drill based on it, which can help students get through creativity blocks and get the notes flowing.
Are there any reflections you could share on the Walden legacy at Peabody?
Sky: At Peabody, we are traversing the same halls as [JCC founder] Grace Cushman and a lot of Walden people including Steve Coxe, Leo Wanenchak, and Pam Quist. I recently came across an old Peabody newsletter that mentions a Walden alumna named Laura Kolker. It says she was a Peabody Prep student who won a BMI award and went to Walden four times, where she studied with Pam Quist, John Yankee, and Paul Nauert.
Sam: Pam Quist was the first person to teach electronic music at Walden, using tape-splicing equipment in the 1970s and ’80s. Pam learned that from Jean Eichelberger Ivey, who started electronic music at Peabody more than 50 years ago. So for me to bring my Walden pedagogy back to Peabody in the form of Walden’s Computer Musicianship course, which is the basis of all my electronic music teaching, that’s a pretty awesome circle!
Sky: For my Composers of the AACM class, I was researching the Schillinger method of composition, because one of the AACM composers, Muhal Richard Abrams, was a Schillinger practitioner. I believe the Schillinger method was an inspiration for some Walden and JCC teachers, including Grace Cushman. Joseph Schillinger was a composer who created a system involving algorithmic ways of generating rhythms and pitches. There’s a major Schillinger archive at Peabody, and the librarian who organized it was Ned Quist, who performed at Walden as part of Cross Country and wrote a beloved arrangement of “To My Old Brown Earth.”
Community News
Garth Edwin Sunderland adapts Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place
Former YMP faculty member Garth Edwin Sunderland’s adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s final opera, A Quiet Place, ran from March 7 through 30 in a new production by the Paris Opera. The New York Times described Sunderland’s adaptation as “a sweeping rethinking of the piece’s dramaturgy and orchestration” that made “a strong case for a work that has long struggled to join the repertory.”
Three Walden composers win Guggenheim Fellowships
Three Walden-affiliated composers were among the exceptional artists awarded 2022 fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: YMP alumna Leah Reid, past CMR and YMP visiting artist and Walden School Player Peter Evans, and past Walden visiting artist Phyllis Chen. The Walden community sends our heartfelt congratulations to these wonderful artists!
Mackenzie Melemed receives Avery Fisher Career Grant
Pianist Mackenzie Melemed, a YMP alumnus, was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. The grant is given to solo artists or chamber ensembles who exhibit great potential for major careers. Each recipient is awarded $25,000 to be used toward furthering their career. The award was announced in a special program featuring a performance by Mackenzie on March 22, which can be viewed here. Congratulations on this extraordinary achievement!
Freya Waley-Cohen’s opera WITCH premiered
The Royal Academy Opera gave the world premiere of YMP alumna Freya Waley-Cohen’s first opera, WITCH, from March 23–26, as part of a triple bill with Montiverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna and the prologue to Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. The performance can be viewed here. An article by Freya about the opera’s inspiration was featured in the Guardian.
George Lewis becomes artistic director of ICE
Past YMP and CMR composer-in-residence George Lewis has become the new artistic director of the renowned International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), a longtime Walden artistic and performing partner ensemble. Described by the New York Times as “long revered among avant-garde jazz fans,” he plans to “bring more of a multicultural focus to one of New York’s premier new music groups, and to feature a wider variety of artists.”
Stacy Garrop’s In a House Besieged
YMP alumna and former faculty member Stacy Garrop’s In a House Besieged for chorus and organ was premiered at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which commissioned the work. It was performed by organist Scott Dettra and chamber choir The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally. Nally wrote an article about the piece, which uses texts by Lydia Davis that address the aging process and dementia.
Bob Basset’s premiere by Sphere Ensemble
CMR alumnus and Walden Board member Bob Bassett’s Lodore, a work for 18 string players, was premiered by Sphere Ensemble in Denver on April 24. In Bob’s words, “the moods of the piece recalled the movements, sounds, and shapes of a whitewater rafting trip down the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.” This was Bob’s largest-scale work to date.
California Symphony premieres Katie Balch piece
Illuminate, a song cycle for orchestra and three vocalists by YMP faculty member Katie Balch, was premiered on March 26 by the California Symphony, which commissioned the work. Set to texts by various poets including Adrienne Rich, Sappho, and Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminate was described as “brilliant and wonderfully inventive” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Katie is currently on faculty at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and she will begin a faculty position at Yale in the fall.
Alex Christie’s photosonic composition
Alex Christie, Walden’s director of electronic music, was the featured guest composer at Christopher Newport University’s Contemporary Music Festival on March 26. Alex gave a concert/presentation of his work, much of which uses light as an integral component together with sound (“photosonic”). Alex was also interviewed by a local television station about his Photosonic Composition class at the University of Virginia.
Ron Nelson featured on Composers Datebook
Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) faculty member Ron Nelson’s Passacaglia for wind ensemble, an homage to J. S. Bach, was featured on Composers Datebook from Minnesota Public Radio on Bach’s birthday. The segment can be heard here.
PRISM Quartet releases album
The all-saxophone ensemble PRISM Quartet released a new album, Pueblito Viejo, featuring a collection of Latin American music presented to the ensemble during a tour in Bogotá. PRISM is a past Walden visiting ensemble and collaborates with Walden annually to premiere a commissioned work by a YMP student. The next set of premieres will be of YMP and CMR alumnus Julian Hofstetter’s piece on June 9 and 10 in New York City and Philadelphia.
Shawn Crouch’s ICU premiered
ICU, a work by Shawn Crouch for vocal ensemble and fixed media, was premiered by Variant 6 on March 31 in Miami. From Shawn: “Brian Turner’s moving words show the various facades from which to view the final moments of life in the ICU. Each stanza slightly shifts the perspective of the viewer as we say goodbye to those we love.” Shawn Crouch is a YMP alumnus and former YMP and CMR faculty member. A short video in which Shawn talks about the piece can be viewed here.
Kyra Sims featured in Atlantic essay
Walden School Player Kyra Sims—along with her beloved French horn, Otto—was discussed in an essay in the Atlantic entitled “Naming Objects Is the Opposite of Thoughtless Consumption.” As the essay explains, Otto “has been there for the grind and the glory of Sims’s career: countless practice sessions, the triumphs and rejections of auditions, concerts at Carnegie Hall, even a performance onstage with Lizzo at the Grammys.”
Leah Reid’s baby
Our heartfelt congratulations to YMP alumna Leah Reid and her husband, James DeMuth, on the birth of their son, Alexander, on March 25.
In Memoriam
Irving Isadore Kaplan
YMP alumnus Steven Jon Kaplan’s father, Irving Isadore Kaplan, died at the age of 93. An obituary can be found here. Memorial contributions are being directed to Walden. All of us at Walden send our condolences to Steve and his family.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – March 2022
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. Winter is about to turn into spring, which means summer cannot be that far off. If you’re like me, you are already dreaming of all things summer—and Walden!
I urge you to check out the In the Spotlight section to hear from Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna and Walden donor Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy. She has a unique story to share with all of us.
We have not published in a few months, and so there is lots of Community News to share, with still more to come in our April issue. Do you have news to share with us? Please contact us at waldenschool.org/contact, and if we can include your news (career, personal, musical, community, family, etc.), we will.
I hope you enjoy this edition of InterNetzo.
Best wishes,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(415) 587-8157
Walden News
Apply to be part of Summer 2022!
Applications are open for Walden's summer programs, the Young Musicians Program (ages 9–18) and the Creative Musicians Retreat (ages 18-88+).
We are thrilled to welcome back so many returning faculty members for both programs, including Sam Pluta, Osnat Netzer, and Renée Favand-See for the Creative Musicians Retreat and Cara Haxo, Alex Christie, and Lukáš Janata for the Young Musicians Program, among many others. Lei Liang will be the composer-in-residence for the Creative Musicians Retreat, and Amy Beth Kirsten will be the composer-in-residence for the Young Musicians Program.
Start your application today at waldenschool.org/apply. Please tell your friends, family, and colleagues that Walden is currently enrolling for summer 2022!
Application Deadline
April 1
2022 Program Dates
Creative Musicians Retreat
June 11–19, 2022
on the campus of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Young Musicians Program
June 25–July 31, 2022
June 25–July 17 (3-week option available to students 7th grade and younger)
on the campus of the Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire
Financial aid is available. Applications received after April 1 will be reviewed as they are received until our programs are fully enrolled.
Walden West has moved
Walden West has movedWe have moved Walden’s year-round administrative office to:
7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204
San Francisco, CA, 94131
Please update your records.
Our lease was up, and we found a wonderful new office just around the corner from our most recent administrative office. Seth and Elizabeth Susskind (Walden’s administrative assistant) are excited to be in our new place, and many thanks to Elizabeth and Walden alumnus Noah Mlotek for all of their help in effecting the move.
We hope you’ll come visit us soon!
Comings and goings at Walden
We are thrilled to welcome past Walden staff member and Walden alumnus Noah Mlotek as Walden’s interim Development Manager. In February, we bid adieu to Gloria Yehilevsky, who ably served in the development role after Gaela Dennison-Leonard departed Walden in May 2021 to pursue graduate studies. We thank both Gaela and Gloria for their service to Walden and wish them the very best in all of their future endeavors.
Noah will be with Walden in his role for the coming months, and we are also still searching for a more permanent Development Manager to work with our team in San Francisco and with our donors, alumni, and board throughout the world. Know anyone? Check out the job posting here.
We are delighted to welcome two new wonderful board members to Walden’s board: Bob Bassett and Sarah Stroud. Bob is a CMR alumnus who lives in the Denver area, and Sarah is parent to YMP alumna and staff member Francesca Hellerman and resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This year, we also bade farewell to outgoing board members Carlos Shimizu and Matthew Levy. We were so grateful to have their service and support, and we look forward to staying connected in the months and years ahead.
Walden ends year with strong Annual Fund results
During fiscal year 2021 (October 1, 2020–September 30, 2021), Walden raised more than $370,000 with the help of more than 300 donors, foundations, and other organizations, with the community coming together to raise approximately $100,000 just during September, the final month of our Annual Fund drive. We are so grateful to all of our donors who help make possible amazing artist residencies, critical scholarships, and our amazing faculty and staff each and every summer. We can’t wait for Summer 2022—we’re already making wonderful plans. Walden’s loyal and generous community of supporters ensures that we can dream about summer hikes and swims in Dublin Lake all year long. THANK YOU to our donors and supporters who help us create the music, community, and memories each and every summer.
Community Events
Giving Day Summer 2021
On the last full day of classes at the Young Musicians Program (YMP), and first day of YMP Festival Week, we held our Giving Day fundraiser, sharing a day at Walden via Facebook Live. This included classes, rehearsals, student and faculty interviews, and more insights, culminating in our first Festival Week Composers Forum streamed on YouTube.
This fundraiser brought in a total of $8,003 in donations, surpassing our goal of $4,900 in honor of Walden's 49th season. We were happy to see the Walden community so engaged online, and even saw some fresh faces wander our way and support us.
WOW! Walden Online Workshop featuring Matt Gold
Percussionist and Walden visiting artist Matt Gold presented FROM THE EARTH, this year's first Walden Online Workshop (WOW), on February 22. In this interactive workshop, participants explored how the material qualities of percussion instruments directly influence the sound and structure of a piece. Participants explored innovative works by Frederic Rzewski, Nomi Epstein, John Cage, Carolyn Chen, and Juri Seo. Then, they created music collaboratively using objects from everyday life.
Thanks to Matt and our participants for a wonderful workshop!
In the Spotlight
Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy
Amy is a Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna with deep ties to Grace Cushman and her teachings. She is also a donor to Walden who carries herself with a lively and passionate spirit that shines through her research, teaching, music, and everything she does.
Learn more about her work at Apsara Media, and read her full biography on UCLA's website.
How and when did your relationship with the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) begin?
My piano teacher in Montgomery County would take me with her every Saturday to Peabody Preparatory; we would take Musicianship classes with Grace Cushman together. Within two years I was teaching my piano teachers' students musicianship as well.
This naturally led to attending the Junior Conservatory Camp for two years, then coming three more years as a faculty member.
In my last two years of high school I studied Bharatanatyam classical dance of South India with Georgia Cushman (one of Grace Cushman's two daughters) in Baltimore. She had just come back from Madras, India (which is Chennai today), where she had studied at Kalakshetra. I was a devoted student, but it's very difficult when you start at 16 years old! That Indian connection was one reason I went to India as a graduate student. I chose college instead of staying at the Conservatory, because I wanted to know more about the rest of the world, especially during the Vietnam War years.
Could you describe a favorite memory from your time at JCC?
I have an aversion to favorites . . . it seems that you are ranking things. I have many favorite memories. The composer forums were stupendous. The performances were breathtaking. To have my own compositions performed—a Robert Frost poem that I set for piano and violin, performed by soprano Shari Fleming. It was the second time I heard my own composition performed.
Also, singing in some of Humphrey Evans' compositions. He was a great inspiration and in my cohort of students. He was a close friend until his last days. He was a genius and iconoclastic, funny, witty. We used to play ping pong together at camp!
What is something from JCC that you have carried with you?
How to improvise with the material you're learning in musicianship. How to make creative use of the knowledge that you acquire was the main teaching that Grace taught all of us. To use what you've learned: if you're just learning facts, you're not making use of it, and you're not using it creatively. That's what I've done with my scholarship also. I try to use it in creative ways, applying music research to address community problems, both in India among underserved communities and here (in the US) with refugees from Southeast Asia: Hmong tribal refugees from Laos and Khmer refugees from the killing fields of Cambodia.
It's so deep. It's so fundamental, the methods that Grace used—not to mention her enthusiasm and her passion!
Mrs. Cushman taught me how to plan a lesson and how to evaluate a lesson after you've taught it. She was very aware of each student's needs, backgrounds, disabilities, insecurities. I still do that—I plan my lectures; I write out every word when I teach now, and afterwards review every line of what I did and what I added. I keep in touch with as many students as I can; it's been born into me because of Grace.
How are music and/or creativity part of your life now?
I've been teaching one course at UCLA for the past 10 years. It's not about classical folk music of India, not about music of the sacred (all topics I taught with my applied work in ethnomusicology); it is called "Music of Bollywood and Beyond." It covers 100 years: from silent films to the present. This history of cinema and music relates deeply to the history and the people of India. I tell my students, most of whom are of Indian heritage, that "you can talk to your grandparents about this." They come back and say they've had the best conversations with their grandparents and parents . . . it bridges the generational gap. Suddenly you have something to share that you both love.
I teach in an applied sort of way. I design the courses myself, and the students are the subjects. We have some great discussions about how films composed 50 years ago might relate to today, about whether they were created before or after independence. It gives it a historical foundation to talk about the films, and the music, and the influence of Western music and jazz.
I also still play the piano. I like to improvise in an Indo-Jazz fusion style which I do sometimes with a partner who plays the saxophone. I've taught him how to improvise in different Ragas (singular Indian Raga), especially one raga that my husband called a "hypothetical" raga because it never occurred, but it should have. It uses the pentatonic (all black keys) with C (tonic) and G (dominant).
What is a non-musical hobby that's part of your life?
Ping pong! It's a great game for musicians. We have an outdoor ping pong "stadium" in our home. It's very good for hand-eye coordination. It's the fastest game there is, good for mental & physical agility. Great for elders, as the sudden movements are good for preventing Alzheimer's.
I also love to dance: couple dancing, or ballroom dancing and Middle Eastern dance. Coordinating with the music is so important—and so good for the brain. I also exercise at the gym on the elliptical trainer while watching the news. I watch Indian news every day on three different channels.
Why do you give to Walden?
Transformation.
When I went to the Peabody, I was teaching there in my Junior and Senior years of high school. In fact, I had left home.
She [Grace Cushman] made it possible for me to leave by getting me this job as a live-in cook and babysitter for the six children of the Rector of St. Paul's cathedral. So, I could afford to leave Chicago where my parents had moved, which I hated! I was able stay on in Baltimore after camp.
See what a difference this made in my life? It made me independent from the time I was 16 . . . I didn't see my parents for two years. I'm telling you: she transformed my life. I owe my life to her. So, when you ask why do I give to Walden? That's why. The transformation of my life.
What hope do you have for Walden's future?
I would love to see a connection with NPR's "From the Top," and to see more international scope, incorporating music from different cultures!
Community News
Leah Reid wins The American Prize; Shawn Crouch ties for 3rd place
YMP alumna Leah was selected from applications reviewed from across the United States, for one of the nation's most competitive non-profit awards offered by The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts. Leah won in the professional vocal chamber music division for her composition Apple; Single Fish. View the full announcement here.
Also, third prize was tied with YMP alumnus and past faculty member Shawn Crouch.
Congratulations to Leah and Shawn!
Freya Waley-Cohen named Composer in Residence of London Chamber Orchestra
YMP Alumna Freya Waley-Cohen has been announced as the London Chamber Orchestra’s Composer in Residence for 2021–22, the orchestra's 100th Anniversary season. View the full announcement of Freya's residency here. On the 26th of October, the LCO opened their concert season with Freya's composition Saffron. This year, Freya will work closely with the LCO on performances of her music, compose two new works for the ensemble, and run workshops for young composers.
New arrangement of Carol Thomas Downing's Walden by Loretta Notareschi
YMP alumna Loretta Notareschi arranged Walden for choir, violin, and piano with a video assembled by the Skagit Valley Chorale. The Chorale recorded the parts from home, which were put together, edited, mixed, and mastered by artistic director Dr. Adam Burdick. In lieu of solo violin, six tracks were compiled for a section sound.
Mivos Quartet travels to Europe
Past visiting artists Mivos Quartet completed a tour to Salzburg, Vienna, Monheim, and Düsseldorf—their first trip abroad since the pandemic. They performed works by Michaela Catranis, Hannah Kendall, Peter Kramer, Henry Threadgill, Jennifer Walshe, Sam Amidon, Sofia Gubaidulina, and past YMP and CMR Composer-in-Residence George Lewis.
Walden alumna and past faculty member Nnenna Ogwo's Juneteenth Legacy Project
On June 18, 2021, Juneteenth Legacy Project (Juneteenth LP), founded by Nnenna, presented a Juneteenth celebration entitled "Songs of Resistance and Restoration" at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) in Boston.
For Juneteenth, the group performed outdoors in Astor Place in New York City, joined by guest artist Donnie Johns playing percussion. This event was free and open to the public, hosted by Joe's Pub, as part of Make Music New York.
Alistair Wen receives honorable mention from MTNA for Walden festival piece
YMP student Alistair Wen was recognized by the California Music Teachers National Association for his composition Lunar Waltz, composed at the Young Musicians Program 2021. Congratulations, Al!
Brent Morden writes, conducts Dante-inspired musical
In October, CMR alumnus Brent Morden announced the opening of Infernal the Musical at The Flea Theater in New York. Infernal is a "rock musical based on Dante’s Inferno that explores consequences, remorse, and our own inescapable demons" and features music composed and conducted by Morden. Learn more about Brent's musical projects on his website. Congratulations on your premiere, Brent!
Nat Osborn releases The Quarry Island Sessions
In June 2021, YMP alumnus and former visiting artist Nat Osborn released this collection of music recorded while quarantined in Nova Scotia the previous year. "The record plays as a week-to-week musical diary of the early pandemic months when I was stuck in Nova Scotia. Each song is one week's reflection of those uncertain times, ordered chronologically." Learn the story behind the music and view associated images. It is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all other streaming platforms.
Peter Thompson invited to serve as Vicar of St. Bartholomew's Church
YMP alumnus Peter Thompson has enthusiastically accepted an invitation to serve as Vicar of St. Bartholomew's Church in the City of New York. View the Facebook announcement by St. Bart's of New York City, and read the full announcement, as letters from Bishop Wolfe and Reverend Peter Thompson, here.
Congratulations, Peter! We wish you the best in this exciting new role.
Live Splinter Reeds concert in Oakland
On November 21, Splinter Reeds presented an in-person program of music by Amadeus Regucera and Yannis Kyriakides at Dresher Ensemble Studio in Oakland, California, as part of the Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency. Splinter Reeds is a reed ensemble comprising Kyle Bruckmann (oboe), Bill Kalinkos (clarinet), David Wegehaupt (saxophone), Jeff Anderle (bass clarinet), and Dana Jessen (bassoon). Splinter Reeds has been a visiting artist and faculty commissioning ensemble at YMP, and Dana Jessen is a current member of The Walden School Players and past YMP faculty member. Read more about Splinter Reeds and stay apprised of future performances on the ensemble's website.
Josie Spencer sculptures exhibited
An exhibition of work by sculptor Josie Spencer, a YMP alumni parent, was on display through January 3 at Riverside Studios, Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London, U.K. The exhibition featured 19 sculptures forming the set of Damage Control, an audio play written by Polly Wiseman.
Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra
Alan Chan, former Young Musicians Program faculty member and alumnus of the Teacher Training Institute (TTI), will perform this season with the Los Angeles-based Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra and the Alan Chan Moo-sic Quartet in venues across the United States. A Moo-sic Quartet concert at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, in September featured vocalist Laura Dickinson singing jazz standards and songs in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Read more about upcoming performances on Chan's website.
Tune in to Lisa Bielawa's Broadcast from Here Radio
BFH Radio (Broadcast from Here) is a continuous and evolving soundscape composed by Lisa Bielawa, incorporating words, voices, and found audio from participants all over the world. Anyone, anywhere can visit the Broadcast from Here page to read more about the project, listen to the broadcast live, or contribute speech, singing, or instrumental performances through the BFH Radio portal. Contributions are integrated into the BFH Radio stream on a rolling basis, and the stream is live 24/7. Lisa Bielawa was Composer-in-Residence at the Online Creative Musicians Experience (OCME) in 2020.
Mary Fineman performs at Flower Piano
Mary Fineman, an alumna of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), the predecessor program to The Walden School, performed in September at the San Francisco Botanical Garden as part of Flower Piano. This five-day event, held last year in September after a two-year hiatus, featured over 75 piano performances throughout the Botanical Garden's many exhibit gardens.
Nathan Davis announces fatherhood and new projects
Our heartfelt congratulations to composer, percussionist, and many-time Walden School visiting artist Nathan Davis, who announced the birth of his son this year. Davis's new work Seedling for harmonium and electronics was recorded by frequent Walden visiting artist Jacob Greenberg and released on Greenberg's album Bright Codes in November of this year. A new album of solo music by Davis is slated to follow.
Denise Ondishko Premieres New Music in Cleveland
YMP alumna, faculty member, and past board member Denise Ondishko's new work A More Perfect Union: Reflections on American Equality, Justice, and Hope was performed in September 2021 by members of the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra at Shrine Church of Stanislaus in Cleveland. A More Perfect Union will be professionally recorded by Pantheon Ensemble during summer 2022.
American Academy honors Walden composers
Four Walden-affiliated composers were among the winners of 2022 music awards from the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters. Former YMP faculty member Katie Balch won the Wladimir and Rhoda Lakond Award in Music. Arts and Letters Awards were given to Marcos Balter (past YMP and CMR composer-in-residence) and Jim Mobberley (also past YMP and CMR composer-in-residence and former Walden board member). And former YMP faculty member Michael Gilbertson won a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship. These awards recognize outstanding artistic achievement. All of us at Walden send our heartfelt congratulations to these wonderful artists and teachers!
George Brandon and Blue Unity Sextet
In February, CMR alumnus George Brandon's Blue Unity Sextet presented an online watch party as part of the New York City Multicultural Festival's series "The Healing." Performing Jazz, blues, and folk music, Brandon's musical practice is firmly rooted in the cultures of Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. The watch party, which also features an interview with Brandon, can be viewed here.
Elizabeth R. Austin interviewed
Elizabeth R. Austin was interviewed about her accomplished career as a composer as part of Composers Corner, a series hosted by the Jenks Center in Winchester, Massachusetts. The interview can be viewed here. Austin is an alumna of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), starting in its very first year!
Shawn Crouch's choral music performed
Shawn Crouch's piece Lullaby from Paradise, in a new TTBB version, was written for Cantus for their fall 2021 tour. The performance can be viewed here. Shawn is a YMP alumnus and former YMP and CMR faculty member. He is currently Assistant Professor of Practice of Composition and Theory at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where he is artistic director of the Ensemble Ibis New Music Ensemble.
Sam Pluta and Kate Soper release new album
The Understanding of All Things, a new album by Sam Pluta and Kate Soper, was released March 4 on New Focus Recordings. This bracing collection explores the ever-shifting hierarchy between text-driven and music-dominated vocal work. Composer/electronic musician Sam Pluta was a Walden faculty member for more than 15 summers, and will be back at CMR on faculty in 2022! Along with composer/vocalist/pianist Kate Soper, he is also a member of Wet Ink Ensemble, which has been a visiting ensemble on several different occasions at Walden.
Eric Wubbels profiled in New York Times
Pianist/composer Eric Wubbels, a former member of The Walden School Players and a member of Wet Ink, was profiled in the New York Times. The article charted Wubbels's growing exploration of improvisation and his new album, Field of Action / contraposition, with Walden alumna Charmaine Lee and Weston Olencki.
Condolences to Eve Sybor
Walden alumnus David Saslav let us know that Walden alumna Eve Sybor’s husband recently passed away. All of us at Walden send our condolences to Eve and her family.
In Memoriam
Shari Fleming
Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna and faculty member Shari Fleming, the original composer of "Good Night, Music," passed away on January 17, 2022, in Bradford, Vermont, at the age of 87. The Walden School mourns her loss with her family, friends, and all who loved her. All of us who are touched every summer by her music will cherish her memory. An obituary can be found here.
George Crumb
Pioneering American composer George Crumb died on February 6, 2022, at the age of 92. A longtime member of Walden's Advisory Council, he was an inspiration for generations of creative musicians. The Walden community mourns his loss and is grateful for his legacy.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news at waldenschool.org/contact.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – June 2021
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. Summer is right around the corner, and we have just a few spots left at the Young Musicians Program (YMP) for students ages 9-18, which we will offer in person this summer in beautiful Dublin, New Hampshire. If you would like to join us this summer, go to waldenschool.org/apply to get started. Also be sure to check out the list (below) of exemplary faculty, staff, and artists who will be at our programs and featured on our concert series this summer.
We have an exciting Walden Online Workshop (WOW) on Chromaticism in Renaissance Music coming up TODAY, June 3, presented by faculty member and choral director Sarah Riskind. Learn more and register in the Community Events section.
Be sure to check out the In the Spotlight section to hear from Walden parent and board member David Roberts.
I hope you enjoy this June edition of InterNetzo. Stay tuned for details about tuning in to our livestreamed summer concerts. We cannot wait to welcome our CMR students on June 12 and our YMP students on June 26 - back on the campus of the Dublin School, Walden's summer home since 1983!
Sincerely,
Seth
Community Events
Concert with Dave Eggar to benefit Walden
On Sunday, May 2, cellist Dave Eggar, alongside guest artists Phil Faconti, Beth Snapp, and Blake Collins, gave a stunning concert to benefit Walden. The performance, live from Bristol, Tennessee, featured an amazing array of music, blending Paganini with bluegrass, canonical works with those freshly written. You can listen to an audio clip here of Dave and friends performing Amazing Grace.
The event raised $5,619 and counting! If you would like to make a gift to support Walden's transformative programs, it is not too late to contribute to this event! You can give online at waldenschool.org/donate, or by check payable to The Walden School to Walden's office, 30 Monterey Boulevard, Suite E, San Francisco, CA 94131. Your generous gift of any amount makes a difference in the lives of creative musicians.
Stay tuned for more information, and please send any questions to donors@waldenschool.org.
WOW! Walden Online Workshops!
Chromaticism in Renaissance Music:
What Living Musicians Can Learn from Gesualdo and Friends
Thursday, June 3, 7:30pm Eastern
Presented by Sarah Riskind
Join Walden Online Workshops (WOW!) for a presentation by Walden School faculty member, choral conductor, and composer Sarah Riskind.
If you've heard music by Gesualdo, Marenzio, and Lassus, you might realize that some 16th-century composers wielded flats and sharps to great dramatic effect. In fact, Renaissance music theorists connected chromaticism with specific emotions and even genders! But how can you channel their wacky but beautiful sounds into your own composing, singing, and other musical pursuits? This event will be part presentation, part discussion, and part composition workshop. It will be helpful if you have some background in playing/singing/reading music, but even if you don't, you're welcome to come listen and learn! Bring a pencil and some staff paper or blank paper.
This workshop, like all Walden Online Workshops, is free to attend. Only a few spots are left!
Alumni of CMR, YMP, OYME, OCME, TTI, and JCC, parents, donors, faculty, staff, and artists are especially encouraged to attend WOW presentations. Members of the general public are also welcome to join.
Register
About Sarah Riskind
Previously based in Seattle, conductor and composer Sarah Riskind is the Director of Choral Activities at Eureka College in central Illinois. Through her work as choral director and faculty at The Walden School, she has become an advocate for developing musicianship and improvisational skills in choirs of all ages and abilities.
Among her original works are Jewish and Judeo-Christian music, secular pieces with improvisatory elements, and frequent settings with string obbligato parts. Recent premieres include the tenor/bass arrangement of Oseh Shalom by the Appalachian State Glee Club in April 2019, the Robert Frost setting Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter by the Pacifica Choirs Interludes Ensemble in March 2019, and several arrangements of Judeo-Spanish melodies by the Seattle Jewish Chorale and Sarah's own ensemble Las Kantaderas del Noroeste in November/December 2018. She has also written for the Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble Dal Niente as part of the Walden School Faculty Commissioning Project and is currently involved with the Creative Commissions project through the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Riskind enjoys accompanying voices as a violinist/fiddler and improvisor, and she has most recently sung soprano in the Mägi Ensemble, a professional Baltic women's choir in Seattle. She holds a DMA in Choral Conducting from University of Washington, an MM in Choral Conducting from University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a BA in Music from Williams College.
In the Spotlight
David Roberts
David Roberts is the parent of YMP alumnus Marco Roberts, and a member of Walden's Board of Directors. Before moving his family to the Seattle area in 2016, David lived and worked in China for 20 years, most recently as a partner in the Beijing office of O'Melveny & Myers where he practiced corporate and securities law. For a brief period, the four-piece Roberts Family Band rocked the Beijing elementary school and office party circuit with an eclectic mix of Beatles, Cui Jian, and Soundgarden covers until breaking up over creative differences. Having retired from his law career, David spends his time writing fiction, competing in table tennis tournaments around the U.S., and skiing every storm possible in the Cascade Range.
How and when did you get connected to Walden?
I first got connected to Walden in 2014. Our family was living in Beijing at the time. My wife is from Beijing, and both our kids, Marco and his younger sister Sophia, had grown up in Beijing all their lives, our home for 13 years. Connecting with Walden was not intuitive or easy, and it's amazing that we found it.
At that time, Marco was becoming immersed in music, through his own initiative. He had started composing on his own and when he watched the movie Amadeus, he completely connected with images of Mozart composing by hand. He figured out how to make his own staff paper and printed it out and started composing a chamber symphony all on his own.
We thought, "Okay, this is not normal" because none of us were teaching him, he was teaching himself. We tried to find a composition teacher in Beijing, but it's very difficult to join that world if you don't have preexisting connections. I was looking online, and I found Walden among several other programs in the US. Something about Walden connected-it just looked right. I called the office and spoke with Seth, and that was really helpful, but it still sounded pretty daunting. How could we get him from Beijing to rural New Hampshire? Seth also put me touch with an alumni parent who was living in Beijing, whose daughter had attended Walden a number of years before, and she put our minds at ease.
What has been your involvement since then?
Marco first attended Walden when he was 12, and he did five summers in a row, from 2015-2019. Our family was still in China during his first summer, then his second summer we were in transition, moving to the Seattle area. We could tell from the first summer that Marco had found his place-he just loved Walden. We could see that he was developing and growing in the program, and knew it was perfect for him. So my initial involvement was just as a parent. I visited a few summers, not every summer, because even from Seattle it isn't an easy trip.
Our summer 2020 plans were still up in the air when the pandemic happened. We were struggling with what to do when OYME became an option. He signed up and it was great--I am so glad he had those four weeks. The program was unexpected and improvisational, and it was really well done. Marco composed several pieces, but his piece for Festival Week was really meaningful. He has a deep interest in geopolitics, especially regions that are often overlooked. He composed a haunting piece inspired by Armenian music called Erasure that explores ongoing conflicts among Turkey and its neighbors. Two months after he finished the piece, war broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan. That piece really showed what Walden did for him--it went from a love of music to using it as a language to interpret and comment on the world around him.
Could you describe a favorite memory or experience from being a Walden parent?
My favorite experience is basically the whole first summer, how improbable it was and then watching it become a reality. Sophia named it "Operation Marco" because there were so many pieces that needed to come together. As a family we went from Beijing to Seattle, where we put Sophia in a different camp and lived out of a basement apartment while our new home was being remodeled, then Marco and I flew to New York, and drove from there up to New Hampshire together. He was very quiet, and I could tell he was nervous. As we got closer, taking winding roads through the countryside, my phone lost reception and I casually remarked, "Wow, this is really remote," without thinking what Marco was absorbing. Of course, he had grown up in a city of 30 million people, and now we're in the middle of nowhere without cell service. He started to cry. We talked it through, and I tried to reassure him it would be okay, but he was pretty scared. Finally we arrived at Walden, and I was amazed how friendly and warm the vibe was-it was clearly a special place. There were faculty and staff members greeting students, and they immediately made Marco feel welcome. I stuck around for a few hours, and we met other parents and kids, and he started talking to the other kids, so by the time I left I could tell he was going to be okay.
I was still nervous all summer. That drop-off was a big step for him, but I didn't know how he was going to handle five weeks so far from home when he had never done a live-away program before. He called about a week later and told me that one of the senior campers, Jane, had brought a Chinese instrument to camp (a zither, I believe) and said if anyone was interested in composing for it, they should talk to her. He asked, "Should I talk to her?" and I said, "Absolutely!" Then I didn't hear about it for the rest of the summer. We showed up for Festival Week really excited to hear his piece, but he had hardly told us anything about it-when he gets excited about something, he's so immersed he doesn't say much. But we saw the program, so we knew his piece would be for this instrument, along with violin and cello. Jane and The Walden School Players played the piece beautifully, and I know I'm biased as a proud parent, but it was the best thing I'd ever heard. I couldn't believe it. I thought, "This is what he learned in five weeks? This is incredible." It was so different from what he had been writing on his own before going to Walden. Those pieces were impressive to me, but you could tell he was mostly drawing on Mozart. I had never heard him improvise anything remotely like this piece-it was so unique and drew on both his Chinese upbringing and his love of European music and opera. So that first visit is one of my favorite Walden memories.
How are music and/or creativity part of your life?
I grew up with completely non-musical parents who made a concerted effort to expose me to a lot of music. My mother used to joke about being tone-deaf, and neither of my parents really read music, but they put me in piano and trumpet lessons and I sang in the San Francisco Boys Chorus from age 7-13, which was a great experience. So, I am an amateur musician but can play enough piano to have gotten Marco interested in the instrument from a young age.
Now, creativity for me is mostly writing. I left my law career to pursue writing fiction. I've been taking classes at Hugo House in Seattle and working on a novel for several years, which is a difficult project, and I've also written several short stories. That has given me an appreciation for how difficult any creative process is-it's just really hard work. You have to learn craft skills and how to apply them to achieve your creative vision. So a place like Walden, even for an adult musician, is really cool because someone might love music and want to create music, but you have to learn skills too and find a community that supports your creativity. You generally can't just wing it on your own. Pursuing writing has given me a new appreciation for how difficult it is to be an artist.
What is your hope or dream for Walden's future?
Don't fix it if it ain't broken. There is definitely something to be said for preserving traditions and the way things work, but I like how Walden is innovative at the same time. It's this very interesting balance between traditions (those unique Walden-y things that have been done for decades) and also being experimental and on the cutting edge, whether it's digital music, or this past summer turning on a dime to create online programs from scratch that still preserved the Walden feel. My hope is just that Walden keeps going strong, preserves its core traditions, and continues to innovate with the core traditions and its sense of community as the foundation for that growth.
2021 Summer Programs
A few spots remaining for YMP this summer!
Walden is planning to offer our transformative music programs in person this summer in beautiful Dublin, New Hampshire. We cannot wait to gather again in person for a summer of inspiring programs for creative musicians.
Just a few spots remain for our Young Musicians Program, and we will continue to review applications as they are submitted. Act fast to join us this summer!
Young Musicians Program (YMP): June 26-August 1 (for musicians ages 9-18; 3-week option for students up through 7th grade June 26-July 18, 2021)
Get started on your application at waldenschool.org/apply.
Please let us know if you have any questions or would like any additional information about Summer 2021 by writing to us at applicants@waldenschool.org.
Summer Lineup
Summer Faculty, Staff and Artists
We have a tremendous team of faculty, staff, and visiting artists gathering this summer for the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) and the Young Musicians Program (YMP). Stay tuned for details about livestreamed concerts this summer!
CMR Leadership Team 2021
Sammi Stone, director of operations (staff)
Alex Christie, director of electronic music (faculty)
Seth Brenzel, executive director (staff)
Caroline Mallonee, program director (faculty)
Loretta Notareschi, faculty
D. J. Sparr, faculty
CMR Faculty 2021
Renée Favand-See, faculty
Osnat Netzer, faculty
Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie, faculty
CMR Staff 2021
Karissa Ulrich, director of health services and nurse
Becca Van Kirk, nurse
Kittie Cooper, staff
Lila Meretzky, staff
Nina Kindrachuk, staff
CMR Visiting Artists
Matthew Gold, percussion
David Friend, piano
Tom Colohan, conductor
Members of the International Contemporary Ensemble:
Alice Teyssier, voice and flute
Peter Evans, trumpet
Ryan Muncy, saxophone
Mazz Swift, violin
Nuiko Wadden, harp
Marcos Balter, Composer-in-Residence
YMP Leadership Team 2021
Sammi Stone, director of operations (staff)
Alex Christie, director of electronic music and academic dean (faculty)
Sarah Riskind, choral director and academic dean (faculty)
Cara Haxo, academic dean (faculty)
Nate May, academic dean (faculty)
Doug Hertz, student activities coordinator (faculty)
Seth Brenzel, program director (staff)
YMP Faculty 2021
Kittie Cooper, director of composers forums
Brian Fancher, faculty
Michael Kropf, faculty
Nate Trier, faculty
Leah Asher, faculty
Emily Ostrom, faculty
Lukás Janata, faculty
YMP Staff 2021
Karissa Ulrich, director of health services and nurse
Becca Van Kirk, nurse
Arté Warren, staff
Anastasia Baker, staff
Demmanuel Gonzalez, staff
Theo Trevisan, staff
Francesca Hellerman, staff
Luke Schroeder, staff
Trevor Danko, staff
2021 Concert Series
All events at 7:30pm. All events closed to the public during 2021. Many events to be livestreamed - stay tuned for details!
Creative Musicians Retreat
June 12 - opening concert, featuring music by Marcos Balter and Walden CMR faculty members
June 13 - presentation by Composer-in-Residence Marcos Balter
June 17 - chamber music concert, featuring performances by faculty, artists, and participants
CMR Composers Forums: June 15, 16, and 18
Young Musicians Program
July 27 - Amadi Azikiwe, violin & viola, Mikael Darmanie, piano
July 2 - Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses
July 9 - Hub New Music performing world premieres commissioned from Walden's faculty
July 16 - Members of the International Contemporary Ensemble
July 23 - The Walden School Players
July 25 - presentation by Composer-in-Residence Lei Liang
YMP Composers Forums: June 29, July 6, 13, 15, 20
Festival Week Composers Forums: July 26, 27, 28
Community News
Work-in-progress performance from Lisa Bielawa
On May 27, the Kaufman Music Center presented a virtual performance of Lisa Biewala's work-in-progress Centuries in the Hours, an opera experience based on diary entries of American women throughout history. The event was the culmination of Lisa's 2020-21 KMC Artist-in-Residence appointment. Adapting to the global pandemic, Lisa is collaborating with librettist/dramaturg Claire Solomon and film and media director Jess Medenbach and using the isolation women have historically faced, reflected in these diaries, as a formal constraint in creating a unique filmed opera experience. Lisa was Composer-in-Residence at Walden's 2020 Online Creative Musicians Experience.
Del Sol String Quartet
On May 22, Del Sol String Quartet performed as part of "Angel Island Insights," a collaboration with The Last Hoisan Poets - Genny Lim, Nellie Wong and Flo Oy Wong - three descendants of Angel Island immigrants who use poetry to speak their individual truths and creatively reclaim the Hoisan-wa language and culture. The event was presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center as part of the "United States Asian America Festival 2021: Forging Our Futures - SOMA & Chinatown." The Zoom program wove together the poetry of The Last Hoisan Poets with performances by Del Sol, music by Asian-American composers Kui Dong, Theresa Wong, Jungyoon Wie, Chen Yi and Huang Ruo. The event also included discussion moderated by Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation's Executive Director Edward Tepporn. Del Sol is a past visiting artist at Walden.
Sky Macklay featured on Tectonics Glasgow 2021
Sky Macklay's piece Trrhythms was performed by violinist Ilya Gringolts on May 8 as part of Tectonics Glasgow 2021. Trrhythms (transformation + rhythms) is built of five sections. Each section uses a different short, rhythmic phrase over and over, while other musical elements such as pitches, dynamics, and timbres go through a transformational process. The transitions between each section foreshadow the next section's rhythm. Tectonics Glasgow 2021 is the eighth iteration of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's annual festival, this time a virtual festival with audio and video performances streamed on May 8 and 9. Sky is a Walden alumna and longtime faculty member.
Screenings of Alicia Rabins' 
A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff
Alicia Jo Rabin's film A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff won the audience award for Best Narrative Feature at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, April 24-25. The film was also screened at the Sarasota Film Festival in early May and the Washington DC Jewish JXJ Film Festival May 23-30. In an article for The Atlantic titled "What 'A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff' taught me about Mourning," Daniel Pollack-Pelzner writes, "If Anna Deavere Smith, Sarah Koenig, and Joey Soloway wrote a self-reflexive musical about finance and religion, it might approach the film's impish, mystical spirit." Alicia, a YMP alumna, wrote A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff based on her experience working in an artist residency on Wall Street during the 2008 financial collapse, and premiered it in 2012 as solo chamber-rock opera.
Frank Wallace Memorial Festival and Competition
On May 15 and 16, the Boston Classical Guitar Society presented the first Frank Wallace Memorial Festival & Competition, honoring composer and guitarist Frank Wallace (1952-2020). The online festival and competition included two concerts, a masterclass, and a competition open to students ages 16-22. The headlining artist was William Kanengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and donations made as part of this free event went to the BCGS Frank Wallace Scholarship Fund. Frank and his partner Nancy Knowles made up the contemporary song ensemble Duo LiveOak, and have long been friends and supporters of Walden.
Marriage of John Yankee and Stephanie Weaver
John Yankee and Stephanie Weaver were married on January 17 in San Diego as friends and family joined the festivities virtually. John is a conductor, teacher, composer, and folk musician, and was a member of Walden's faculty for more than 15 years, beginning in 1977, and was a visiting artist as recently as 2012. Stephanie, a pianist, is the Executive Director of the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, and past Executive Director of the Cape Conservatory in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Congratulations, John and Stephanie!
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. Email your news to alumni@waldenschool.org.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – April 2021
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. We are accepting applications for the Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), which we plan to offer in person this summer in beautiful Dublin, New Hampshire. We have an application deadline tomorrow, May 1, so send in your applications and/or be sure the creative musicians in your life do too!
I hope you'll join me online this Sunday, May 2, at 4pm Eastern, for a concert to benefit Walden, featuring renowned cellist Dave Eggar.
We also having an exciting Walden Online Workshop (WOW) presentation with Marcos Balter coming up on May 5. Learn more about these events in the Community Events section, where you'll also learn about our next Alumni Composers Forum on May 23.
Check out the In the Spotlight section to hear from JCC and Walden alumna Robin Seto.
I hope you enjoy this April edition of InterNetzo, and I hope to see you at one or more of our upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Seth
Community Events
Concert with Dave Eggar to benefit Walden
Join us online this Sunday for a concert to celebrate and raise funds for Walden's inspiring music programs, featuring renowned cellist Dave Eggar.
Sunday, May 2, 2021 
4-6pm Eastern time
Featuring cellist Dave Eggar
Dave Eggar is regarded as one of the finest cellists performing today. Dave has been a visiting artist at The Walden School, was a member of The Walden School Players for two summers, and performs frequently at regional Walden events throughout the United States.
Dave will be performing with wonderful guest artists Phil Faconti, Beth Snapp, and Blake Collins.
To join, please register through Eventbrite. Call information and other details will be sent out to attendees before the event. While there is no charge to be part of this event, contributions to support Walden's award-winning programs are encouraged and may be made through Eventbrite when you register, at waldenschool.org/donate or by check mailed to The Walden School, 30 Monterey Blvd., Ste. E, San Francisco, CA 94131.
Stay tuned for more information, and please send any questions to donors@waldenschool.org.
WOW! Walden Online Workshops!
More Walden Online Workshops (WOW) are on the horizon! We are excited to continue sharing this FREE series of lectures, demonstrations, classes, and presentations on a variety of musical topics presented over video call by The Walden School's teaching faculty, artists, and special guests.
Alumni of CMR, YMP, OYME, OCME, TTI, and JCC, parents, donors, faculty, staff, and artists are especially encouraged to attend WOW presentations. Members of the general public are also welcome to join.
WOW presentation with Marcos Balter 
Wednesday, May 5, 7:30pm Eastern
Join Walden Online Workshops and Marcos Balter for a presentation on composition and collaboration. This workshop presentation, like all WOW events, is free and open to all.
Register
About Marcos Balter
Praised by The Chicago Tribune as "minutely crafted" and "utterly lovely," The New York Times as "whimsical" and "surreal," and The Washington Post as "dark and deeply poetic," the music of composer Marcos Balter (b.1974, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is at once emotionally visceral and intellectually complex, primarily rooted in experimental manipulations of timbre and hyper-dramatization of live performance. Marcos was Composer-in-Residence at Walden's Young Musicians Program in 2018, and will return in 2021 as Composer-in-Residence for the Creative Musicians Retreat.
Other Upcoming Workshops:
Developing a Personal Language Through Improvisation
Led by Dana Jessen
Thursday, May 13, 7:30pm Eastern
Chromaticism in Renaissance Music
Led by Sarah Riskind
Thursday, June 3, 7:30pm Eastern
In the Spotlight
Robin Seto 
Robin Seto attended JCC for four summers and Walden for two summers, graduating from Smith College in 1979 and then University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine in 1983. After completing the University of Hawaii Internal Medicine Residency Program in 1986, she and her internal medicine husband Stephen Denzer moved to the Big Island of Hawaii with the intent of providing comprehensive primary care to an underserved rural community as private practice physicians. In 2004, she joined the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group at the Kaiser Kona clinic, moving to Oahu in 2018 to join the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Internal Medicine Residency Program. They have two children, Brittany, age 27, a 4th year medical student at the University of Colorado and Ian, age 22, a graduating senior at Yale University in mechanical engineering.
How and when did you relationship with JCC begin?
My relationship with JCC began in the spring of 1969, when I won the Peabody Preparatory Spring Musicianship frolic as an 11-year-old, and was asked by Mrs. Cushman to attend JCC as a recipient of the Elizabeth Brouha JCC scholarship. My first summer at JCC was an eight-week immersion into a culture where creativity and community were the underlying values of the musicianship curriculum, followed by three additional summers at JCC and two at Walden. Those summers became the driving passion for someone intrinsically shy and introverted. I had the privilege of David Hogan's teaching and mentorship during the summers and the academic school years as a Musicianship student at the Peabody Prep.
Many years later, as a physician mother working in Kealakekua, a rural community on the Big Island of Hawaii, I believed in the magic of JCC enough to want to embed the same values and experiences into my daughter's life. Though both my son and daughter had been dutifully enrolled in Junior Music Academy and piano lessons in Kona, I bemoaned the fact that they would not have access to the quality of a Peabody Preparatory education. I considered volunteering as a physician to fill the nurse position posted by Walden, so my daughter could attend as a student, but opted instead for a series of mother daughter journeys back to Walden for the reunions when she was ages 3, 8, 13 and 18. Later, much to my delight, I discovered that, through those reunions, my daughter Brittany had developed her own personal friendship with my JCC roommate, Tamar Bloch, and in college, to her glee, discovered that she had enough credits to minor in music! Connecting with my children through music allowed them to see and connect with another aspect of me that I found most gratifying.
Could you describe a favorite memory from your time at JCC?
I do not have a one, but rather a myriad of JCC memories, as an 11 to 14-year-old, as though they just happened yesterday. The setting of the Burklyn Manor in Vermont, as a child, felt like living in a castle on top of a hillside, surrounded by mountains. Tears still come to my eyes when I recall singing "Come Close the Curtains of Your Eyes" to David Hogan's accompaniment and listening to his "Bist du bei mir" while lingering on the Burklyn manor staircase. Mrs. Cushman would wake us up each morning at 7am, clanging the bell and singing, "Good morning to you." In those days, without cable or YouTube, and reliant on live performances, I remember the thrill of the Sunday afternoon faculty concerts - the brilliance of Alan Shewmon's and Hugh Wolff's piano performances, the colors and sounds of Georgia Cushman's dancing and the beauty of Monteverdi's duet "Pur ti miro, Pur ti godo" sung by David Hogan and Nansi Carroll. I recall the sense of exhilaration while eating oranges on the mountain peaks after a long Saturday morning hike, then swinging through the Virginia Reel at Saturday night square dances. The Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor played at Mrs. C's memorial concert will to this day make me pause and reminisce about my JCC summers.
What is something from JCC you have carried with you?
JCC gave me the foundation for a wonderful college experience as a music major at a small liberal arts college, Smith College, the alma mater of JCC faculty Ann Callaway. I was able to indulge in both piano performance and composition, and develop what was to be an influential 15-year relationship with Konrad Wolff, who had just retired from the Peabody Conservatory to teach piano during my freshman year. I was fortunate to be able to study with him in New York City during a three-month summer hiatus between my 1st and 2nd year of internal medicine residency, making time for a visit to the Walden campus together.
The most recent Zoom JCC reunion prompted me to reflect more deeply upon this question, acknowledging that music is not at the forefront of my life. I believe that the repeated summer JCC exposures as a child and teenager imprinted on my developing brain a set of learning values, emphasizing self-actualization, perseverance, joy of learning and sharing in a collaborative, supportive, non-judgmental environment. The goal of such an "appreciative or transformative" learning experience is to create a "growth mindset".
At JCC, we were not taught how to compose, but rather, through analysis and experience of sound, encouraged to independently explore through the act of composition, presenting our works at the weekly Monday night forums for open discussion and feedback. The atmosphere was respectful, non-judgmental, and inter-generational, with the goal of fostering a collaborative, supportive, and creative community.
I believe that the acquisition of the "growth mindset" through my JCC summers contributed to my success and happiness through college and medical school, and then as a physician, mother, and now, after 32 years primary care in Kona, teaching faculty member of the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Internal Medicine residency program on the island of Oahu since 2018.
How are music and/or creativity part of your life now?
When I was 13, Hugh Wolff presented George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children to our class, while, at the same time, Humphrey Evans introduced us to John Cage's definition of music as sound and silence placed in time. The sound of voices, percussion and instrumental ensemble in George Crumb's work and our class performance of John Cage's Fontana Mix - "Music is all around us if we only listened" - embedded a lifetime memory of attentive mindfulness to sound, space, and movement, which I believe I carry to this day as a physician. When I enter a patient encounter, I feel, sense, and hear the space, glances and nuances of the patient, family, and/or caregiver, remaining attentive to sound and emotions. In this sense, I can "hear music" in much of what I do.
As an internist, my philosophy of care is based on the principles of palliative care, which include respect for an individual's values and beliefs, and care based on a bio-psychosocial and spiritual model. I believe my experiences in music have led me to this point in my career, when I more fully understand and can articulate the importance of blending the art and humanities with the science of medicine.
In a book called Attending by Ronald Epstein, the four foundations of mindfulness - Attention, Curiosity, Beginner's Mind, and Presence -- are outlined as a means to increase physician capacity to promote more patient- centered care for medically complex patients. Mindful awareness of self and others is a cornerstone of the JCC and Walden experience.
On a more concrete note, given the consuming nature of life as a primary care physician, my current goal is to bring music more purposefully back into my life, inspired in part from the most recent JCC Zoom reunion. My 3rd year resident, as a member of Medical Notes, the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group string chamber ensemble, just told me recently that they would be thrilled if I would join them for a piano quintet.
Why do you give to Walden?
I give to Walden in the memory of Mrs. Cushman and David Hogan, and to say "thank you" to all the persons who had the commitment to ensure that Mrs. Cushman's creative approaches to teaching music would live on following the founding of The Walden School in 1972. I still remember the tenuous period following Mrs. Cushman's death in 1971, the responsibility she placed on David Hogan and Pamela Quist, then only in their 20's, to carry her work forward, and the steady guidance of Mrs. Lynn Hebden and later Pat Plude. I salute the brilliance of Seth Brenzel's leadership to lead Walden to a broader, more professional, and international presence in the digital age, and now its perseverance through the Covid-19 pandemic.
What is a hope you have for Walden's future?
I hope that Walden will continue to flourish as a beacon of light for transformative learning, with the understanding that the underlying values and principles of Walden offer opportunities that are broader than the focus on music alone, and of significant value to our society as a whole.
Alumni Composers Forum
The Walden School is hosting an online alumni Composers Forum, featuring the International Contemporary Ensemble performing works composed by Walden alumni. Each piece will be followed by discussion with the composer. This online event will be free and open to the public. Stay tuned for details about the composers featured.
Alumni Composers Forum
Featuring the International Contemporary Ensemble
Sunday, May 23, 2021
4-6pm Eastern time
Featured members of the International Contemporary Ensemble:
Rebekah Heller - bassoon
Josh Modney - violin
Levy Lorenzo - percussion
Dan Lippel - guitar
Stay tuned for details about featured composers. This online event will be free and open to the public. If you have any questions, feel free to write to us at events@waldenschool.org.
About the International Contemporary Ensemble
With a commitment to cultivating a more curious and engaged society through music, the International Contemporary Ensemble - as a commissioner and performer at the highest level - amplifies creators whose work propels and challenges how music is made and experienced. Works by emerging composers have grounded the ensemble's programming since 2001. Through composer residencies, commissions, and workshops, the ensemble actively pursues new relationships with composers and sound artists. The International Contemporary Ensemble frequently partners with The Walden School as a visiting artist and commissioner of student works.
2021 Summer Programs
Send in your applications for Summer 2021
Walden is planning to offer our transformative music programs in person this summer in beautiful Dublin, New Hampshire. We cannot wait to gather again in person for a summer of inspiring programs for creative musicians. We hope that you will join us!
Our 2021 dates are:
Young Musicians Program (YMP): June 26-August 1 (for musicians ages 9-18; 3-week option for students up through 7th grade June 26-July 18, 2021)
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR): June 12-20 (for adult musicians, 18+, not otherwise eligible to be students at YMP)
We are accepting applications, and the next deadline is tomorrow, May 1.
To request an application, go to waldenschool.org/apply.
Need-based financial aid in the form of tuition assistance is available. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like any additional information about Summer 2021 by writing to us at applicants@waldenschool.org.
Walden is Hiring!
Join our summer and year-round team
Walden is currently hiring for the position of Director of Development & Alumni Relations. This is a full-time position beginning in May 2021, joining the School's year-round San Francisco-based administrative team to help lead the School's annual fund and overall development effort. Read the full job description here, and feel free to spread the word about this opportunity to join the Walden team.
Please direct any questions and inquiries to us at jobs@waldenschool.org.
Community News
Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra Concert
On April 27, the Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra (ACJO) presented an online concert entitled Reopening Blues, honoring the memory of Kevin Garren, a founding member of the ACJO and it's lead saxophone/woodwind player, who passed away in February. The Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra is a Los Angeles-based big band that Alan started in 2011. Alan is a Walden alumnus and past faculty member. You can watch the entirety of Reopening Blues here.
Livestream of new work by Shawn Crouch 
On April 16, a free livestream performance of Shawn Crouch's Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird was presented by Aperio, Music of the Americas, in collaboration with New American Voices. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird is a new work for solo voices, piano, and percussion, featuring the poetry of Wallace Stevens. This reprise performance of the 2020 world-premiere explores multiple perspectives on the poet's blackbird motif. Shawn is a Walden alumnus and past faculty member, and the winner of the 2015 New American Voices Composition Prize, which supported the completion of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
Olivia De Prato launches Contemporary String Techniques
Olivia De Prato has launched a YouTube series called "Contemporary String Quartet Corner." Each week, she posts videos about contemporary string techniques, explaining how to produce them on the violin and how they are often used in a passage of a score (notation examples), as well as tips from a performers point of view. The series is a resource for composers and performers, and you can find the videos here. Oliva is a member of the new music ensembles Signal and Victoire, and as co-founder and first violinist of the Mivos Quartet, she is a frequent visiting artist at Walden.
Lila Meretzky's Sea Glass Partita premiered 
On April 20, Lila Meretzky's Sea Glass Partita for singing bassoonist was premiered by Eleni Katz as part of her Yale MMA Lecture Recital. Lila composed the five movement partita for bassoon/voice inspired by a poem that Eleni wrote over the summer entitled "Sea Glass." The performance was accompanied by sea glass projections designed by John Horzen. Lila served on staff at the Young Musicians Program in 2018 and 2019, and was on faculty for the Online Young Musicians Experience in 2020.
New project from Brent Morden
Magical Moves: the Musical Chessboard Project is a new work composed by Brent Morden, commissioned by Don MacKay, Ph.D. The project will premiere in May 2021. Magical Moves is an educational piece of musical theatre that teaches children of all ages under 100 about music, chess and life. Its melodies dramatize the magical moves and thoughts of the players in the 2019 World Championship game in Chess960, Bobby Fischer's new type of chess that fosters creativity rather than memorization. Brent is a CMR alumnus.
Popebama featured on Yarn/Wire Feedback 
On April 15, Walden faculty member Dennis Sullivan and past visiting artist Erin Rogers, who together make up the duo Popebama, were featured on Yarn/Wire Feedback. Feedback is a weekly, livestreamed series of conversations between Yarn/Wire and guests, featuring deep dives into past collaborations, inside tips on performance, and more. Popebama is a New York-based experimental duo that focuses on exciting performances of unconventional works. Erin (saxophone) and Dennis (percussion) are composer-performers who apply text, electronics, and high-energy instrumental writing to freshly-squeezed sounds. Yarn/Wire is a past visiting artist, and were featured on Walden's Alumni Composers Forum on April 18. You can watch the conversation, hosted by Andrea Lodge, here.
Leah Reid wins second prize in Iannis Xenakis competition
On April 7, Leah Reid was awarded second prize in the Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition for her piece Reverie. This year's competition marks the 20th anniversary of Iannis Xenakis' death, and aims to represent his maxim "To make music is to express human intelligence by sound means. All pieces are submitted anonymously, and this year 224 entries were received from around the world. Leah is a YMP alumna.
In Memoriam
Rosemarie Greenwald
Rosemarie Greenwald passed away on April 1st at the age of 86. Rosemarie and her husband David sent their son Mark to Walden for four summers, beginning in 1975, and have been wonderful friends and supporters of Walden ever since. They often visited for Festival Week to hear the performances of all the students' works.
Rosemarie had a lifelong love of music, studied musicianship at Peabody Preparatory, and studied voice with fellow Walden parent Ruth Drucker. While her son was in college, Rosemarie matriculated and graduated from Towson University with a major in Vocal Performance. She was a soloist at churches, a former Choir Director, and a choir member at her synagogue. Rosemarie loved to travel, create sewing and embroidery projects, and make jewelry. When the pandemic began, she started sewing protective equipment for healthcare workers.
Rosemarie is deeply missed, and we are keeping the Greenwald family in our thoughts.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. Email your news to alumni@waldenschool.org.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – March 2021
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend,
Spring is here, and I hope this newsletter finds you well. Our next Walden Online Workshop (WOW) is TONIGHT, March 31, at 7:30pm Eastern. You still have time to register, so check the Community Events section to learn more about this exciting workshop led by guitarist Dan Lippel, as well as other upcoming WOW.
We are accepting applications for the Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), and our final Application Deadline is May 1. I will also be leading two online Information Sessions about YMP on April 8 and April 22, so check the 2021 Summer Programs section to learn more and sign up.
We will have our Alumni Composers Forum on April 18 at 4pm Eastern, featuring Yarn/Wire performing works by Walden alumni. Stay tuned for more information, and I hope you'll join us online April 18.
Be sure to check out the In the Spotlight section to hear from Walden alumna Amirah Stewart. You can also check the Community News section to read about some of the happenings in the lives and careers of fellow Walden community members.
I hope you enjoy this March edition of InterNetzo, and I hope to see you at one or more of our upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Seth
Community Events
WOW! Walden Online Workshops!
More Walden Online Workshops (WOW) are on the horizon! We are excited to continue sharing this FREE series of lectures, demonstrations, classes, and presentations on a variety of musical topics presented over video call by The Walden School's teaching faculty, artists, and special guests.
Alumni of CMR, YMP, OYME, OCME, TTI, and JCC, parents, donors, faculty, staff, and artists are especially encouraged to attend WOW presentations. Members of the general public are also welcome to join.
TONIGHT: Exploring Microtonality in Guitar Repertoire 
Wednesday, March 31, 7:30pm Eastern
Led by Dan Lippel
Dan Lippel, guitarist and 2019 visiting artist at The Walden School's Young Musicians Program, presents an exploration of alternate tunings and fretting systems in guitar repertoire as a window into microtonality, well temperaments, and different divisions of the octave. Dan will demonstrate different tunings and temperaments on standard guitars as well as guitars with fretting systems in different equal divisions of the octave and well temperaments.
This workshop is free and open to all! Register here.
Other Upcoming Workshops:
Wow Presentation with Marcos Balter
Wednesday, May 5, 7:30pm Eastern
Developing a Personal Language Through Improvisation
Led by Dana Jessen
Thursday, May 13, 7:30pm Eastern
Chromaticism in Renaissance Music
Led by Sarah Riskind
Thursday, June 3, 7:30pm Eastern
Alumni Composers Forum
The Walden School is hosting an online alumni Composers Forum, featuring Yarn/Wire performing works composed by Walden alumni. Each piece will be followed by discussion with the composer. This online event will be free and open to the public. Stay tuned for details about the composers featured.
Alumni Composers Forum
Featuring Yarn/Wire
Sunday, April 18, 2021
4-6pm Eastern time
Yarn/Wire is a New York-based piano percussion quartet. Noted for their "spellbinding virtuosity" and "restlessly curious" programming (TimeOut NY), the ensemble is admired for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today's most adventurous music. Expanding the world of new music, they create music in partnership with their peers: composers, sound artists, noise musicians and more around the world. The members of Yarn/Wire include a Walden alumna, as well as past artists-in-residence at Walden.
Save the Date!
We will be hosting another Alumni Composers Forum on Sunday, May 23, featuring members of the International Contemporary Ensemble performing works by Walden alumni. Stay tuned for a call for scores!
Alumni of the Young Musicians Program (and OYME), Junior Conservatory Camp, Creative Musicians Retreat (and OCME), and/or Teacher Training Institute are eligible to submit works by April 26.
Concert with Dave Eggar to benefit Walden
The Walden School is hosting an online concert to celebrate and raise funds for Walden's inspiring music programs.
Sunday, May 2, 2021
4pm Eastern time
Featuring cellist Dave Eggar
Dave Eggar is regarded as one of the finest cellists performing today. Dave has been a visiting artist at The Walden School, was a member of The Walden School Players for two summers, and performs frequently at regional Walden events throughout the United States.
This event will take place via Zoom video call. To join, please register through Eventbrite. Call information and other details will be sent out to attendees before the event. While there is no charge to be part of this event, contributions to support Walden's award-winning programs are encouraged and may be made online at waldenschool.org/donate or by check mailed to The Walden School, 30 Monterey Blvd., Ste. E, San Francisco, CA 94131.
Stay tuned for more information, and please send any questions to donors@waldenschool.org.
In the Spotlight
Amirah Stewart
Amirah StewartAmirah Stewart is a violist and saxophonist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Amirah is a Walden alumna who spent four summers at the Young Musicians Program. She has also attended Juilliard MAP and Face The Music. She has a Bachelor of the Arts in Music from Hunter College. Throughout her 12 years of playing, she has performed various genres of music including classical, contemporary, r&b, and rap. She has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Symphony Space, The Queens Museum, WQXR, Alice Tully Hall, and many more around the New York City area. Amirah's true passions are creating, performing, and sharing her music with world.
How and when did you relationship with Walden begin, and what has been your involvement since then?
I had a cousin who went to Walden, and my aunt and I went to pick him up at the end of the summer. I saw the campus, and I was in love with it, and everyone looked like they were really happy to be there and happy to be alive. When I got home, I told my mom it was something I would be interested in, and so the next summer, the summer of 2011, was my first summer.
I haven't been as involved with Walden since being a student, which is sad, but it's challenging to juggle school and work and other things. Now that I've finished school, I hope to be more involved, going to composers forums and other events in New York City. The get-togethers we would have in the winter are some of my favorite winter memories, seeing my Walden friends. We all had different things going on during the year, but we put that time aside to be together, and also see other students, faculty, and staff from outside New York who would come to the gathering.
Could you describe a favorite memory from your time at Walden?
I think the dances are some of my favorite memories. At Walden, you have the opportunity to be who you want to be for five weeks, but particularly the dances are a time to be as weird as you want to be, create your own costumes from tinfoil and whatever else you can find, and everyone embraces that. The staff and faculty perform live, and even though you know how talented they are, you don't often get to see them showcase that the way they do at the dances, and being playful and weird along with us. The songs Do You Love An Apple and the Tennessee Waltz are songs to this day I listen to and get a little emotional, because I miss that time. You dance with close friends, and also with students you haven't necessarily spent a lot of time with and connect with through the dances, and faculty and staff are always there to jump in or to teach you the steps.
How are music and/or creativity part of your life now?
I went to college and studied education, but the program I was in required another major to complement the education major. Many people in the education program pair it with history or sociology or English or math, and I do love those, but I have been doing music since I was a baby, so why not take the chance to extend my knowledge? So I studied music and education in college, and now I teach music to babies and young children, 4 months to 5 years, and that work is so fulfilling. At Walden, I always wondered how the faculty felt teaching us, and it seemed like they found it really fulfilling, so now I get to combine my education degree and my love of music.
In terms of creativity in general, I like doing things with my hands, which is part of why music is such a good outlet. I still play viola and saxophone, and I try my best to keep up with piano. For my job, I've gotten the opportunity to learn the basic of many instruments. Just last week I got a guitar. I feel stagnant if I'm not doing something creative. I also crochet and have been making sweaters and hats over quarantine, and I've started doing punch needle embroidery. For punch needle, you use a hollow needle that you draw yarn through, and then you poke it through monk's cloth, and that leaves a pattern. All of these things keep me going and keep the creative juices flowing.
What is something from the past year you have been excited about?
I graduated from college. Graduation was on a Zoom call, but it was still a graduation. My mom was present for that, even though it was via a separate Zoom call in the living room. I've been excited just to see what the future holds after graduation. Some people graduate with a job alright lined up, others don't, some don't know what they want to do. I was in that uncertain place, especially with COVID, but things have a way of falling into place, and I feel like I'm on the right track now.
Is there a hope or dream for Walden's future you could share?
I had a dream once about Walden being overseas in the mountains of Switzerland, in the summertime. It was gorgeous. We had morning meeting and the birds were chirping and there was water running--it was amazing. Of course, then I woke up to New York City, but it would be amazing if Walden were international. I think when some organizations expand, they lose the heart they started with, but the concept of Walden is so deeply ingrained that it couldn't be lost.
It would be great for people to have access to Walden in more places. Walden became an oasis for me during high school that I needed in the summers. I think so many people need that space, and don't know that there is somewhere they can go. You don't have to be a maestro at Walden--if you enjoy music and you want to be there, the faculty will see that potential and work with you. I love that about Walden, and I think that would be great in more places. So "Walden around the world" is a dream I have.
2021 Summer Programs
YMP Information Sessions
Join us for online, interactive information sessions led by Walden's Executive Director, Seth Brenzel, alongside Young Musicians Program faculty members.
This event is open to prospective students, music teachers, and anyone else who would like to learn more about Walden's award-winning music programs. Walden Information Sessions take place over Zoom video call.
Information to access the call will be shared with registered attendees via e-mail no later than 24 hours before the event.
Thursday, April 8, 2021, 8pm Eastern
Register
Thursday, April 22, 2021, 8pm Eastern
Register
Applications open for summer 2021
Walden is earnestly and actively planning for a return to in-person programming in Dublin, New Hampshire, in 2021, with the understanding that pandemic circumstances may require our programs instead be offered again online next summer. Whether in-person or online, Walden is excited to offer our students, participants, and audiences another summer of transformative, creative music programs and presentations. We hope that you will join us!
Our 2021 dates* are:
Young Musicians Program (YMP): June 26-August 1 (for musicians ages 9-18; 3-week option for students up through 7th grade June 26-July 18, 2021)
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR): June 12-20 (for adult musicians, 18+, not otherwise eligible to be students at YMP)
We are accepting applications, and the next deadline is May 1.
To request an application, go to waldenschool.org/apply.
Need-based financial aid in the form of tuition assistance is available. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like any additional information about Summer 2021 by writing to us at applicants@waldenschool.org.
*Dates for online programs, if necessary, will be similar to those for the in-person programming.
Walden is Hiring!
Join our summer and year-round team
We are hiring for 2021 summer positions in Dublin, New Hampshire, as well as for a year-round administrative position based in San Francisco, California. We are seeking new teammates to join our creative community, and we hope that you might help spread the word about these opportunities to your friends and colleagues.
The positions currently open are:
- Director of Development & Alumni Relations (full-time beginning late April 2021; San Francisco)
- Electronic Music Faculty Member - Creative Musicians Retreat (June 2021; Dublin, NH)
- Faculty Member - Young Musicians Program (June-August, 2021; Dublin, NH)
- Staff Member - Young Musicians Program (June-August, 2021; Dublin, NH)
Please direct any questions and inquiries to us at jobs@waldenschool.org. All positions are open until filled.
Community News
New work from Giacomo Baldelli 
On March 5, Giacomo Baldelli released a new work on Bandcamp called Music for Bathtubs. The work is an experiment, which Giacomo hopes will help listeners disconnect from devises and social media, and just relax. He cautions that, while the work may pair well with a hot bath, no bathtub is included with the download. Giacomo is a NYC-based guitarist focused on exploring works of the 20th century, while also developing new repertoire for guitar. He is a Walden alumnus and past visiting artist.
Yarn/Wire Preview with Victoria Cheah
New York-based piano percussion quartet Yarn/Wire has released the second installment of Preview, a recurring series that looks inside new collaborations for the upcoming 7th installment of Yarn/Wire/Currents. This installment features members of the quartet chatting with Walden alumna Victoria Cheah about her new work for the quartet, Ocean into Wire, and her process in bringing it to life. Victoria is multi-disciplinary composer interested in boundaries, sustained energy, and social/performance rituals. The members of Yarn/Wire include a Walden alumna, as well as past artists-in-residence at Walden.
Matthew Cummings featured on concert 
On March 26, singer-songwriter duo Luna, based in Arlington, Virginia, hosted a livestreamed tribute to singer-songwriter Paul Koors. The concert featured cellist Matthew Cummings performing his arrangement of Paul Koors song, The River, as well as an original composition. He will also be featured on a live outdoor performance of the tribute concert in May. Matthew was a student at the Online Young Musicians Experience in 2020
Kaleidoscope announces Call for Scores finalists
Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra has announced the 172 composers who are finalists in their call for scores. The finalists include Walden alumna, faculty member, and CMR Director Caroline Mallonee or her piece The Butterfly Effect, as well as Walden alumna Leah Reid for her piece Cranberries, past visiting artist Ned McGowan for Cycle Games 1, and past faculty member Michael Gilbertson for The Beautiful & The Good. In addition to being the works advanced to the final round, Kaleidoscope plans to program as many of these works as possible in the coming months and throughout the 2021-22 season. Applicants also had the opportunity to have their music published open-access by the UCLA Library.
Research Award to Jack Langdon in Digital Musics
Jack Langdon received the 2020 Guarini Alumni Research Award to support their work in Digital Musics. The Alumni Fund and the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies at Dartmouth University awarded funding to support Jack's work toward a Digital Musics master's thesis. Jack's research has focused on "reclaiming the organ as a site of speculation for future collective musical ritual which incorporates experimental approaches to soundmaking, spatial organization, and social facilitation." Jack attended the Creative Musicians Retreat, and you can read a reflection on their research, published on March 2, here.
Presentation by Sky Macklay
On March 17, Sky Macklay gave a presentation entitled "The Drama of Inevitable Unfurling: Process Music as a Metaphor for Biological Processes." Sky, a fellow with the Institute for Ideas & Imagination, describes many of her pieces as "process music," or music governed by rules that audibly transform musical materials in predictable ways. You can watch the presentation on YouTube here. Sky is a composer, oboist, and installation artist and is Assistant Professor of Music at Valparaiso University in Northwest Indiana. She is also a Walden alumna and longtime faculty member.
Mivos Quartet premieres student works 
On March 12 and 13, Mivos Quartet gave two concerts of world premiere performances of student compositions from Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and Boston University. Both concerts were livestreamed and free. The March 12 concert featured world premieres of six student works, and the March 13 concert featured world premieres of 13 student works, and is still available to watch on YouTube here. Mivos Quartet is a frequent artist-in-residence at Walden, most recently at the Online Creative Musicians Experience in 2020.
Premiere from Dede Ondishko
On March 19 and March 20, CityMusic Cleveland performed two concerts (one in-person and one livestreamed) entitled New Voices, featuring the world premiere of Dede Ondishko's Cloudshift, a piece commissioned by CityMusic. CityMusic's 2020-21 season, Celebrating Women's Rights to Vote and Create, honors the centennial of the 19th Amendment. You can read more about the concert here, and watch a recording of the concert here. Dede spent four summers as a student at the Young Musicians Program, and has also served on faculty, staff, and the Board of Directors.
Ash Paris-Carter UNCSA featured composer
Ash Paris-Carter is the March featured composer for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Composition Studio. As highlighted in the profile, "whether it's traditional art song, avant-garde electronics, folk music or punk rock, Ash is a composer-performer who slides easily among genres, finding what they call the 'wildly energetic, angry, flirtatious, overjoyed and animated' spirit that unites them." You can read the feature here. Ash has spent seven summers as a student at the Young Musicians Program.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. Email your news to alumni@waldenschool.org.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – February 2021
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friend, 
I hope this newsletter finds you well. We are accepting applications for the Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), and our next Application Deadline is March 15. We also have a YMP Information Session coming up on March 4.
We have two more Walden Winter Wednesdays (WWW) coming up, so check the Community Events section to find out more about these casual community gatherings over Zoom. You'll also find a list of upcoming Walden Online Workshop (WOW), as well as information about our Alumni Composers Forum coming up on April 18, featuring Yarn/Wire.
Be sure to check out the In the Spotlight section to hear from Walden alumnus and faculty member Michael Kropf. You can also check the Community News section to read about some of the happenings in the lives and careers of fellow Walden community members.
I hope you enjoy this February edition of InterNetzo, and I look forward to seeing you for a WWW, a WOW, or another gathering soon.
Sincerely,
Seth
Community Events
Walden Winter Wednesdays
We hope you will join us for Walden Winter Wednesdays (WWW), a series of casual online gatherings over Zoom, to catch up with fellow students, faculty, staff, parents, and artists. Each WWW is for a different Walden cohort, so check the list below to find out when your WWW is happening. Each WWW will begin at 8 pm Eastern/5 pm Pacific, and last about an hour. Even if you have already joined us for a WWW, are welcome to join the WWW for any and all cohorts of which you have been part!
Bring your favorite winter beverage or snack and wear your favorite cozy scarf. (For those of you in warm climates, creative workarounds for cozy scarfs are welcome.)
To attend, register through Eventbrite and we will send you Zoom details before the gathering. Feel free to send any questions to alumni@waldenschool.org.
March 3 - CMR, OCME, & TTI - Register
If you came to as an adult, as a participant, faculty member, staff, member, or visiting artist at CMR, OCME, and/or TTI, this is for you!
March 10 - 2010s (YMP & OYME) - Register
If you were a YMP student, parent, faculty member, staff member, or visiting artist during the 2010s, or part of OYME in 2020, this is for you!
Young Musicians Program Information Session
Join us for an online, interactive information session led by Walden's Executive Director, Seth Brenzel, alongside Young Musicians Program faculty members.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific
This event is open to prospective students, music teachers, and anyone else who would like to learn more about Walden's award-winning music programs.
Reserve your spot on Eventbrite here.
Information to access Zoom session will be shared with registered attendees.
Alumni Composers Forum
The Walden School is hosting an online alumni Composers Forum, featuring Yarn/Wire performing works composed by Walden alumni. Each piece will be followed by discussion with the composer. This online event will be free and open to the public.
Alumni Composers Forum
Featuring Yarn/Wire
Sunday, April 18, 2021
4-6pm Eastern time
Alumni of the Young Musicians Program (and OYME), Junior Conservatory Camp, Creative Musicians Retreat (and OCME), and/or Teacher Training Institute are eligible to submit works.
Yarn/Wire is a piano/percussion quartet, and works featured on the Composers Forum can be for any combination up to the full quartet (two pianists and two percussionists).
To be featured on the Composers Forum, you must be available to join the online event on April 18, as well as a Zoom rehearsal on April 17 or 18.
If you would like to submit a piece, please fill out this Google form and upload a PDF of your score.
To be considered, you must submit your score by March 19, 2021. If you have any questions, please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.
In the Spotlight
Michael Kropf 
Michael Kropf is a composer whose work deals with hidden emotions and evocative places. He has collaborated with Marin Alsop, the Telegraph Quartet, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Michael completed his Master's degree in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2016, and he is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in music composition at the University of Michigan. Michael attended the Creative Musicians Retreat in 2015 and is a faculty member at the Young Musicians Program.
How and when did you relationship with Walden begin, and what has been your involvement since then?
I first got to experience the Walden community when I attended the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) in the summer of 2015. It had been strongly recommended to me, and that was a summer when I wanted to do composition programs. I did a couple programs in that one summer, and CMR made much more of an impact than anything else I did that summer. I was really impressed by the program, really liked the musicianship curriculum, and enjoyed the choral singing. I made some great connections with teachers and other composers, even in that short time. It was really a pivotal moment for me. Two years later, I graduated from my Masters program and started teaching full time in San Francisco. I learned Walden was hiring faculty for the Young Musicians Program (YMP), so I applied, and have been a teacher for that program ever since!
Could you describe a favorite memory from attending CMR?
The program is relatively short compared to other types of programs, but it is packed with so many fantastic and valuable learning experiences! I remember feeling like I accomplished more in 9 days than I usually accomplished in an entire summer, in terms of my musical education. At CMR there are many optional activities, and I signed up for a lesson with D. J. Sparr, who was on faculty. I was working on an orchestra piece, and I brought it to him, and we had a whole lesson about orchestra writing. It's a lesson I still refer back to when I'm writing for orchestra, because it was so incredibly helpful. So that lesson is one memory, but it was also surrounded by so many other wonderful things.
Could you describe a favorite memory from your time on faculty?
There are so many great ones, so it is difficult to choose! In the summer of 2019, the entire camp had reached the summit of Mount Monadnock and broke out in a spontaneous choral performance of Andrea Ramsey's Stomp on the Fire. I loved that moment because it combined many of my favorite things. There was hiking, we were out in nature, and it was near the end of the summer, so all the students have this wonderful confidence in their own musicality and musicianship, and it shines through. They're singing this complex choral piece really well, so much so that it was a challenge to keep up. That's satisfying because you see how the students have blossomed as musicians throughout the summer. It's also really beautiful because Mount Monadnock is one of the most climbed mountains in the country, so there are a lot of other people at the top, and you could see how much they were enjoying being on top of a mountain and hearing music. It was just this incredible moment where it felt like our joy in music-making spread beyond us, brightening the day of people around us. That was really special.
Outside of Walden, how are music and/or creativity part of your life?
I am currently working towards a doctoral degree in Music Composition at the University of Michigan, which involves both a lot of composing and teaching. I'm constantly drawing on my experiences from Walden for both! Music and creativity have been a helpful way for me to work through this difficult year - right after the pandemic began, a number of Walden community members began doing informal zoom improvisations and performances of Pauline Oliveros, and I found those very grounding. More recently, I had the opportunity to perform a movement of a new violin concerto that I'm writing, alongside a masked and socially-distanced orchestra, which was amazing. I think this year has helped me realize just how important the communal aspect of performing and listening to music together is for me.
What is a non-musical hobby that's part of your life?
The 2019 YMP participants might know this a little too well, due to a certain activity involving spray-painted rocks, but I really enjoy gold-panning. I think there are a number of similarities between gold-panning and the way I like to compose, just in terms of that incessant searching and sifting through sand/musical ideas to find ones that "sparkle." I took a geology class last fall, and I think both my composing and gold-panning have improved from that.
What is your hope or dream for Walden's future?
The most immediate part is of course for us to meet in person again. Beyond that, the thing I hope for, which I think already happens, is that the creativity and the joy for music that exists at Walden continues to filter into the world around us. I do wish our society and the world around us could be more like that. I think everyone who has a camp or a musical experience where they feel that spirit ends up taking that with them as an aspiration. Walden is a very aspirational community.
I have a theory about that and the music of Pauline Oliveros. Oliveros' music kind of takes the temperature of a community. If there is a lot of generosity and patience and the other good things we want our communities to have, the music goes really well. If those things are absent, that music does not function very well. I think Oliveros' music being such a big part of Walden is indicative of the health of the community, and I wish for that to spread. I want the kindness and joy of music, and the sincerity I find in the Walden community, to keep spreading into the world around us, because those are very important and needed elements, as is the music itself.
2021 Summer Programs
Applications open for summer 2021
Walden is earnestly and actively planning for a return to in-person programming in Dublin, New Hampshire, in 2021, with the understanding that pandemic circumstances may require our programs instead be offered again online next summer. Whether in-person or online, Walden is excited to offer our students, participants, and audiences another summer of transformative, creative music programs and presentations. We hope that you will join us!
Our 2021 dates* are:
Young Musicians Program (YMP): June 26-August 1 (for musicians ages 9-18; 3-week option for students up through 7th grade June 26-July 18, 2021)
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR): June 12-20 (for adult musicians, 18+, not otherwise eligible to be students at YMP)
We are accepting applications, and the next deadline is March 15.
To request an application, go to waldenschool.org/apply.
Regular deadline: March 15
Final deadline: May 1
Need-based financial aid in the form of tuition assistance is available. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like any additional information about Summer 2021 by writing to us at applicants@waldenschool.org.
*Dates for online programs, if necessary, will be similar to those for the in-person programming.
WOW! Walden Online Workshops!
More Walden Online Workshops (WOW) are on the horizon! We are excited to continue sharing this FREE series of lectures, demonstrations, classes, and presentations on a variety of musical topics presented over video call by The Walden School's teaching faculty, artists, and special guests.
Alumni of YMP, CMR, OYME, OCME, TTI, and JCC, parents, donors, faculty, staff, and artists are especially encouraged to attend WOW presentations. Members of the general public are also welcome to join.
Tuesday, March 9, 7:30pm Eastern/4:30pm Pacific, led by Nate May
Sunday, March 21, 4pm Eastern/1pm Pacific, led by Ted Moore
Wednesday, March 31, 7:30pm Eastern/4:30pm Pacific, led by Dan Lippel
Thursday, May 13, 7:30pm Eastern/4:30pm Pacific, led by Dana Jessen
Thursday, June 3, 7:30pm Eastern/4:30pm Pacific, led by Sarah Riskind
Job Announcement
After nearly three years of amazing service to Walden, Gaela Dennison-Leonard, our current Director of Development & Alumni Relations, is leaving Walden in order to pursue graduate studies on her path to becoming a chaplain. Gaela will be with us into the Spring, and we hope to have a successor in place prior to her departure so that she can train Walden's next wonderful fundraiser. Walden is seeking applications for the position of Director of Development & Alumni Relations to join the School's San Francisco-based administrative team to help lead the School's annual fund and overall development effort. Read the full job description here, and feel free to spread the word about this opportunity to join the Walden team.
Community News
Whit Bernard and Freya Zaheer welcome a new baby
Whit Bernard and Freya Zaheer have welcomed their second child, Raza Lyons Bernard, born on February 22. Everyone is healthy and happy. Whit is a Walden alumnus who spent three summers as a Young Musicians Program student, two summers on the YMP staff, and a summer on faculty. Whit and Freya are Walden supporters, often at events with their son Cyrus, who will now have his little brother in tow.
Joshua Edward receives Alarm Will Sound MMIF support 
Alarm Will Sound has announced Damon Davis and the duo Joshua Edward and Zharia O'Neal as the most recent recipients of support from the Matt Marks Impact Fund (MMIF), now in its third year. MMIF supports projects with Alarm Will Sound that have potential to make significant cultural and social impact. Joshua Edward and Zharia O'Neal are currently students at the University of Southern California. Their proposed project, to be Black and believe in God is to know absence / this great on-the-behalfness of you, expands on an existing collaboration between the two of them--Joshua a white composer and Zharia an Afro-Carribean spoken-word artist--involving dialogues that "aim to examine the performativity of wokeness in artistic collaborations across difference." Joshua is a CMR alumnus.
Mary Fineman shares piece written at JCC
Mary Fineman is an alumna of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden's predecessor program, and she marked the New Year by posting a video on YouTube of Watercolor, a piece she wrote at JCC when she was 16. Mary recorded the piece decades later, and has now paired it with nature photography by Bruce Sadavow. You can watch the video here.
Annie Gosfield 2021 Music Award Winner 
The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the 2021 Music Award Winners. Annie Gosfield is one of four composers to receive an Arts and Letters Award in Music, which honors outstanding artistic achievement and acknowledges composers who have arrived at their own voice. The recipients of this year's awards were selected by a committee of Academy members: Chen Yi (chair), Robert Beaser, Martin Bresnick, Stephen Hartke, George Lewis, Shulamit Ran, and Julia Wolfe. The awards will be presented virtually at the Academy's Ceremonial on May 19, 2021. Annie Gosfield is a past Composer-in-Residence at Walden. Among the committee of Academy members are three other past Composers-in-Residence at Walden: Chen Yi, Martin Bresnick, and George Lewis.
Film scored by Nate May premieres at Big Sky Film Festival
Nate May scored his first feature film, A Reckoning in Boston, which premiered in February as part of the Big Sky Film Festival. The film was also featured on the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. In the words of Lecia J. Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center, "A Reckoning in Boston will encourage honest dialogue about systemic racism and oppression in the U.S. at a time when a national conversation, from the Deep South to the NorthEast corridor, is urgently needed to catalyze lasting change." Nate joined the Young Musicians Program faculty in 2018.
News from Loretta Notareschi 
In November 2020, the U.K.-based musician Donald Bousted released The New Classical Ukelele CD, featuring the Four Moods and Five Etudes by Loretta K. Notareschi. Regarding the etudes, Bousted wrote, "I was blown away. I loved the fact that she had taken this instrument, not losing sight of its beautiful beginnings, into a completely different dimension--musically, spiritually and intellectually." On February 3rd, the online publication NewMusicBox published an article by Loretta Notareschi and David Farrell titled "Composer Commission Pay in the United States," an introduction to a research report on the Composer Commission Pay Survey they conducted in Fall 2019. You can read the complete report here. Loretta is a Walden alumna and longtime faculty member.
Nnenna Ogwo presents livestreamed concert
On Friday, February 26, The Juneteenth Legacy Project presented Sonic Tapestries; Musical Ancestors & Descendants, a closing celebration of Black History Month with Dr. Nnenna Ogwo, Founder and Artistic Director of The Juneteenth Legacy Project, a New York-based musical collaborative. The livestreamed concert featured Nnenna (pianist), Eric Cooper (cellist), and Erika Banks-Alvarezv (soprano) presenting a collection of works by past and contemporary composers form the African Diaspora. A post-concert discussion with the musicians concluded the program. Nnenna spent six summers at a YMP student, attended CMR in 2014, has been a faculty member and visiting artist at YMP, and also served on Walden's Board of Directors.
Nat Osborn Band concert recording 
On February 5, 2020, the Nat Osborn Band performed at Rockwood Music Hall as a part of the venue's 15th anniversary celebration. At the time, they had no idea it would be the last time that year the band played, and still to this day. They had recorded the whole concert, and just put it on YouTube to mark the one-year anniversary. You can watch it here. Nat spent four summers as a student at the Young Musicians Program. The Nat Osborn Band is a Brooklyn-based seven-piece band, flanked by a three-piece horn section, blending soul, funk, indie-rock, and jazz.
Alicia Jo Rabins adds song for Esther to Song Cycle
Alicia Jo Rabins has added a new song and video to her Girls in Trouble song cycle. So Many Ways We Can Hide is a song about about Esther approaching King Ahashverush. The video features more than 20 people dancing in their apartments and yards to Alicia's song. Girls in Trouble is an indie-folk song cycle about the complicated lives of women in Torah. With this project, Alicia draws on her background as a musician, writer and feminist Torah teacher to mine the complex and fascinating stories of Biblical women, exploring the hidden places where their lives overlap with our own. Alicia is a YMP alumna, having spent six summers at Walden.
New release and livestream concert from Mariel Roberts
Armament, a new record from cellist Mariel Roberts was released on February 5. Created as a series of unedited improvised pieces for cello and pedals, Armament represents Mariel's abilities as a cellist, as well as a unique voice responding to the current moment. To mark the release, Mariel gave a livestreamed performance of Armament at Roulette on February 5. She was accompanied by Brian Chase and Mario Diaz de Leon. Mariel is a past visiting artist at Walden, and Mario was Composer-in-Residence for the 2020 Online Young Musicians Experience. Mariel is also a member of Wet Ink Ensemble, a past Walden ensemble-in-residence.
Zach Shemon solo recording released
Alto saxophonist and PRISM Quartet member Zach Shemon's first solo recording was released on February 5 on XAS. Zach is joined by the Conservatory Wind Symphony of the University of Missouri-Kansas City under Steven D. Davis for Solace: A Lyric Concerto by Houston-based composer Joel Love. The work is inspired by David Whyte's book, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning in Words. PRISM Quartet is a past visiting artist at Walden and an ongoing commissioning partner.
New project from Spektral Quartet, featuring Eliza Brown
Spektral Quartet is launching a new participatory digital concert format, called Something to Write Home About. The project invites listeners to be creative right alongside Spektral Quartet, penning postcards as the quartet performs an elastic program featuring the music of imaginative composers. The second installment, presented on March 30 in partnership with Harris Theatre in Chicago, will feature works by Eliza Brown, Tomeka Reid, Samuel Adams, Gene Knific, and Nathalie Joachim, alongside works of visual art. Spektral Quartet is a past visiting artist at Walden. Eliza Brown is a Walden alumna and longtime faculty member.
Splinter Reeds in conversation with Sky Macklay and Eric Wubbels
On February 9, Splinter Reeds shared a livestreamed conversation with composers Sky Macklay and Eric Wubbels. Sky Macklay's Choppy (2017) and Eric Wubbels' Auditory Scene Analysis II (2016) feature some of the most extensive and wide-ranging extended techniques in the reed quintet repertoire. Splinter Reeds spoke with Sky and Eric about their work, compositional practice, and upcoming projects. Splinter Reeds is a past artist-in-residence at Walden, and founding member Dana Jessen is a past Walden faculty member and a member of The Walden School Players. Sky Macklay is a Walden alumna and longtime faculty member, and Eric Wubbels is a past member of The Walden School Players.
In Memoriam
John Weaver
John Weaver passed away on February 1, in Ithaca, New York, where he and his wife, Marianne, were living. John attended the Junior Conservatory Camp and served on its faculty, and was involved for many years at JCC. He was Director of Music at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1970-2005. He was chair of the Juilliard School's organ department from 1987 to 2004 and Head of the organ department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1972 to 2003. You can find an announcement here on the website at Curtis, from which he received a degree in organ performance in 1959.
John was involved with Walden in many ways over the last 50 years, including hosting numerous gatherings for Walden and JCC alumni, along with summer planning meetings for YMP, in the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church grounds, where he and Marianne lived. He also served as a visiting composers forum moderator, and served on Walden's advisory council for the past 20 years. He was a wonderful supporter of Walden, and we have sung his choral music as part of Walden choral concerts over the years. Some years ago, he performed a concert on Walden's concert series in Peterborough, New Hampshire, at All Saints Church. We at Walden join all of John's family and friends and students in mourning his passing.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. Email your news to alumni@waldenschool.org.
Stay in Touch
You can like The Walden School page on Facebook and join The Walden School private group to hear about events and opportunities throughout the year, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.