Our talented team
who loves music
In addition to their many talents, the faculty and staff of the Walden School are trained in performance, composition, conducting, theory and pedagogy.
YEAR-ROUND ADMINISTRATION
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Caroline Mallonee
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Noah Mlotek
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Sammi Stone
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Seth Brenzel
Caroline Mallonee
Director, Creative Musicians Retreat
American composer Caroline Mallonee finds inspiration in visual art, science, languages, and musical puzzles. Her music has been programmed across the United States including at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic, and National Sawdust, as well as further afield at the Long Leaf Opera Festival (NC), Carlsbad Music Festival (CA), Bennington Chamber Music Conference (VT), Jordan Hall (Boston, MA), Cambridge Music Festival (UK), and Tokyo Opera City (Japan). Mallonee has been commissioned to write new works for the New York Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Spektral Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, Present Music, Wet Ink Ensemble, Antares, PRISM Quartet, Ciompi Quartet, Ethos Percussion, and the Buffalo Chamber Players, for whom she serves as composer-in-residence. Carrie has been on the faculty of The Walden School since 1998 and is the director of the Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat. She first came to Walden as a student when she was 12 and has hiked Mt. Monadnock more than thirty times. She holds degrees from Harvard, Yale and Duke, and held a Fulbright Fellowship to the Netherlands, where she studied with Louis Andriessen. For more information, please visit www.carolinemallonee.com.
Noah Mlotek
Director of Development and Alumni Relations
Noah Mlotek has been associated with The Walden School for 20 years, first as a student at the Young Musicians Program, then as a summer staff member, and now as a full-time member of Walden’s administrative staff. Noah worked for several years in the publishing industry and holds degrees from Oberlin College and Stanford University. He sings professionally at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco.
Sammi Stone
Director of Operations
Sammi Jo Stone is an oboist and saxophonist from Baker City in rural northeastern Oregon. She holds degrees in music from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and the University of California San Diego.
Sammi is passionate about learning and teaching music, going on hikes, and knowing which birds are which.
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director & Director, Young Musicians Program
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director, has been associated with The Walden School for more than 30 years. He was fortunate to be a student at Walden for six magical summers (1985-1990), and since 1994, has served the School as a staff member, faculty member, Director of Operations, and as the Associate Director from 1996 to 2003, when he became the School’s Executive Director. Since 1995, he has sung tenor with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and is currently a professional member of that ensemble.
Seth has served as the co-clerk of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Friends School, and in the past, he has served on the boards of The Walden School, Swarthmore College, and Earplay, a San Francisco-based new music ensemble. Seth received his B.A., with degrees in Music and Political Science, from Swarthmore College, where he served as President of the College’s Alumni Association. He received an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, with a focus in non-profit management and marketing; he has also served on the Haas School’s Development Council. He is a 2012 graduate of Leadership San Francisco, where he serves as an alumni advisor.
Prior to becoming Walden’s first full-time Executive Director, Seth worked part-time for Walden during the year and held positions as a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting, in marketing and public relations at the San Francisco Symphony, and led both the marketing and the enterprise sales teams for an internet software company, now part of Adobe. When not at Walden, Seth lives in San Francisco with his husband, Malcolm Gaines, and their daughter, Cora.
SUMMER FACULTY & STAFF
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Alex Christie
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Anastasia Baker
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Arté Warren
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Brian Fancher
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Brianna Mosley
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Cara Haxo
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Carlos Henrique Pereira
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Caroline Mallonee
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Chris Wild
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Colin Roshak
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D. J. Sparr
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Dahlia Riddington
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Dasom Chung
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Douglas Hertz
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Eliza Brown
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Emi Ostrom
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Evan Johnson
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Francesca Hellerman
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Jeff Dutter
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Kari Francis
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Karissa Ulrich
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Kittie Cooper
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Lila Meretzky
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Loretta Notareschi
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Lukáš Janata
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Luke Schroeder
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Margaree Jordan
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Michael Kropf
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Nate May
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Nate Trier
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Nicholas Emerson
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Nina Kindrachuk
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Osnat Netzer
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Paul Zito
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Rachel Iba
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Rebekah Griffin Greene
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Renée Favand-See
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Ross Karre
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Sam Pluta
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Sammi Stone
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Samuel Lord Kalcheim
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Sarah Riskind
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Seth Brenzel
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Ted Moore
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Terry L. Greene II
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Theo Trevisan
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William Hawkins
Alex Christie
Director of Electronic Music
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Alex Christie makes acoustic and electronic music in many forms. His music has been called “vibrant”, “interesting, I guess,” and responsible for “ruin[ing] my day.” He enjoys collaborating with artists in all fields and is particularly interested the design of power structures, systems of intervention, and absurdist bureaucracy in composition. Alex is the founder and co-curator of the multidisciplinary arts series SOLOS (Charlottesville, VA) and the program coordinator for Synths for Beginners, a creative workshop series that provides free arts education and music equipment to Charlottesville youth. He is also a member of the bands Trash Cats, Altra, and Ear Infection, all of which are really great.
Recently, Alex’s work has explored the ecology of performance in intermedia art and interactive electronic music. Through real-time audio processing, instrument building, video, lighting, and theater, Alex expands performance environments to offer multiple lenses through which the audience can experience the work. Alex has performed and presented at a variety of conferences and festivals whose acronyms combine to spell nicedinsaucesfeeeemmmmmmfogascabsplotnort.
Alex began his compositional career many years ago as a student at Walden’s Young Musicians Program where he now serves as faculty, Director of Electronic Music, and an academic dean. He holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, Mills College, and the University of Virginia where he is currently completing a PhD in Composition and Computer Technologies (CCT). Other interests include baseball and geometric shapes.
Anastasia Baker
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Anastasia Baker is a singer and clarinetist entering her junior year at Montclair State University in New Jersey. There she studies music education under the vocal training of Kelley Hijleh and Karen Driscoll. Anastasia enjoys studying a wide variety of musical styles including classical, jazz, pop, and musical theater. In recent years she lead her high school marching band as drum major, and played various leads in musical productions such as Maria from The Sound of Music. She partakes in many vocal and instrumental ensembles, and is eager to share her knowledge of music as a teacher in the near future.
In her free time Anastasia enjoys painting, baking, and putting together PowerPoint presentation nights with her friends.
Arté Warren
Staff, Young Musicians Program & Creative Musicians Retreat
Arté Warren is a flautist, freelance pianist, aspiring songwriter, producer, and audio engineer from Baltimore, Maryland. He attends Morgan State University in Baltimore where he’s entering his senior year as a Music major with a concentration in Flute Performance having studied under Dr. Anita Thesen, and is dual-enrolled for his Master of Arts in Teaching. He is a member of the Magnificent Marching Machine at Morgan State University under the direction of Mr. Melvin N. Miles Jr. Arté is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Brian Fancher
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Brian Fancher is a music educator and vocalist residing in Waite Hill, Ohio. He teaches at Mayfield High School where he works with two bands, three choirs, marching band, show choir, and the fall and spring musicals, while also teaching music theory courses and advising the Ultimate Frisbee Club and Drama Club. He can also be found singing Baritone in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from The College of Wooster, where he studied voice with Dr. Carrie Culver.
In his spare time, he likes to eat, play Ultimate Frisbee, play video games, and take pictures of people, places, and things.
Brianna Mosley
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Cara Haxo
Academic Dean, Young Musicians Program
At the encouragement of her mother, Cara Haxo begrudgingly attended Walden as a student in 2004. As soon as she arrived on campus, she immediately fell in love with everything about Walden and came back for another five summers. She is thrilled to return to Walden more recently as a faculty member and academic dean. Cara is the winner of the 2022 National Women’s Musical Festival Emerging Women Composers Competition. She was also awarded the 2019 International Alliance for Women in Music Libby Larsen Prize, the 2013 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Composers Award, and the 2013 IAWM Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Prize. Her works have been premiered by the May Festival Youth Chorus, Hub New Music, Quince Ensemble, and Splinter Reeds, amongst other ensembles.
Cara is a Visiting Assistant Professor at The College of Wooster in Ohio. She earned her Ph.D. in Composition at the University of Oregon, where she worked as a Graduate Teaching Fellow in Music Theory. She also holds degrees from Butler University and The College of Wooster. She previously taught courses in composition and theory as an Adjunct Instructor of Music at Notre Dame College (Ohio), and private piano, theory, and composition lessons through the Butler Community Arts School in Indianapolis. When she is not composing, Cara enjoys baking desserts, going on long road trips, and hanging out with her cat, Pippin. For more information, please visit http://chaxomusic.com.
Carlos Henrique Pereira
Carlos Henrique Pereira is an accomplished composer, performer, educator, and music producer. Alongside his thriving career as a musician, he has been deeply committed to educating students since the age of 18 when he began teaching at the music conservatory in his hometown. Carlos draws from his extensive studies in classical music, Brazilian music, popular music, and jazz to enrich his teaching, exposing his students to a diverse range of musical styles. He firmly believes in the inherent musicality of every child and sees it as his duty to nurture and develop their musical abilities. Carlos’s teaching approach focuses on instilling joy and fun into music, fostering a sense of accomplishment through personalized and attainable goals for each student.
Carlos’s journey as a composer started at a young age, and despite the absence of formal training, he made history by becoming the youngest composer to have a work selected for the Brazilian Contemporary Music Biennial in Rio de Janeiro in 1983. His compositions were featured alongside those of renowned Brazilian modern composers. Throughout his career, Carlos has composed and recorded four albums of original compositions, with his fifth album currently in progress. His musical contributions have garnered numerous awards and recognition. Notably, Carlos has composed and arranged music for various dance companies in New York and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall. He has had the privilege of collaborating with many esteemed jazz artists. During his time in New York, Carlos also produced a diverse catalog of original music that has been featured in numerous movies and TV shows worldwide.
In 2009, Carlos received a grant in Brazil to compose his third album, titled “Minas, Gerais,” which was released in 2011. Dedicated to his home state, the album received widespread acclaim from critics and fans, earning a nomination for the 24th Brazilian Music Awards.
Since relocating to California, Carlos has captivated audiences through various performances, including appearances at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival and the Blue Note in Napa. His musical endeavors have been acknowledged and supported by organizations such as the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, where he was awarded the 2016 Music Grant Program, and Creative Sonoma, which honored him with the 2019 Next Level Grant award. Carlos takes immense pride in being a father to his nine-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter, whom he affectionately considers his favorite students.
Caroline Mallonee
Director, Creative Musicians Retreat
American composer Caroline Mallonee finds inspiration in visual art, science, languages, and musical puzzles. Her music has been programmed across the United States including at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic, and National Sawdust, as well as further afield at the Long Leaf Opera Festival (NC), Carlsbad Music Festival (CA), Bennington Chamber Music Conference (VT), Jordan Hall (Boston, MA), Cambridge Music Festival (UK), and Tokyo Opera City (Japan). Mallonee has been commissioned to write new works for the New York Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Spektral Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, Present Music, Wet Ink Ensemble, Antares, PRISM Quartet, Ciompi Quartet, Ethos Percussion, and the Buffalo Chamber Players, for whom she serves as composer-in-residence. Carrie has been on the faculty of The Walden School since 1998 and is the director of the Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat. She first came to Walden as a student when she was 12 and has hiked Mt. Monadnock more than thirty times. She holds degrees from Harvard, Yale and Duke, and held a Fulbright Fellowship to the Netherlands, where she studied with Louis Andriessen. For more information, please visit www.carolinemallonee.com.
Chris Wild
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Chris Wild’s performances have been lauded as “insatiable” (New York Times), resulting from his enthusiastic pursuit of musical connections. A conductor, cellist, and music educator, he now resides in Indianapolis with wife Eliza Brown, where he was recently appointed conductor of the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony. Previously a resident of the Michiana tri-state region, he has served as faculty at Andrews University and the University of Notre Dame, and cellist of the Euclid String Quartet. Recognized for his performances and recordings of contemporary music, he has been a member of the Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente since 2007. Recent performances have taken him to Walt Disney Concert Hall, Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, Symphony Center (Chicago), Teatro Colón (Argentina), and the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico). Chris enjoys a broad range of quality music but is befuddled by Eliza’s love for Bad Bunny. In addition to conducting and performing Classical repertoire, recent collaborations have included performances with fiddler Mark O’Connor, improvisations with guitarist Gabriel Datcu, and joining Mannheim Steamroller’s holiday tour.
Chris began his cello studies at the age of five in British Columbia, Canada, where he would later win first place in the strings category of the Canadian Music Competition. An active teenager, he filled his days playing varsity sports, keeping his rock band on life support, making award-winning animation videos depicting the life of Bigfoot, and practicing cello scales. In due time, he went on to earn a BM and MM in cello performance and music education from the University of Michigan, and many years later completed his DMA in orchestral conducting at Northwestern University, culminating with his thesis titled “Charles Ives’ Three Places in New England: an Interpretation and a Conducting Guide.” In addition to performing and teaching, he occasionally creates new episodes for his YouTube channel Great Moments in Orchestral History, and enjoys being a Hoosier with Eliza.
Colin Roshak
Colin Roshak is a conductor, clarinetist and entrepreneur. He completed his bachelors degree at Oberlin Conservatory, and his masters of music at Bard College. In the years between his studies he lived and worked in Alaska, on the ancestral lands of Tlingit, Haida and Dena’ina peoples. In Alaska, Colin played principal clarinet with the Anchorage Opera and Pops orchestras, served as the assistant conductor for the Alaska Youth Orchestras, wrote for the Anchorage Daily News and Anchorage Press, amidst other creative ventures. These include a soundscape ecology internship with the Anchorage Museum, operation of a gluten free pasta business, private clarinet instruction and guest instruction with the Anchorage School District and University of Alaska. Colin spent summers from 2018-2021 as an instructor and administrator with the Sitka Fine Arts Camp on Tlingit Aaní. Colin has founded ensembles ranging from new music ensembles to string orchestras and state-wide community music programs. Under his direction, the Alaska Virtual Symphony provided free weekly music lessons to more than 60 students, ages 5 to 80. The program culminated in a virtual concert and three-part conversation series with Cliburn medalist Daniel Hsu, renowned flutist Kelly Zimba and Grammy Award-winning band Portugal. The Man. Most recently, he founded the Sinfonietta Project at Bard College; an ensemble focused on performing canonical and new modern works, with a focus on student works and entrepreneurship. Colin is a proud student of Richard Hawkins, Tim Weiss, James Bagwell, Kai-Yun Lu and Craig Hay. His day typically begins with a smoothie and his mind often drifts to the Chugach mountains. Colin has strong opinions about salt and pepper, encourages everyone to drink more water and highly recommends Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts. Please read more at colinjroshak.com.
D. J. Sparr
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Composer and electric guitarist D. J. Sparr, who Gramophone recently hailed as “exemplary,” is one of America’s preeminent composer-performers. He has caught the attention of critics with his eclectic style, described as “pop-Romantic…iridescent and wondrous” (The Mercury News) and “suits the boundary erasing spirit of today’s new-music world” (The New York Times). The Los Angeles Times praises him as “an excellent soloist,” and the Santa Cruz Sentinel says that he “wowed an enthusiastic audience…Sparr’s guitar sang in a near-human voice.” He was the electric guitar concerto soloist on the 2018 GRAMMY award-winning, all-Kenneth Fuchs recording with JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2011, Sparr was named one of NPR listener’s favorite 100 composers under the age 40. He has composed for and performed with renowned ensembles such as the Houston Grand Opera, Cabrillo Festival, New World Symphony, Washington National Opera, and Eighth Blackbird. His music has received awards from BMI, New Music USA, and the League of Composers/ISCM. Sparr is a faculty member at the famed Walden School’s Creative Musicians Retreat in Dublin, New Hampshire. His works and guitar performances appear on Naxos, Innova Recordings, and Centaur Records.
D.J. lives in Baton Rouge, LA with his wife Kimberly, son Harris, Nannette the hound dog, and Bundini the boxer. Sparr’s music is published by Bill Holab Music.
Dahlia Riddington
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Dasom Chung
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Dasom Chung (b. 1997) is a 2015 Walden School alum and is thrilled to serve as the resident lifeguard, photographer, and staff for the Walden School 2022 program.
Currently studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Dasom is working towards a Professional Music degree with concentrations in Music Technology and Musical Theater Performance. Her favorite thing ever is to immerse herself into new and invigorating environments in which she can continue to grow and learn new things, and as such will be studying abroad in Valencia, Spain this upcoming academic year.
When not absorbed in her music studies, she loves to spend her time cooking, taking part in artistic activities (like pottery and painting!), napping, and spending time with her beloved sister. She also loves to dance and travel around the world, sometimes both at once. She was first introduced to competitive ballroom dancing while studying at Carnegie Mellon University, and has fallen in love with all different kinds of partner dances since.
Douglas Hertz
Leadership Team, Young Musicians Program
Douglas Hertz (b. 1993) is a composer, educator, and multi-instrumentalist based in Queens, NY. He first became involved with The Walden School as a Young Musicians Program student in 2010 and has since held staff and faculty roles at both the Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat.
As an educator, Hertz specializes in teaching musical creativity through composition, improvisation, movement, music theory, singing, and instrumental studies. He has taught in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s public schools, with the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composer’s Program, and at the Thurnauer School of Music in New Jersey, where he is co-chair of the Composition and Creative Musicianship Program. An aspiring public school music educator, he is working towards his New York State K-12 music education license and advanced certificate in music education at Brooklyn College. He additionally earned his B.A. in music from Bard College a M.M. in music composition from the University of Michigan.
Hertz’s compositions have been heard around the United States and abroad, having been recently programmed by the GAIDA Festival (Lithuania), Aries Composers Festival, Midwest Composers Symposium, PASIC, Nief Norf Summer Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, the Dynamic Music Festival, Bard College’s Music Alive series and the Deer Valley Music Festival. He has also held recent residencies with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and Periapsis Music and Dance. He is also an avid collaborator, having worked recently with choreographers Al Evangelista and Janice Rosario, visual artist Lizzy Chiappini, and performance group, Call Your Mom.
Eliza Brown
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Composer Eliza Brown attended The Walden School as a YMP student from 2000-2002, and has held many roles in the community in subsequent summers, including staff, faculty, and leadership team. Eliza’s compositions have been performed by leading interpreters of new music (including Ensemble Dal Niente, Spektral Quartet, ensemble recherche, International Contemporary Ensemble, Network for New Music, Ensemble SurPlus, and Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble), heard on stages throughout the USA and abroad, and released on the Navona and New Focus labels, among others.
Eliza’s music, described as “delicate, haunting, and introspective” by Symphony Magazine, is frequently intertextual, opening dialogues with pre-existing pieces of music, historical styles, field recordings, non-musical artworks, and other artifacts. It is also often interdisciplinary: Eliza has collaborated with practitioners of theater, dance, architecture, poetry, visual art, film, and the sciences, frequently taking on artistic and organizational roles in addition to “composer.” Building intentional, project-specific collaborative processes, with attention to the ethical and equity issues of artistic industries and infrastructures, is an essential part of Eliza’s practice. The monodrama The Body of the State, co-created with six women incarcerated at Indiana Women’s Prison, was commissioned and premiered by Ensemble Dal Niente in October 2017; current projects include Theorem, an interdisciplinary performance work in development with a collective of artists representing many fields, and The Listening Year, a work in progress for New Morse Code based on a year of weekly field recording at Indiana’s Big Walnut Creek. Recent commissioners include a.pe.ri.od.ic, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Spektral Quartet and Scrag Mountain Music, Philadelphia Sinfonia, pianist Clare Longendyke, and Classical Music Indy.
Eliza is an Associate Professor of Music at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, and was recently awarded DePauw’s 2023 Fisher Fellowship for The Listening Year. Eliza holds a B.Mus. in composition from the University of Michigan and a D.M.A. in composition from Northwestern University.
Emi Ostrom
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Emi Ostrom (they/she) is a Brooklyn-based oboist, singer and composer fascinated by paradoxes: historicity in contemporary music, spiritual atheism and the surprising humanity of algorithms. Their work deals with the merging of new and old, and the places where distinctions dissolve.
Emi has performed on four continents, and spent several years living abroad in Japan and England. Her oboe playing was once said to “melt our hearts” (New Zealand Herald). She has performed with renowned period-instrument orchestras including Juilliard415, Les Arts Florissants, Philharmonia Baroque, The American Classical Orchestra, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, Yale Camerata and Upper Valley Baroque. As a singer, she holds a mezzo-soprano position at St James Church and has collaborated with many choirs including Medieval Women’s Choir, Emerald Ensemble, Mägi Ensemble, Vox Anima, and St James Cathedral Cantorei.
Emi can be heard performing the English horn solo on “The Sneetches” album with Oberlin Orchestra, and oboe on prog rock album “The Return” by Deep Energy Orchestra. She has sung the National Anthem at a Mariners game, played with funk bassist Evan Flory-Barnes, and performed in a Classical wind quintet for GEMS Midtown Concerts. With Juilliard415 she performed regularly at Lincoln Center, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Music Before 1800, and on a national broadcast by Early Music America. Emi embraces the joy of composing-performing. Her compositions have been performed by Juilliard Double Visions, Hub New Music, Corvid Ensemble, Deixis Ensemble, Les Chanterelles, and Warp Trio, and her own recitals at Oberlin and Juilliard.
As an educator, she is on faculty at the Walden School, teaching courses in musicianship and composition. She has worked at Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program as oboe fellow, lecturer and teaching assistant; tutored music theory for Juilliard Extension, and coached oboe students for the Seattle Youth Symphony. Emi holds bachelor’s degrees in neuroscience and oboe performance from Oberlin, a master’s in vocal performance from University of York and a master’s in historical performance from Juilliard. In her spare time Emi enjoys collecting instruments. Her growing family includes a newly restored 19th-century oboe and English horn, 2-key baroque oboes and a baroque oboe d’amore, an 8-key Classical oboe, a modern oboe, a baroque alto recorder, and a 3D-printed Renaissance cornetto. She hand-makes all of her reeds and usually keeps at least four types of oboe reeds on hand.
Evan Johnson
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Evan Shaw Johnson (b. 1998) is a composer, arranger, and performer specializing in musical theatre. A recent Midwest transplant to New York City, Evan is a stereotypical theatre nerd. His musical We Are Here was a winner of the 2019 New Voices Project from New Musicals Inc. He has written incidental scores for several plays, including Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone, Laura Marks’s Bethany, and a production of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s Through the Leaves at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2018. Evan also composes concert music—his catalog includes music for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and electronics. His music has been performed by groups such as C3LA, HEX Ensemble, Apple Hill Chamber Ensemble, and the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble at CalArts. His choral music is published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing. In addition to his composition work, Evan is active as a theatre arranger, orchestrator, and copyist. Notable credits include music preparation for Fountain of You at the Zeiders American Dream Theater (Virginia Beach 2022), a workshop and full production of Matthew Hardy’s Virtuoso (New York 2019 and Poland 2020), and additional orchestrations for StarKid: Homecoming (Los Angeles 2019), work praised by writers Darren Criss and A.J. Holmes. His current projects include a solo album and the new full-length musical The Scars of Your Body, a collaboration with playwright and lyricist Valerie Work. Evan was a student at The Walden School Young Musicians Program for six summers, 2009-2014, and holds a BFA in Composition from the California Institute of the Arts. Find out more at evanjohnsonmusic.com.
Francesca Hellerman
Staff, Young Musicians Program & Creative Musicians Retreat
Francesca Hellerman is a composer whose works joyfully uncover the tactile richness of gestures and sounds made by instruments, electronics, and found objects alike. Her work has been performed by ensembles including the PRISM Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Walden School Players. As an undergraduate at Williams College, she composed for and performed with the Williams Percussion Ensemble and the Williams Chamber and Concert Choirs. She also studied piano and voice and co-directed the education and outreach portions of Williams’ I/O Fest, an annual celebration of new music at the college. After graduating from Williams this June, she will begin Master’s study in music composition with Sky Macklay at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Francesca fell in love with composition at The Walden School’s Young Musicians Program, which she attended as a student for eight summers and where she is thrilled to have returned as a staff member. When she is not composing, Francesca enjoys cooking, knitting, interacting with cats, and going on long walks.
Jeff Dutter
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Kari Francis
Choral Director, Young Musicians Program
Kari Francis (she/her) is a vocalist, arranger, and choral music educator who has shared the stage with Imogen Heap, competed on Season 3 of NBC’s The Sing-Off with Kinfolk 9, and can be heard beatboxing on Grammy Award-winning pianist-composer Cory Smythe’s album Accelerate Every Voice. Currently a choral conducting doctoral student in the Sacred Music program at the University of Notre Dame, her past teaching includes choral arranging, ear training, music theory, and directing vocal ensembles at the College of Saint Rose, Mannes School of Music, CUNY Hunter College, and Teachers College Columbia University. Kari was previously a conducting fellow with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and has taught in NYC public schools as a Midori & Friends vocal teaching artist. Her writings on contemporary a cappella have been published by GIA Music and NATS, and she frequently leads workshops on arranging, vocal percussion, and group vocal improvisation at music festivals and conferences around the world. Kari holds degrees in music education from the Eastman School of Music, Teachers College Columbia University, and music theory/composition from the University of California, San Diego. Her research interests include choral improvisation, collaborative learning, and popular music in the choral classroom.
Karissa Ulrich
Nurse, Young Musicians Program
Karissa Ulrich: I grew up in Gloucester, MA, and have lived all over the country. I graduated from Skidmore College with a BS degree in Exercise Physiology and went on to study pharmacology. A few years after I graduated from college, I moved to the Caribbean to “find myself”. I volunteered in a small health center and realized I wanted to become a nurse. I attended Simmons College and received my BSN and started working in critical care in Boston, MA.
I decided that I wanted to serve my country and work in areas of relief work. I joined the USAF and was active duty for 3 years. In the USAF, I worked in critical care and infection prevention. After the birth of my second daughter, I separated from active duty and remained in the USAF Reserves. I continued to work in critical care as a civilian. When my third daughter was born our family decided to move back to New England. I had the opportunity to serve as the Interim Director of Infection Prevention in Manchester, NH in 2016. In 2017 I completed my Master’s degree in Nursing. I started teaching for MCPHS University and also worked in Quality and Performance Improvement. I am currently completing my FNP and my Doctorate in Nursing. My husband and I and our three daughters have been living in NH for 5 years along with our 3 horses, mammoth mule, many chickens, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 6 goats, and 8 donkeys.
Kittie Cooper
Director of Composers Forums
Faculty & Academic Dean, Young Musicians Program
Kittie Cooper is a sound and intermedia artist, performer, and educator based in Vancouver, BC. She makes work that explores the spectrum between silliness and seriousness, and in particular where those two things overlap with spookiness. Much of Kittie’s work looks at the messy insides of people, places, and things. Their work has been called “highly original and wonderfully fun”. They are interested in text and graphic scores, improvisation, and DIY electronic instruments. They have performed and presented at a variety of festivals across the United States and Canada, and perform regularly as a guitarist, electronic musician, and improviser. Kittie’s music has been commissioned and performed by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Ensemble Dal Niente, Splinter Reeds, Popebama, and Warp Trio. She serves as Director of Composers Forums, Academic Dean, and Faculty for The Walden School Young Musicians Program—this will be Kittie’s tenth summer working at Walden! They hold a BM from Northwestern University in music education and guitar performance, and an MEd in teaching students with visual impairments from George Mason University. They are currently working toward an MFA in interdisciplinary arts at Simon Fraser University. They also like ghost stories, chili, and cats.
You can find more information and documentation of Kittie’s work at kittiecooper.com.
Lila Meretzky
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Lila Meretzky is a composer, educator, and visual artist born and raised in New York City. She works primarily in chamber, vocal, electronic, and electroacoustic mediums, as well as in music for dance, film, and installation. Her work is often concerned with (the warping of) memory and language, and subjective experiences of time. Recent and ongoing collaborations include new works for Sandbox Percussion, Unheard-of//Ensemble, icarus Quartet, Omer Quartet, and the Yale Philharmonia, and for the dance companies New Dialect, X-Contemporary Dance, and the Nashville Ballet. Her film work includes scoring the 2022 documentary A Climate of Anxiety. As a critic, her writings have been published on the arts blog ArtsNash and she has been featured on the radio at WXNA Nashville. As an educator, she has taught composition and musicianship at the Walden School in Dublin, New Hampshire and the W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville, Tennessee, and with Yale’s Music in Schools Initiative. She has also taught composition and was a teaching fellow in music technology in the music department at Yale College. Lila has attended such festivals as the Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Cortona Sessions for New Music, and Bang on a Can Summer Festival. At Bang on a Can, her works were performed as part of the first LOUD Weekend Festival at Mass MoCA in July 2021. Her other pursuits include performing as a singer and pianist, and making noise on her laptop and accordion.
Paper collage is Lila’s primary visual medium, and her work has been featured in Off Latch Press’ inaugural Off Latch Zine.
Lila is a graduate of the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, where she co-founded the new music concert series A Humming Under My Feet. She also holds an MM and MMA from the Yale School of Music.
Loretta Notareschi
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Called a “bright wom[a]n with big ideas” (Souls in Action), Colorado-based composer Loretta K. Notareschi (b. 1977) seeks to create “compassion” (303 Magazine) and connection through her “powerful” (The Denver Post) and “deeply personal” (5280 Magazine) music. Whether writing for string quartet or symphony orchestra, church congregations or classical ukulele players, she seeks to “connec[t] with the audience” (303 Magazine) and move listeners with music of meaning.
Born in Canton, Ohio and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Notareschi is a professor of music at Regis University and a summer faculty member of The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat. She received master’s and doctoral degrees in composition from the University of California at Berkeley, a bachelor’s of music in composition from the University of Southern California, and the General Diploma from the Zoltàn Kodàly Pedagogical Institute of Music in Kecskemèt, Hungary, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. Notareschi’s music has been performed in the United States, Europe, and South America by groups as diverse as the Spektral Quartet, the Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus, the Duo Montagnard, The Playground Ensemble, the Boulder Symphony, and the former Ensemble Eleven. She has received awards and grants from the Cincinnati Camerata, IronWorks Percussion Duo, the American Composers Forum, and the GALA Choruses, and in October 2016, she was a TEDxMileHigh speaker. Her primary teachers in composition have included Morten Lauridsen, Erica Muhl, Rick Lesemann, Cindy Cox, and Jorge Liderman, and her music is published by Disegni Music, Friedrich Hofmeister, and Bachovich.
Lukáš Janata
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Lukáš Janata (b. 1995) is a Czech composer, performer, and educator. His music has been widely performed in his native country and many countries throughout the world. He has received numerous commissions, most notably by the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox, New York Cantori, Punkt Contemporary Choir, Aries Percussion Ensemble, and the Jablonova Youth String Orchestra (for the occasion of Concerto Bohemia held in Prague). He will serve as Composer in Residence for the International Orange Chorale, San Francisco, in the 2021-2022 season.
Lukáš’ composition mentors include John Corigliano, David Conte (MM ’19, San Francisco Conservatory Of Music), and Otomar Kvěch (DiS (BA) ’17, Prague Conservatoire,) He has participated in masterclasses with composers George Lewis, Allain Gaussin, Liviu Marinescu, Dimitris Maronidis, Michel Merlet, and Ériks Ešenvalds, and is collaborating on various projects with a composer Nico Muhly, and conductors Ragnar Bohlin and Mark Shapiro. Lukáš began his musical activities as a choral singer with the award-winning children’s choir Severáček, participating in performances in many European countries. He sings in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and is a cantor and bass section leader for St Monica’s Catholic Church. He has served as a visiting artist and lecturer at the Millennium School, the California State University, East Bay, (with Tin Yi Wong,) New York University. He currently teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music. He has taught piano and music education at the Willow Creek Academy, Mid Peninsula Music Academy, and the California Conservatory of Music. Lukáš will be on the composition faculty at the Walden School for the summer 2021.
Lukáš is an enthusiastic advocate for the performance of new music. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Mouthscape, a chamber choir based at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, which focuses on championing new works by SFCM students, alumni, and faculty composers. In 2014 he was a founding member of Punkt, a contemporary chamber choir based at the Prague Conservatoire.
The young composer is also a passionate hiker and had biked across Europe.
Luke Schroeder
Staff, Young Musicians Program & Creative Musicians Retreat
Luke was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, but grew up and currently lives in Wichita Falls, Texas. In the fall, Luke will be entering his Senior year at Texas Tech University, where he majors in Music Education. He hopes to become a teacher one day and share his passion for music with his students. At Texas Tech, Luke plays Viola in the University Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Bravura, and New Music Ensemble. He has played with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra as well. Luke also works for the Texas Tech String Project. String Project is an organization funded by Texas Tech University that allows string music education students to teach beginner string players. Luke enjoys listening to a wide range of music and spending time with good friends. His hobbies include collecting records, discovering different coffee shops, and watching sports. Luke is looking forward to a fun and exciting summer at Walden!
Margaree Jordan
Nurse, Young Musicians Program
Margaree Jordan ignited her passion for nursing after a fateful trip to India during a college year abroad, where she worked in a small rural village providing health services. She graduated with her BSN in 2002 and spent her first few years working in both critical care and community health. She then shifted her focus to ambulatory care, and was both an educator and nurse leader in a number of surgical specialties. She completed her MSN in 2015 and transitioned to full time nursing professor in Minnesota, while working per diem providing telehealth triage. Her last 6 years have been spent in leadership and education roles in both telehealth and clinical practice, and she recently transitioned into a role as Director of Health Services at the Dublin School (where she is also an alum!).
She lives in Dublin with her children and a small leopard gecko (even though she dislikes reptiles). In her spare time she likes to do anything outside (running, hiking, swimming, camping). She also writes semi-professionally and is an avid home cook.
Michael Kropf
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Michael Kropf is a Michigan-based composer whose work deals with hidden emotions and evocative places. He has collaborated with Marin Alsop, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Apple Hill String Quartet, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. His music has been described as “a brilliant, rapid fire stretch of perpetual motion,” by the SF Chronicle’s Joshua Kosman. Recent project include a violin sonata for violinist Matt Albert and pianist Forrest Howell. He is currently writing a violin concerto for Sabrina Tabby and Contemporaneous.
Michael is also an active music teacher, pianist, violinist, and conductor. He has taught classes at the University of Michigan, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College and the Academy of Art. He serves as an academic dean and faculty member at the Walden School Young Musicians Young Musician’s Program in New Hampshire.
He earned his doctoral degree in composition at The University of Michigan in 2022, where he studied with Kristin Kuster and Evan Chambers. He received his Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory in 2016, where he studied with Evan Chambers. He has also received private study in composition from John Adams.
His work has received recognition from numerous institutions, including ASCAP, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the The Music Teacher’s National Association.
Nate May
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Nate May (B. 1987) is an American composer whose music draws on research and imagination, often treating contemporary issues of place, migration, and environment with textural intricacy, rhythmic drive, and a taste for repurposed sounds. Raised in Huntington, West Virginia, much of his work stems from a “fascination, love, and respect for the people” of Appalachia (Soapbox), including his oratorio State—premiered by singer Kate Wakefield (Lung) and MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir—and his monodrama, Dust in the Bottomland—set in present-day West Virginia and sung by lyric bass Andrew Munn, which has been performed twelve times in seven states and broadcast on radio and television. He has been a fellow at the highSCORE festival (Pavia, Italy) and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute (Princeton, New Jersey), and was selected as one of three U.S. composers to participate in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2017 National Composers Intensive. He has received commissions from the Walden School, Brianna Matzke, Thea Rossen, and Neutrals Duo, and his work has been performed by Eric Wubbels, Adam Sliwinski, Nathan Nabb, Patchwork Duo, Hajnal Pivnick, Quartetto Indaco, and many others. Large-scale collaborations include the world-touring work Spiral by choreographer/dancer Wanjiru Kamuyu, and Kalahari Waits, the debut album of indigenous experimental trio Khoi Khonnexion, produced during a year in South Africa on a Reese Miller scholarship from the Telluride Association.
Currently pursuing a D.M.A. in composition at Yale, he holds degrees from Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (M.M., Composition) and the University of Michigan (B.F.A., Jazz and Contemplative Studies), and has studied with Christopher Theofanidis, Geri Allen, Ellen Rowe, Stephen Rush, Miguel Roig-Francolí, and Michael Fiday. His work has received support from ArtsWave, People’s Liberty, and the Berea College Appalachian Sound Fellowship. He currently serves as a Teaching Fellow at Yale, and previously served on adjunct faculty at Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. This is his second summer teaching at Walden.
Nate Trier
Faculty & Academic Dean, Young Musicians Program
Nate Trier is a composer and producer, based just outside of New Haven, CT, who creates electronic music that features lyrical piano and accordion melodies over churning soundscapes of buzzing drones, fuzzy drums, and crackling static. He describes his music as “classical ambient beats;” others have described it as “quite engrossing” (KFFP) and “like looking into your soul” (Raighes Factory). His music has travelled worldwide: abstract visual artist Sergei Petrov used Trier’s music for installations in Zelenograd, Russia, and the 48th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany distributed a recording of Trier’s fixed-media piece, “Serial Parameter Shift,” to attendees. Trier has released several collections of electronic music, including singles, EP’s, and albums.
Nicholas Emerson
Staff & Assistant Technical Director, Young Musicians Program
Nicholas Emerson is a composer, producer, teacher, and guitarist, from Portland, OR and currently teaches at Reed College and Portland State University. He studied music production composition with Renée Favand-See at Portland State University and has a BS in Sonic Arts & Music Production. He is very active in the local classical music scene, helping to cultivate the incredible wealth of youth talent in the Pacific Northwest, and is involved with organizations including Fear No Music Young Composers Project, Youth Music Project, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Northwest Children’s Theater & School, and many others. He has experience composing chamber music, vocal music and recently premiered a concerto for guitar and orchestra with local guitarist David Tutmark and the Tillikum Chamber Orchestra.
Nina Kindrachuk
Staff, Young Musicians Program
Nina Kindrachuk is an indie-pop singer/songwriter based in Music City and graduated this past May, also in Nashville, Tennessee with a music business degree. Although she loved the honor of initially belonging to the School of Music as a vocal major, having an understanding of the business side of the music industry was equally important to honing her craft as a developing artist.
Nina was first introduced to the Walden School in the summer of 2015, as she dragged her feet in fear of a new dialect of music making (to her); composing. Having taken voice lessons since the fifth grade, she was very comfortable with performing in a commercial setting (pop, jazz, indie, classical) and learning vocal techniques. Before she knew it though, her eyes were opened to an entirely new perspective through the welcoming commentary in weekly composer’s forums, the zany Walden dances and camp traditions, and the overwhelming show of affection and open-mindedness from the entire Walden community.
Outside of attending Walden for two summers, she attended Brentwood, TN’s JAM Camp for one summer; collaborating in the jazz band as the frontwoman and singer in a separate vocal ensemble. In the summer of 2016, Nina attended Middle Tennessee State University’s Governor’s School for the Arts (GSFTA), learning classical voice and has been involved in the Tennessee All-state and Mid-state choirs since middle school. Her vocal coaches, Morgan Kasprowicz and Mark Thress, had an especially profound impact on her respect for vocal health and maximizing one’s vocal mechanics in a creative way. Furthermore, she has had an amazing time partaking in high school, college, and extracurricular a cappella groups (both SATB and SSAA).
Nina hopes to combine her experiences from all of the aforementioned schools and private vocal lessons to fuel her budding artist career through more consistent songwriting and an eventual EP release.
In her spare time, Nina can be found testing out new recipes for herself and her friends, listening to a funny or psychology-heavy podcast, or continuing to teach herself acoustic guitar. She does not recommend performing all of these activities at the same time.
Osnat Netzer
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Osnat Netzer /osˈnat ˈnɛtsɛʁ/ is a composer, performer and educator. Osnat creates her compositions collaboratively, tailoring her work to the performer’s sensibilities, physicality and improvisational inclinations. She takes inspiration from cognitive linguistics, and in dialogue with the embodied experience of physical forces, such as potential and kinetic energy, resulting in compositions that are rich in musical languages and connected to the fulsome pursuit for tension and relaxation.
Born in Haifa, Israel, Netzer studied composition and piano at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where her primary composition teacher was Menachem Zur. She came to the United States in 2003 for graduate studies in composition with Robert Cuckson at Mannes school of Music and continued her studies with Lee Hyla at New England Conservatory, where she earned her doctorate in 2011. In 2019, she joined the faculty of DePaul University as Assistant Professor of Composition and Musicianship.
Netzer’s works have been commissioned and performed by Ensemble Dal Niente, ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Patchwork, mezzo-soprano Lucy Dhegrae, bass David Salsbery Fry, saxophonists Kenneth Radnofsky, Doug O’Connor and Geoffrey Landman, Spektral Quartet, and Winsor Music, among many others, published by Edition Peters and earthsongs, and recorded on Bridge Records and New Focus Recordings.
As a pianist and performer, she regularly plays and conducts new music by fellow composers, as well as her own songs and compositions. Also a committed and passionate educator, Netzer teaches at The Walden School and has served on the faculties of New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music of Bard College and Harvard University.
Paul Zito
Creative Musicians Retreat staff
Paul was born in Mayfield Heights, Ohio and is going into his Junior year as a Music Education major at The College of Wooster. He plays the clarinet and has participated in Wooster’s marching band, symphonic band, musical pit, and premiered compositions of his peers as well as one of his own. As a singer, Paul has sung in the Wooster Chorus and was provided the opportunity to sing with Cleveland Orchestra Chorus during their Holiday Concerts the past two years, and in the Blossom Festival Chorus last summer. He has toured with both the Scot Symphonic Band and Wooster Chorus over the past two years during spring break, performing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana. In addition, he music directs two a cappella groups at Wooster and loves every opportunity he can get to be in front of a group and direct. When he’s not doing music, Paul enjoys playing video games, playing tennis, getting food with friends, and attending concerts. He is excited to work with so many new faces at Walden this summer!
Rachel Iba
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
A “versatile violinist,” (LA Times) – Rachel Iba is a Los Angeles-based violinist, performance artist, conductor and composer whose work investigates the absurdity in our personal and political relationships. She regularly works within a diverse range of musical styles, including classical, contemporary, jazz, folk, and cross-cultural traditions.
Rachel is featured on numerous film scores and studio recordings, including collaborations with Amanda Palmer, Russell Platt, and Vinny Golia. She has been featured on NPR with world-folk band Primero Sueño, and performs with a wide range of ensembles including Wild Up, Synchromy New Music Collective, Vitamin String Quartet, and is the concertmaster of Bridge to Everywhere. She is also an accomplished baroque violinist, and has played with Jeannette Sorrell and members of Apollo’s Fire.
Rachel is passionate about using art as a way to examine larger systemic imbalances. In her original work, she integrates music, standup comedy and clownwork to explore intersectional feminism, environmentalism, classism, and performance psychology. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT, and numerous other venues within the US and abroad.
As an educator, Rachel is the Artistic Director of the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra. She has lectured extensively in music history and has appeared as an instructor and guest lecturer with organizations including California Institute of the Arts, Mount St. Mary’s University, Ventura College, Longy School of Music, and is on the faculty of Kinhaven Music School. She is also a regular pre-concert lecturer for the LA Philharmonic.
She holds degrees from California Institute of the Arts and Oberlin Conservatory.
Outside of performing, she is a lover of interior design, cooking, hiking, and her cats “Pizza Hut” & “Taco Bell.”
Rebekah Griffin Greene
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Dr. Rebekah Griffin Greene is an award-winning bassist, composer, pianist, cellist, poet, and singer who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in bass performance, composition, and music education from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, as well as a doctorate in bass performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
After recovering from a serious wrist injury and winning the Alice Nelson Music Competition in 1995 on the bass, she orchestrated her own bass and piano piece for the San Luis Obispo Symphony, launching her career as a composer and bass soloist. Now active in New York City as a freelance jazz, solo, chamber, Broadway and orchestral musician, she has performed her own works, as well as traditional recital repertoire, in such places as Hong Kong, Quebec, New York City, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Chicago. Her chamber pieces have been performed by ensembles on four continents, and her Atlantis Revelation soundtrack has had hundreds of thousands of internet radio plays since 2012.
Her composition teachers include Morten Lauridsen and Frank Ticheli, and her bass teachers include Paul Ellison, Joseph Carver and Kurt Muroki. Having taught classroom music in both Los Angeles Unified and New York City Schools, she is currently teaching private and group bass at the Lucy Moses School, Bloomingdale School of Music, and the Thurnauer Music School, where she is also the Head of Theory and Ear Training. She lives in Queens, New York City, with her trombonist husband, Dr. Terry Greene II, her son, Kayden, daughter Phoenix, and many instruments. Please visit YouTube to see some of Rebekah’s compositions and performances.
Renée Favand-See
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Renée Favand-See is a composer and soprano living in Portland, Oregon. Her works explore the music of words, natural and made environments, emotions and spiritual questions. These investigations yield vocal music of all stripes, Musique Concrète-esque electronic pieces, and lyrically driven instrumental music cultivating relationships that unfold in the spaces between voices.
In January, 2021 Trio Triumphatrix and Voices of Ascension premiered Renée’s works First Flight and We Need Earth for their production Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space. Recent projects include: Solitude for soprano Arwen Myers; Ten full moons for Northwest Art Song; Wie der Katz mit der Maus for fEARnoMUSIC; Growing for Portland Piano International; as well as a recording project of her work Only in falling with Resonance Ensemble. Among her commissions are works for Voices of Ascension, Resonance Ensemble, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Lucy Shelton and Eighth Blackbird, Sequitur, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, American Opera Projects, Wet Ink Ensemble, Outer Voices Festival, and cellist Ha-Yang Kim. Other groups who have performed her music include The Julians; Friends of Rain; Electrogals; Del Sol String Quartet; Peabody Trio; and many singers, including Hai-Ting Chinn, Jesse Blumberg, Blythe Gaissert, Hannah Penn, Anna Haagenson, Alissa Rose, Jennifer Aylmer, Kristin Norderval, and William Ferguson.
Renée has written chamber, orchestral, choral and electronic pieces, as well as music for video and dance, including collaborations with Ten Tiny Dances in Portland, TRIP Dance Theatre in Los Angeles, Group Motion in Philadelphia and video artist Christine Sciulli in New York City. Renée has also ventured into theater, with long-time friend and collaborator, Hai-Ting Chinn, with Science Fair, a staged vocal recital produced by HERE Arts Center in New York City.
Her honors include a grant from the American Music Center for her oratorio Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes., a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Bearns Prize from Columbia University.
She holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in composition from the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, respectively. Her earliest compositional studies began at age twelve at The Walden School, a summer program for young musicians in Dublin, New Hampshire.
Renée currently teaches music composition and theory at Portland State University and Creative Musicians Retreat in New England.
Ross Karre
Technical Director, Young Musicians Program
Ross Karre (he/him b. 1983 in Michigan) is a percussionist, filmmaker, and producer based in Oberlin, OH and New York City. He is the associate professor of percussion at Oberlin Conservatory. After completing his Doctorate in Music at UCSD with Steven Schick, Ross formalized his visual studies with a Master of Fine Arts. He is a percussionist for the International Contemporary Ensemble where he was artistic director from 2016 to 2022. He has performed regularly with red fish blue fish, Third Coast Percussion (Chicago), and Yarn/Wire (NYC). He has performed at major festivals all over the world, including the Mostly Mozart Festival (NYC), the Holland Festival (Netherlands), Ojai Festival (CA), LA Phil Noon to Midnight, Lucerne Festival, Taipei International Percussion Festival, Big Ears (TN), MONA FOMA (Tasmania), Diskotek (Greenland), and Music Today Biennial (Brazil). 10.67 Cycles, Karre’s solo album featuring the music of Ash Fure and Pauline Oliveros, is available on Bandcamp. His video design work has been presented all over the world in prestigious venues such as the Kulturkirche Liebfrauen Duisburg, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, BBC Scotland, Western Front, MCA Chicago, the Park Avenue Armory, the Kennedy Center, The Kitchen, Roulette Intermedium, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, and the National Gallery of Art. Karre’s archival documentary and documentation work preserves unique moments in the creative processes of Claire Chase, Pauline Oliveros, Steven Schick, Matthias Kaul, Fritz Hauser, and creative collaborations of Third Coast Percussion, Yarn/Wire, ICEensemble, Mount Tremper Arts, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Oberlin Percussion Group.
Sam Pluta
Faculty, Creative Musicians Retreat
Sam Pluta is a Baltimore-based composer, laptop improviser, electronics performer, and sound artist. Though his work has a wide breadth, his central focus is on using the laptop as a performance instrument capable of sharing the stage with groups ranging from new music ensembles to world-class improvisers. By creating unique interactions of electronics, instruments, and sonic spaces, Pluta’s vibrant musical universe fuses the traditionally separate sound worlds of acoustic instruments and electronics, creating sonic spaces which envelop the audience and resulting in a music focused on visceral interaction of instrumental performers with reactive computerized sound worlds.
As a composer of instrumental music, Sam has written works for Wet Ink Ensemble, the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Yarn/Wire, Spektral Quartet, and many other groups. His compositions range from solo instrumental works to pieces for ensemble with electronics to compositions for large ensemble and orchestra.
Sam is the Technical Director for the Wet Ink Ensemble, a group for whom he is a member composer as well as principal electronics performer. As a performer of chamber music with Wet Ink and other groups, in addition to his own works, Sam has performed and premiered works by Peter Ablinger, Katharina Rosenberger, George Lewis, Alvin Lucier, Chiyoko Szlavnics, Alex Mincek, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels among others.
As an improviser, Sam has collaborated with some of the finest creative musicians in the world, including Peter Evans, Evan Parker, Ikue Mori, Craig Taborn, Ingrid Laubrock, Anne La Berge, and George Lewis. With these various groups he has toured Europe and America and performed at major festivals and venues, such as the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, the Moers and Donaueshingen Festivals in Germany, Bimhuis in Amsterdam, and The Vortex in London.
Dr. Pluta studied composition and electronic music at Columbia University, where he received his DMA in 2012. He is Associate Professor of Computer Music and Music Engineering Technology at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he directs the Peabody Computer Music Studios. From 2011-15 he directed the Electronic Music Studio at Manhattan School of Music and from 2015-2020 he directed the CHIME Studio at the University of Chicago. Sam has been on Walden School faculty since 2001.
Sammi Stone
Director of Operations
Sammi Jo Stone is an oboist and saxophonist from Baker City in rural northeastern Oregon. She holds degrees in music from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and the University of California San Diego.
Sammi is passionate about learning and teaching music, going on hikes, and knowing which birds are which.
Samuel Lord Kalcheim
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Samuel Lord Kalcheim (he/him) composes in a variety of styles, old and new, and is dedicated to writing music both emotionally and intellectually satisfying, balancing tender lyricism with tight and complex formal architecture. Building on an expertise in 18th and 19th c. styles and forms, Samuel writes expressive new music for today’s sensibilities. Samuel’s past collaborations include works for soprano Estelí Gomez, the Delgani String Quartet, University of Oregon’s Musicking Conference and the Elsewhere Ensemble. Two more recent works, a solo cello work for Spanish cellist Juan Aguilera Cerezo, and a song cycle based around his own translations of Ancient Greek texts for NYC-based non-binary tenor Kristyn Michele—this project being part of a larger goal to expand the vocal repertoire in creating works for non-traditional voices—were presented on March 3rd at a New York City debut concert, Ancient Wisdom, Emerging Voices: New Music by Samuel Lord Kalcheim, at the Tenri Cultural Institute. This sold-out concert out was given a glowing review in New York Concert Review. An avid proponent of the music of our time, Samuel supports the work of his colleagues as conductor, performer, impresario and teacher. He has taught theory and musicianship courses at the college level for five years, and now teaches composition and theory privately, having developed his own approach based on keyboard harmony and score study.
Sarah Riskind
Choral Director, Young Musicians Program
Sarah Riskind is the Director of Choral Activities/Assistant Professor of Music at Eureka College in central Illinois, where she conducts choral and instrumental ensembles and teaches composition, musicianship, and music appreciation courses. In her nine summers at Walden, she has shared her specialties in choral composition and improvisation, arrangements of Judeo-Spanish melodies, and Renaissance polyphony.
Among her original works are Jewish and Judeo-Christian music, secular pieces with improvisatory elements, and frequent settings with string obbligato parts. In February 2020, her Psalm of the Sky for tenor-bass choir, violin, and piano was premiered by St. Xavier High School’s Ensemble X as part of the Creative Commissions Project through the University of Cincinnati. Other 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. Several of her works are featured in the Project Encore catalogue of contemporary choral music.
Sarah sings soprano and accompanies voices as a violinist/fiddler and improviser. 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.
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director & Director, Young Musicians Program
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director, has been associated with The Walden School for more than 30 years. He was fortunate to be a student at Walden for six magical summers (1985-1990), and since 1994, has served the School as a staff member, faculty member, Director of Operations, and as the Associate Director from 1996 to 2003, when he became the School’s Executive Director. Since 1995, he has sung tenor with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and is currently a professional member of that ensemble.
Seth has served as the co-clerk of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Friends School, and in the past, he has served on the boards of The Walden School, Swarthmore College, and Earplay, a San Francisco-based new music ensemble. Seth received his B.A., with degrees in Music and Political Science, from Swarthmore College, where he served as President of the College’s Alumni Association. He received an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, with a focus in non-profit management and marketing; he has also served on the Haas School’s Development Council. He is a 2012 graduate of Leadership San Francisco, where he serves as an alumni advisor.
Prior to becoming Walden’s first full-time Executive Director, Seth worked part-time for Walden during the year and held positions as a senior consultant at Deloitte Consulting, in marketing and public relations at the San Francisco Symphony, and led both the marketing and the enterprise sales teams for an internet software company, now part of Adobe. When not at Walden, Seth lives in San Francisco with his husband, Malcolm Gaines, and their daughter, Cora.
Ted Moore
Technical Director, Creative Musicians Retreat
Ted Moore (he / him) is a composer, improviser, and intermedia artist whose work fuses sonic, visual, physical, and acoustic elements, often incorporating technology to create immersive, multidimensional experiences.
After completing a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Chicago, Ted served as a postdoctoral Research Fellow in Creative Coding at the University of Huddersfield as part of the FluComa project, where he investigated the creative potential of machine learning algorithms and taught workshops on how artists can use machine learning in their creative music practice. Ted has continued offering workshops around the world on machine learning and creativity including at the University of Pennsylvania, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, and Music Hackspace in London.
Ted’s music has been presented by leading cultural institutions such as MassMoCA, South by Southwest, The Walker Art Center, and National Sawdust and presented by ensembles such as Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, the [Switch~ Ensemble], and the JACK Quartet. Ted has held artist residences with the Phonos Foundation in Barcelona, the Arts, Sciences, & Culture Initiative at the University of Chicago, and the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam. His sound art installations combine DIY electronics, embedded technologies, and spatial sound have been featured around the world including at the American Academy in Rome and New York University.
Computational thinking and digital tools enrich all aspects of Ted’s work, which has been described as “an impressive achievement both artistically and technically” (VitaMN). Creative coding spans the aural, visual, and procedural aspects of his practice revealing musicality in data and computation. Using tools such as SuperCollider, Max, C++, openFrameworks, Python, and computer vision and machine learning algorithms, Ted codes custom software for generative composition and live performance that intimately connect gesture and form across various media.
Ranging from concert stages to dirty basements, Ted is a frequent improviser on electronics and has appeared with dozens of instrumental collaborators including on releases for Carrier Records, Mother Brain Records, Noise Pelican Records, and Avid Sound Records. Described as “frankly unsafe” by icareifyoulisten.com, performances on his custom, large-scale software instrument for live sound processing and synthesis, enables an improvisational voice rooted in free jazz, noise music, and musique concrète.
Ted currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut, but might also be found hiking in West Rock State Park or on the side of a mountain in Summit County Colorado.
Terry L. Greene II
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
New York native Dr. Terry L. Greene II is a trombonist, improviser, drummer, arranger, composer, educator and poet. Terry received his Doctorate in Musical Arts from Stony Brook University in 2008, studying under trombonists Ray Anderson and Michael Powell, as well as outside of school studies with trombonists Steve Turre and Vincent Gardener.
He has since then performed with The Roots, Tony Allen, Amp Fidler, Macy Grey, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Elliot Sharp, Mark Helias, Ray Anderson, Charlie Persip, Rufus Reid, Steve Turre, Kim Burrell, Kirk Franklin, Israel Houghton, and several other notable creative artists.
You can hear Terry as a trombonist on Oliver Lake’s latest big band album titled “Wheels,” Elliot Sharp’s 2016 Aggregat album called “Dilectrical,” an NPR filming of David Murray’s Cuban Ensemble, and “congahead.com” performances with Chia’s Dance Party at LP founder Martin Cohen’s home. He plays with the Astoria Symphony, and played funk and gospel with the Christian Cultural Center Band. Terry has additional experience playing other musical genres including new music, hard rock, free improvisation, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Colombian music.
As a composer, he has collaborated and performed his own music and poetry with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and Splinter Reeds woodwind quintet in conjunction with faculty commissions from the Walden School Young Musicians Program in Dublin, New Hampshire. Terry has also written and arranged for the Christian Cultural Center Band and his own small jazz ensembles on several freelance projects. His pieces have been performed in New York City, Carmel Valley, California, and New Hampshire.
In addition to his versatile performance abilities, Terry also teaches students of all ages and economic backgrounds. Most notably would be his work with The Walden School Young Musicians Program as a faculty member, composition forum moderator, band leader, jazz and free improvisation instructor, coach for singer/songwriters, choral singer, and creative musical contributor on trombone and drums.
Some of his other adventures include teaching theory and performance ensembles at Frank Sinatra High School of the Arts, teaching jazz history and performance at Stony Brook University, teaching musical instruments and poetry/hip hop to children in the South Bronx and Far Rockaway for the Thrive Collective, and teaching general music to students at Clara Barton High school in Brooklyn. Terry also led improvisation workshops as an educational facilitator for The Coltrane Home, which is the organization that preserves the home of John and Alice Coltrane.
Terry is passionate about being an artist who is a husband and father in New York City, and lives in Queens with his equally accomplished wife, Rebekah Griffin Greene, their son Kayden and daughter Phoenix.
Theo Trevisan
Faculty, Young Musicians Program
Theo Trevisan (b. 1999) is a composer and bass-baritone based in Los Angeles from New Jersey. His compositions have many influences, including the Renaissance, algorithms, minimalism, and memes, and he primarily draws from 20th-21st century repertoire for voice.
As a child, Theo sang with the American Boychoir School, performing in over 30 states and South Korea with world-class conductors and ensembles. Theo attended Princeton University for his undergraduate studies, majoring in composition and minoring in computer science and consort singing. He studied composition with Jeff Snyder, Dan Trueman, Dmitri Tymozcko, and Donnacha Dennehy; voice with Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek; and conducting with Gabriel Crouch. He is currently pursuing his Masters in composition at USC Thornton, where he studies with Ted Hearne.
Theo’s music has been performed by a wide variety of ensembles and collaborators, including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, Antioch Chamber Ensemble, the Walden School Players, Harmonium Choral Society, Princeton University Glee Club and Chamber Choir, Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk), DJ Sparr, David Friend, Matthew Gold, and Soo Yeon Lyuh. He has sung with the USC Chamber Singers, the choir of St. James in the City LA, Gallicantus, the Princeton Glee Club and Chamber Choir, and the Princeton Katzenjammers (mixed voice acapella group). He also has contributed to software development for Dan Trueman’s bitKlavier app and Jeff Snyder’s Vocodec instrument.
Theo’s other interests include bad puns, obscure history, vegetarian cooking, skiing, and strategy games. Theo has been a part of the Walden community for many years: he attended the Young Musicians Program from 2014-2017, the Creative Musicians Retreat from 2019-2021, and he worked on staff at the Young Musicians Program from 2019-2022. He is thrilled to be on faculty this summer! Learn more at theotrevisan.com
William Hawkins
Staff & Assistant Director of Operations, Young Musicians Program
William Hawkins (b. 1997) is a composer, violist, dancer, and visual artist with a BA in Music from Brown University. While in college, he found musical inspiration in problem-solving complex mechanisms of the physical world gained from engineering and science courses. Now he finds inspiration in space exploration and our relationship with nature.
“What is particularly special about Walden is that it doesn’t just teach music. The people at Walden teach each other how to build and care for creative communities full of diverse perspectives. We just happen to do this through music. As a former student and current faculty member it is a privilege to be a part of this community, but it is not something that everyone gets to experience. The power of such a community is special and something worth creating in every part of our lives and sharing with the people around us.”
– Alex Christie, Walden faculty
Past Faculty and Staff
Adam Albrecht
Ben Aldridge
Jim Altieri
Leah Asher
Katherine Balch
Erica Ball
Anne Deane Berman
Meade Bernard
Whit Bernard
Madeline Bersamina
Christianne Bessières Lane
Marshall Bessières
Megan Grace Beugger
Tamar Bloch
Andrew Bobker
Amy Bolaños
June Bonacich
Ethan Borshansky
Cynthia Brackbill Harkum
Sara Brown
Tom Brustman
Liz Bucko
Ann Callaway
Thomas Carr
Nansi Carroll
Alan Chan
Joshua Clampitt
Mitchell Clark
Jeffrey Cohen
Tom Colohan
Sarah Cornog
Stephen Coxe
Robert Crites
Shawn Crouch
Trevor Danko
Derek David
Charlie Dees
Carol Thomas Downing
Amy Dinsmore
David Drucker
Anouk Erni
Paul Ettlinger
Bradley Evans
Hali Fieldman
Stacy Garrop
Michael Gilberston
Ann Goehe
Demmanuel Gonzalez
Maddy Greenfield
Kathryn Grisbacher
Susan Hahs
Steven Hankle
Dawn Denham Haynes
George Halsell
Jason Haney
Jeffrey Hebden
Lynn Taylor Hebden
Thomas Hecht
Erika Homann
Joyce Jopkins
Brooke Joyce
Rachel Israel
Bonnie Jacobowitz
Nancy Tsuyuki Jerome
Dana Jessen
Beatrice Jindra
Michael Johanson
Ben Kamen
Laura Keeler
Alysoun Kegel
William Kelly
Seth Knopp
Elyse Kolodin
Josie Kovash
Thomas Kraines
Kary Kramer
Leland Kusmer
Gabriel Kyne
Marguerite Ladd
Esther Landau
Damon Lee
Teresa LeVelle
Wesley Levers
Amy Logsdon
Lois London
Tom Lopez
Amelia Lukas
Christopher Luna-Mega
Virginia Luna-Mega
Sky Macklay
Tony Makarome
Emil Margolis
Ted Masur
Jed McGiffin
Rob McLean
Laura Mehiel
Jenna Melissas
Sally Mitchell
Jonathan Miller
Noah Mlotek
Ted Moore
Gary Monheit
Ian Munro
Pedja Muzijevic
Paul Nauert
Aurora Nealand
Georgann Nedwell
Alex Ness
Elliot Nguyen
Tierney O’Brien
Francois Oeshkin
Nnenna Ogwo
Denise Ondishko
Jefferson Packer
Robert Paterson
Susanna Payne-Passmore
Molly Pindell
Patricia Plude
Carol Prochazka
Erin Quist
Pamela Layman Quist
Judith Pannill Raiford
Ruth Rainero
Brendon Randall-Myers
Nirvan Ranganathan
Lance Reddick
Brian Rogan
Montana Rogers
Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie
Julia Swift Saul
Danielle Schindler Cheung
Robin Seto
Daniel Shaud
Noelle Shipman
Moshe Shulman
Hamilton Sims
Bill Stevens
Garth Sunderland
Zoltan Szabo
Dan Temkin
Andrew Thams
Peter Thompson
Jennifer Turner
Becca Van Kirk
Leo Wanenchak
Evan Williams
Cody Wright
Marie Claire Whiteford
John Yankee