A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in San Francisco
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in San Francisco
Walden held a fabulous end-of-season celebration and fundraiser on Sunday, September 28, in the dazzling Green Room at San Francisco’s War Memorial. We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our event donors, who contributed $16,910 to Walden!
We enjoyed a dynamic, thoughtfully curated recital by Pedja Mužijević, a renowned pianist and former Walden School faculty member, who shared selections ranging from C.P.E. Bach and Robert Schumann to John Cage and Philip Glass, as well as a composition written this past summer by Sebastien Nothias, a student at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP).
Above left: Charles Cecil, David Conte, and Juli Anna Johnson; right: Stephen Smith with the youngest event attendees
We are grateful to David Conte, a past Composer-in-Residence at Walden, and Corty Fengler, a former Walden Board member, who spoke movingly about Walden’s life-changing creative music programs and expressed gratitude to the many donors who help our organization thrive. Thanks also to Walden Board member Stephen Smith and Cultivar Wine for arranging a generous donation of wine for the event.
This recap was originally published as part of the October 2025 InterNetzo.
eNews: Internetzo – October 2025
Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Happy Halloween!
Fall is here, and our 2025 season officially came to an end on September 30 with the close of Walden’s fiscal year. We are so grateful to the more than 400 individuals, families, foundations, and corporations who collectively contributed more than $428,800 to Walden’s 2025 Annual Fund!
Thanks to your generosity, we met and exceeded our 2025 Annual Fund goal of $410,000. The Annual Fund is Walden’s lifeblood, supporting innovative pedagogy, inspiring artist residencies, and critical scholarships that broaden access to our programs, year after year.
Thank you, donors, for your incredible support!
In this edition of InterNetzo, you’ll find highlights from Halloween in July at Walden, an invitation to a special Walden reception in New York City on November 16, opportunities for composers, and lots more news and updates from around the Walden community.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a spooky Halloween!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(603) 563-8212
Happy Halloween . . . in October!
One of our newer traditions at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) is Halloween in July—a spooktacular day featuring a DIY haunted house with various creepy, fun, and music-nerdy rooms in which students can go trick-or-treating. These photos show some highlights from Halloween in July at Walden this past summer.
Haunted attractions included: The Room of Sounds Disorganized in Time, the Room of Endless Ads, the Room of Accelerated Time, the Room of Synchronized Luminance, the Eldritch Horrors Jazz Club, and the Sad Clown Bear’s Haunted Forest.
Read more about the origins of this tradition from Kittie Cooper, a YMP faculty member and the originator of Halloween in July. And have a happy Halloween in October!
Upcoming Community Events
Join us on Sunday, November 16, for the New York Philharmonic premiere of a new work by Caroline Mallonee!
Composer Caroline Mallonee is a Walden School alum, faculty member, and the director of Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat. Her orchestral work Lakeside Game will be premiered by the New York Philharmonic in a series of concerts this November 13 through 16 at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center.
The composition was co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic as part of Project 19, and it will be performed alongside works by Stravinsky and Wynton Marsalis.
A group of Walden alumni, staff, board members, families, and friends will be attending the New York Philharmonic concert on Sunday, November 16, at 2 pm. Walden has organized a group ticket purchase for the performance. If you would like to purchase discounted tickets through Walden, please let us know as soon as possible, as the order is close to being finalized.
After the concert, we’ll gather for an informal reception at a restaurant near Lincoln Center. You do not need to attend the concert to join us for the reception. If you have not yet been in touch, please let us know if you are planning to attend the reception, which will start at approximately 4:30 pm on Sunday, November 16.
RSVP for the November 16 Concert / Reception
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. If you are interested in hosting a party in your area, or if you want to learn more about these upcoming gatherings, please write to us. We are so grateful to the many volunteers who have hosted Walden holiday parties over the years.
Volunteer to Host a Walden Holiday Party
Fundraising Events
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in San Francisco
Walden held a fabulous end-of-season celebration and fundraiser on Sunday, September 28, in the dazzling Green Room at San Francisco’s War Memorial. We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our event donors, who contributed $16,910 to Walden!
We enjoyed a dynamic, thoughtfully curated recital by Pedja Mužijević, a renowned pianist and former Walden School faculty member, who shared selections ranging from C.P.E. Bach and Robert Schumann to John Cage and Philip Glass, as well as a composition written this past summer by Sebastien Nothias, a student at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP).
Above left: Charles Cecil, David Conte, and Juli Anna Johnson; right: Stephen Smith with the youngest event attendees
We are grateful to David Conte, a past Composer-in-Residence at Walden, and Corty Fengler, a former Walden Board member, who spoke movingly about Walden’s life-changing creative music programs and expressed gratitude to the many donors who help our organization thrive. Thanks also to Walden Board member Stephen Smith and Cultivar Wine for arranging a generous donation of wine for the event.
Thank you to our host committee: Erika and Andrew Bell, Seth Brenzel and Malcolm Gaines, David Conte, Corty Fengler, Juli Anna Johnson and Charles Cecil, Noah Mlotek, Stephen Smith, Mary Szczepanik and Matt Agard.
Save the Date – Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Los Angeles!
We are thrilled to be coming to Los Angeles for a fundraiser and celebration in the evening on Saturday, March 14, 2026. Please save the date and plan to join us!
Support Walden Today
Staff Transition
We recently bade farewell to Ellie Murphy-Weise, who worked at Walden for one year as our stalwart Development Assistant. While we were sad to see her go, we are grateful for Ellie’s many contributions to Walden and excited for her next steps.
Ellie shared the following update:
I’m a month in to postgraduate studies in opera musicology at King’s College London and very much enjoying being in school within a stone’s throw of both of London’s opera houses! I’m taking the music research methods class and modules in 19th century sound objects and Latin American musical subcultures. I’ve also gotten to see a few productions at English National Opera and Welsh National Opera, and am visiting Oxford for its annual lieder festival this weekend. Sending all my love to the Walden community!
Walden is hiring for a Part-Time Development Assistant to join our dynamic, fun, and collegial San Francisco-based administrative team. The Development Assistant will play a crucial role in supporting and enhancing Walden’s fundraising efforts. This position offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to Walden’s growth and sustainability while gaining valuable experience in the field of nonprofit development.
Please help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity! View the full job description here.
Please direct any questions and inquiries to us at jobs@waldenschool.org.
Opportunities for Composers
Did you know that Walden hosts a continually updated webpage of competitions, awards, and calls for scores? Please let us know of additional opportunities that may be of interest to the Walden community.
Here are featured opportunities with upcoming deadlines:
RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition
The RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition, at Illinois State University, is an annual competition open to all composers, regardless of age or nationality. The composer of the winning piece in each category receives a $1,000 prize and a performance at the RED NOTE New Music Festival. In 2026, composers are invited to submit works for chamber ensemble (any combination of 1-16 vocalists or instrumentalist) or wind ensemble (minimum 8 players). Apply by November 1.
Capella Clausura Emerging Composers Commission Competition
Cappella Clausura seeks applications from emerging composers in the greater Boston area who identify as women, transgender, or gender nonbinary. To apply, submit 2-3 work samples and a proposal for a new 3-6 minute work for a capella chorus (any subset of twelve singers, 3xSATB). Winners will receive a $300 honorarium and a professional-grade performance of their piece. Winners can expect to be involved in the planning and rehearsal process for the performances. Apply by November 9.
BMI Foundation Awards
Emerging composers are invited to apply for BMI Foundation Awards, including the BMI Composers Award (classical composers under 28 years old), BMI Future Jazz Master Award (jazz composers and performers ages 17-24), Chris Trousdale Dream Awards (performers and songwriters in 11th and 12th grade), peermusic Latin Music Award (for songwriters and composers of Latin music ages 17-24), John Lennon Award (songwriters and composers ages 17-24), Dolly Parton Songwriters Award (emerging songwriters ages 17-24), Kavi Ohri Memorial Scholarship (for seniors in high school in one of the five boroughs of New York City planning to attend college majoring in music or music business), and Pete Carpenter Fellowships (aspiring film, television, and video game composers ages 21 and above). Apply by January 15.
Community News
Luna Lab Announces 2025-26 Fellows
Luna Composition Lab provides mentorship, education, and resources for young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers ages 13-18, including fellowships through which recipients work with an acclaimed composer mentor and compose a new work for a professional premiere. This year’s Luna Lab Fellows have been announced, including Walden Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumni Andromeda Wen (2025-26 Fellow; pictured at left) and Amelie Wright (Honorable Mention). Walden extends heartfelt congratulations to Andromeda, Amelie, and all of the young composers honored by the Luna Lab Fellowship!
In further news from Walden alumni at Luna Lab, Danity Pike, a YMP alum and a 2024-25 Luna Lab Fellow, is the recipient of the 2025 G. Schirmer Prize for Luna Composition Lab for her piece just like the dolls, which was premiered in June by International Contemporary Ensemble.
Luna Lab will also present a virtual master class with violinist, vocalist, and composer Mazz Swift, a past Walden visiting artist, on Monday, November 17.
Leah Reid Receives Barlow Prize 
YMP alum Leah Reid is one of ten composers to win a 2025 Barlow Endowment Commission, granted by the Barlow Endowment of Brigham Young University. Leah’s commissioned work is for Grossman Ensemble, ensemble-in-residence of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition. Congratulations to Leah!
Past recipients of Barlow Endowment Commissions have included Walden alumni Stacy Garrop and Sky Macklay, Walden faculty members Katherine Balch and Sam Pluta, and past Walden Composers-in-Residence Amy Beth Kirsten, Chen Yi, and James Mobberley, who is also a past Walden Board member.
Elise Grant's Music Performed by Hilary Kole
Composer and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alum Elise Grant, a resident of Dublin, New Hampshire—Walden’s summer home—recently presented a pair of concerts featuring her own compositions. The program included Monadnock, a dramatic setting for voice and piano of a poem by the Rev. William Boum Oliver Peabody about the iconic mountain that overlooks Dublin. The work was first performed at a 2024 CMR Composers Forum by Hilary Kole (pictured at left), a Walden alum and faculty member, and Hilary returned to Dublin to reprise it for this occasion.
Nicolás Benavides releases debut album 
Nicolás Lell Benavides, a CMR and Teacher Training Institute (TTI) alum, released his debut album, Canto Caló, on October 10. The album includes two extended works honoring the composer’s New Mexico family heritage, Canto Caló and El Correcaminos. The album’s performers are mezzo-soprano Melinda Martinez Becker (a fellow TTI alum) and Friction Quartet, which was in residence at Walden for the 2024 Faculty Commissioning Project at YMP.
In August, Benavides’ opera Dolores, set during the 1968 grape pickers’ strike in California, was premiered by West Edge Opera in San Francisco. The opera’s titular character is Dolores Huerta, an important labor advocate. Huerta, who is 95 years old, attended the opera’s premiere. The opera is receiving further performances by Opera Southwest in Alburquerque, New Mexico. In celebration, Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller declared October 26 as Nicolás Lell Benavides Day. Congratulations, Nicolás!
Ear Taxi Festival features Walden artists
Ear Taxi Festival, running from October 3 through November 2, is a month-long festival of contemporary composition, presenting concerts, presentations, professional development events, and more at venues across Chicago and in Evanston, Illinois. Just a few of the Walden visiting artists, alumni, and faculty featured this month at Ear Taxi include Kyle Flens and Mabel Kwan with Ensemble Dal Niente, Kate Soper, Stacy Garrop, Marcos Balter, and Osnat Netzer!
Shawn Crouch wins American Prize for Opera
YMP alum and former Walden faculty member Shawn Crouch has won a 2025 American Prize in Composition— Thomas Putsché Award, for his opera Stained Glass. Congratulations to Shawn! Also this month on October 4, Shawn conducted Ensemble Ibis at the University of Miami on a program including music by past YMP faculty member Daniel Felsenfeld and by Marcos Balter, who has been Composer-in-Residence at both of Walden’s programs.
Zoe Yost performs Bartók Viola Concerto
In September’s InterNetzo, we shared the news that violist Zoe Yost, a CMR alum, won the 2025 concerto competition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), where she studies viola and composition. On October 3, she performed Bela Bartók’s Viola Concerto as part of the Concerto Competition Winners Concert with the SFCM Orchestra, conducted by Kedrick Armstrong, Music Director of the Oakland Symphony. Among the attendees were fellow CMR alumni Sina Karachiani and Stephen Woltosz, along with Noah Mlotek, Walden’s Director of Development and Alumni Relations, who reports that Zoe delivered a stunning performance. Congratulations, Zoe!
Zoe Fong celebrates wedding
YMP alum Zoe Fong married her husband, Tanner McNamara, on September 6, at Harding Waterfront Estate near Toronto, Ontario, where the couple lives. At the wedding, Joshua Fath (known to the Walden community as Joshua Clampitt), a fellow YMP alum, arranged and performed music specially chosen by Zoe, including Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt for the wedding party processional, The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns for the bridal processional, and Married Life by Michael Giacchino for the recessional. Zoe was also in attendance at Joshua’s wedding to Caleb Fath in 2023. Zoe writes, “Celebrating each other’s milestones, such as his wedding in 2023 and my recent wedding, after growing up and going through so much together, was very special! We’re grateful to Walden for being such an important part of our lives, both musically and emotionally, and for strengthening our friendship.” Congratulations, Zoe!
Pictured above: Zoe Fong and Joshua Fath (photo courtesy of Zoe Fong)
Walden artists featured on Talea Ensemble programs
Talea Ensemble, a New York City-based contemporary music group, is presenting a series called Talea Sequenze, a set of concerts that feature Talea musicians curating and performing programs inspired by Luciano Berio’s Sequenzas. As part of the series, on October 28, pianist Steve Beck (a past Walden visiting artist) performed the world premiere of Novella, a new work by Walden alum and faculty member Loretta Notareschi, alongside several works by Berio.
On November 21, Talea will perform Born Obbligato by George Lewis, a past Composer-in-Residence at both of Walden’s programs, alongside Pierre Boulez’s Dérive II.
Pictured above: Loretta Notareschi
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have a recent or upcoming premiere or concert, publication, award, new job, or a celebratory life event, please share your news, which needn’t be music-related (although we love your music-related news to be sure!). 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. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
Summer Fundraising Event
Summer Fundraising Events
July 28: Walden Giving Day
On the first day of Festival Week at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP), we shared live updates with Walden friends and supporters near and far as part of a one-day online fundraiser. Videos included classes and choral rehearsals, interviews with students and members of The Walden School Players, a rehearsal of a student composition, and our first 2025 Festival Week Composers Forum.
The video updates will remain available on our YouTube channel as well as Instagram and Facebook. Make sure to follow Walden on social media to keep up with all the latest news from Walden. Below, we share a bonus video with previously unreleased footage from Giving Day, chronicling the journey of YMP student Henry’s composition from rehearsal to premiere!
Our Giving Day goal was to raise $5,300 in honor of Walden’s 53rd summer. With your support, we raised $11,650, including $2,000 in matching funds that were unlocked by your generosity. Thank you to the more than 50 individuals and households who supported Walden on Giving Day, and a special thanks to those who made contributions in honor or memory of others.
August 2, A Celebration and Fundraiser in New Hampshire
Thank you to all who joined us for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Dublin and Harrisville, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 2!
In Dublin School’s Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall, we enjoyed a beautiful performance by flutist Laura Cocks and violinist Erica Dicker, two longstanding members of The Walden School Players. The celebration continued with a beautiful indoor/outdoor reception in nearby Harrisville, New Hampshire, where Ellen and Ed Bernard opened up their barn, and guests enjoyed delicious bites and drinks. Thank you, Ellen and Ed!
Robin Kenney, a former member of Walden’s Board of Directors, spoke about the transformative power of Walden’s creative music education programs. Watch some highlights in the video below:
We are so grateful to our host committee and to all of our event donors for their generosity. With your help, we raised a total of $18,450. Thank you!
Support Walden Today
Thank you to our New Hampshire event host committee: Ellen and Ed Bernard, David Bivins and Kristen Davis, Seth Brenzel and Malcolm Gaines, Leah Kenney Butler and Anthony Butler, Jamie Hamilton, Anne and Thom Haxo, Teresa and Peter Imhoff, Robin and Leslie Kenney, Fred and Jean Leventhal, Anna Lumelsky and Joshua Goodman, Noah Mlotek, Nancy Nickerson and Steve Frietch, and Sarah Kirkland Snider and Steven Mackey
This recap was originally published as part of the September 2025 InterNetzo.
Reflections on the 2025 Creative Musicians Retreat
Reflections on the 2025 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR)
From Caroline Mallonee, Director of CMR
The 2025 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) was a blast! This summer marked CMR’s 15th season, and this year we welcomed 44 participants between the ages of 19 and 83, hailing from 24 states and Washington, DC. We have a dedicated cadre of CMR alumni who return year after year. This year, 13 of our alumni came; some of them have come to Walden more than 10 times!
The Composer-in-Residence always brings their unique music-making and helps set the tone of the festival. This year, Paula Matthusen had her music performed on the opening concert, gave an illuminating talk on her music (including her projects in unique spaces like caves and aquifers), and coached a group of 17 participants for a performance of her Umbrella Etudes on Thursday’s Performers Night. They recorded themselves in different spaces—under an umbrella, under an overhang in the rain—and Paula then mixed these into a broadcast. During the immersive performance, performers and audience members took umbrellas and wandered in the quad, holding radios that played the broadcast. It was a magical experience—one that was both collective and individual, one that was happening in real time but that was about memory, too.
Performers Night also included an antiphonal performance by four trumpets of a Gabrieli canzone, eight pianists sharing a performance of CMR faculty member (and Walden alumna) Loretta Notareschi’s Shape Preludes, and a special, large-group performance of In C, in celebration of Terry Riley’s 90th birthday.
There were amazing performances by participants, faculty, and our Artists-in-Residence (including 35 world premieres on Composers Forums). And the magic in the classroom created by our veteran faculty continues the long tradition of innovative pedagogy that Walden is known for.
Per Walden tradition, a group hiked Mount Monadnock on a sunny Saturday, eating lunch and singing at the top of the mountain. We concluded the week with an open mic where participants showed off even more sides of their musical personalities, and we ended the evening dancing together.
An invitation to all: join us next year! Tell the creative musicians you know! You’re never too old to go to Walden!
Sincerely,
Caroline Mallonee
Director, The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat
This reflection was originally published as part of the September 2025 InterNetzo.
Walden in the News
Walden in the News
This summer, Walden was featured in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, the local newspaper for Walden’s summer home in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire!
The article by David Allen, entitled “New Sounds This Summer: Youths compose music as part of Young Musicians Program,” ran on the front page of the July 24 Arts & Entertainment section. It reported on a Composers Forum at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and featured quotes from Executive Director Seth Brenzel and from several YMP students about their Walden experiences.
“This doesn’t just help us musically,” Amelie said. “It teaches us to unlock our creativity, and to communicate effectively with the people playing our work.” Jahvin spoke of coping with last-minute changes in instruments, and Oscar said that collaborating, working with deadlines, and dealing with sudden curve balls are great skills acquired at Walden even if one doesn’t pursue a musical career. “These are skills you have to have in any job,” he said.
Thank you to the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript for the feature, which is available on their website.
This reflection was originally published as part of the September 2025 InterNetzo.
eNews: Internetzo – June 2025
Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Walden 2025 is underway! A week ago, we said goodbye to our Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) participants, who spent eight wonderful days at Walden composing and performing, sharing ideas and inspiration, and furthering their development as teachers, composers, and creative musicians. On Saturday, we welcomed our Young Musicians Program (YMP) students, who are just beginning their 5-week (or in a few cases, their 3-week) summer experience immersed in musical creativity and fun.
Both Walden programs are held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire, where our award-winning Concert Series series continues this week. On Friday, July 4, in collaboration with the Monadnock Folklore Society, we present Walden’s much-loved and now-annual concert of New Orleans jazz by Aurora Nealand and friends. Read on for more information, and visit our website to see all of our upcoming concerts!
This edition of InterNetzo also features upcoming fundraising events, a roster of our amazingly talented faculty and staff teams, and some very cool community news—including a Walden alum at the top of the pop-music charts.
Summer is here! I wish you the best for a wonderful season, and I hope to see you soon at one of Walden’s many upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(603) 563-8212
Upcoming Fundraising Events
Giving Day is Monday, July 28
Join us online for Giving Day! Throughout the first day of Festival Week, we’ll be sharing live video updates from our Young Musicians Program (YMP) as part of a special fundraiser on Walden’s Facebook page. Help us raise $5,300 in honor of Walden’s 53rd summer.
Livestream events will include meals, classes, interviews with students, faculty, and visiting artists, a rehearsal of a student composition, and the first 2025 YMP Festival Week Composers Forum.
This is a great time to make your first donation to Walden, or to increase or supplement your annual gift. Your donation of any amount helps ensure that Walden continues to offer an immersive creative community for many more seasons to come.
A New Hampshire celebration and fundraiser on Saturday, August 2
You’re invited to a fabulous Festival Week celebration to cap off Walden’s 2025 Young Musicians Program! Join us to celebrate the impact of Walden’s transformative music programs and to raise funds for student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies. Guests will enjoy a musical performance followed by a reception with refreshments and 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 at P.O. Box 432, Dublin, NH 03444, or in person at the event.
For details or to RSVP, contact Noah Mlotek, Walden’s Director of Development and Alumni Relations, by email or by calling (603) 563-8212.
Support Walden Today
Upcoming Concerts
Walden’s 2025 Concert Series continues with multiple events each week, all free of charge and open to the public. Additionally, most concerts are livestreamed on Walden’s YouTube channel. Visit our website for a complete listing of Walden’s 2025 Concert Series, including livestream links.
Tuesday, July 1, 7:30 pm Eastern
Young Musicians Program (YMP) Composers Forum I
In the Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire
During Composers Forums, YMP students present their improvisational or compositional works in a concert setting. These new works are performed by students, faculty, and visiting artists and then discussed with forum moderators and the audience.
Watch the livestream: YMP Composers Forum I
Friday, July 4, 7:30 pm Eastern
Aurora Nealand and Friends
On the Fountain Arts Building patio, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire
Join us for a special evening of traditional New Orleans jazz at Walden! This annual outdoor performance, proudly co-presented with the Monadnock Folklore Society, is a beloved tradition of the Walden and Dublin communities. Aurora Nealand is a sound artist and multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, accordion, voice) based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An established bandleader, composer, performer and improviser, and a former Walden faculty member, Nealand has become a prominent force in the New Orleans music scene since she first arrived in 2004.
This outdoor concert will not be livestreamed.
Summer 2025 Faculty and Staff
Each summer, Walden assembles an accomplished and well-rounded team of faculty and staff to mentor and inspire our students. Our philosophy is that by participating together in all levels of community life, faculty, staff, visiting artists, and students can create an environment where creativity flourishes and mentorship abounds.
Walden’s 2025 faculty and staff team is a wonderful mix of returning team members, team
members returning in new roles, and several new staff and faculty members. Walden’s faculty are a diverse mix of improvisers, composers, conductors, performers, and music scholars, all of whom are committed to the creation and dissemination of new music and to developing the next generation’s composers, performers, arts leaders, and more.
Visit our website to learn more about our faculty and staff at the Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR).
CMR Faculty and Staff
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Jeff Dutter, Staff
Renée Favand-See, Faculty
Francesca Hellerman, Staff
Caroline Mallonee, Faculty & CMR Program Director
Osnat Netzer, Faculty
Loretta Notareschi, Faculty
Sam Pluta, Faculty
Dahlia Riddington, Staff
Sarah Riskind, Faculty & Choral Director
Rodier, Technical Director
D. J. Sparr, Faculty
Sammi Jo Stone, Director of Operations
YMP Faculty and Staff
Zaki Andoh, Staff & Faculty
William Bolles-Beaven, Faculty
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director & YMP Program Director
Kittie Cooper, Teaching Mentor & Director of Electronic Music
Olga DiMeglio, Nurse
Shannon Dunning, Staff
Brian Fancher, Staff & Assistant Choral Director
Kari Francis, Faculty & Choral Director
Aidan Gold, Faculty
Cara Haxo, Faculty & Academic Dean
Francesca Hellerman, Faculty & Director of Composers Forums
Douglas Hertz, Teaching Mentor
Ashlin Hunter, Faculty
Lukáš Janata, Faculty & Academic Dean
Camara Kambon, Faculty
Veronica Kao, Faculty
Cadence Manuel, Staff
Tara McGovern, Staff
Loretta Notareschi, Teaching Mentor
Carlos Henrique Pereira, Faculty
Rodier, Technical Director
Luke Schroeder, Faculty & Staff
Sammi Jo Stone, Faculty & Director of Operations
Carolyn Tilton, Nurse
Theo Trevisan, Faculty
Nate Trier, Faculty & Academic Dean
Paul Zito, Staff & Faculty
Community News
Luka Kloser produces Addison Rae’s debut album
Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumna Luka Kloser co-wrote and produced all 12 tracks on Addison Rae’s new album Addison, including the hit single Diet Pepsi. As Rae told Rolling Stone in January, she met Luka and Elvira Anderfjärd—both songwriter/producer protégées of famed producer Max Martin—in early 2024, and the three wrote the hook of Diet Pepsi together that same day. Luka can be heard on keyboards and background vocals in all but two tracks, and she and Anderfjärd are the album’s sole producers. Addison was reviewed positively, described as “sensual and heady, propelled by private intensity, occasionally euphoric” by Pitchfork, and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Walden composers honored by Morton Gould Young Composer awards
On June 18, the ASCAP Foundation announced the winners of the 2025 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, which encourage young creators of concert music ages 13 to 30. Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumnus Nathaniel Parks won a cash prize, while former YMP faculty member Lila Meretzky and YMP alumnus Max Chung received honorable mentions. The juried national competition is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Morton Gould for his lifelong commitment to encouraging young creators. Congratulations, Nathaniel, Lila, and Max!
Lila Meretzky also has a new album out on Sawyer Records, entitled Simultaneous Contrast, featuring five of her recent compositions.
Kari Francis finishes doctorate and starts position at Bowdoin
Kari Francis, choral director and faculty member at YMP, recently received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in choral conducting and was appointed Director of Choral Activities at Bowdoin College. In the photo at left, Carrie is hooded by her doctoral advisor, the composer John Liberatore. Kari’s work centers living and historically underrepresented voices through improvisation, contemporary a cappella styles, and learner-focused pedagogies, and she is a composer-in-residence at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan. Congratulations, Kari!
Juantio Becenti wins Thea Musgrave Performer-Composer Collaboration Grant
Composer Juantio Becenti, a YMP alumnus, received the inaugural Thea Musgrave Performer-Composer Collaboration Grant along with cellist Zachary Mowitz, who will commission a new work by Becenti for his ensemble Nodality Music. The grant, newly endowed by composer Thea Musgrave, distributes $10,000 annually to performers commissioning an emerging composer with the aim of supporting rich collaborations. Juantio’s piece will address the environmental injustices faced by his Diné (Navajo) community, with a special focus on land justice and clean-water access.
Hub New Music releases album
Hub New Music
, the ensemble-in-residence for Walden’s Faculty Commissioning Concert at YMP in 2021, released its sixth studio album, What If We’re Beautiful, on June 27. The ensemble’s longtime collaborator Daniel Thomas Davis’s piece shares a name with the album and features five movements, each framed as a musical gift bearing the initials of a member of the composer’s chosen family. The album, a “resounding celebration of queer joy,” is accompanied by a dance-film made by Four/Ten Media and Mark Morris Dance Group alums Aaron Loux and Brian Lawson.
Walden alumni featured in Oakland concert
The Glenview Classical Series will present a concert of New Music by Local Composers in Oakland, California, on Sunday, July 6, at 4 pm at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Two Walden alumni will have works performed: Emil Margolis, a YMP alumnus and former faculty member, and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna Mary Fineman, featuring her first string quartet, January. All kids age 13 and under can attend for free!
Dasom Chung graduates and starts job in forensic musicology
Dasom Chung (at center in photo), a YMP alumna and former staff member, recently graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Professional Music Degree (magna cum laude) with minors in music technology and musical theater performance. At Berklee, she was involved in several Kpop-related projects and was a core member of Berklee’s very first Kpop idol group, Xchange. Dasom recently started a job as Head of Operations for Joe Bennett Music Services, a renowned forensic musicology team, where she works to analyze, research, and apply musical expertise to legal matters involving music. She also works as a lifeguard and stays involved in dancing, having recently performed at Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox AAPI event, and is an active member of the Boston Kpop dance team MODU.
Congratulations, Dasom, and thanks for the udpates!
Walden artists perform at Oakland’s Garden of Memory
Several Walden-affiliated musicians performed on June 21 as part of Garden of Memory, a summer solstice concert featuring dozens of Bay Area experimental music performers and improvisers. The artists included CMR alumnus (and parent of a YMP alum) Joel St. Julien (pictured at right) and past Walden visiting artists Rachel Beetz and Pamela Z. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a walk-through fun house of musical and visual splendor,” the concert is held annually in the beautiful Chapel of the Chimes, a mausoleum and historic landmark in Oakland, California.
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have a recent or upcoming premiere or concert, publication, award, new job, or a celebratory life event, please share your news, which needn’t be music-related (although we love your music-related news to be sure!). 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. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
Students at Walden's Young Musicians Program (YMP)
eNews: Internetzo – May 2025
Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
It’s been a busy spring at Walden, with several fundraising events and lots of planning for Walden’s 2025 summer season—which is less than one month away! Our Creative Musicians Retreat begins on June 14, and the Young Musicians Program starts on June 28. Both programs will be held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire.
This summer, Walden’s Concert Series will once again showcase world-class performers and engaging, adventurous music. All of our concerts are free of charge and open to the public, and they will also be livestreamed on Walden’s YouTube channel. The full Concert Series lineup is shared below; please join us in person or online!
I’m grateful to the many Walden friends and supporters who attended our recent fundraising events in New York City and Washington, DC, featuring performances by pianist Mikael Darmanie and violinist/composer Modney. Read on for highlights from these wonderful events, and thank you to all of Walden’s donors for your generous support.
Enjoy the rest of spring—summer is almost here!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
Summer 2025 Concert Series
Each summer, Walden’s award-winning Concert Series presents leading professional musicians and ensembles on concerts that are offered free of charge to the public and webcast through high-quality livestreams.
Visiting artists and Composers-in-Residence are integral to Walden’s programs, leading workshops, demonstrations, and dialogues that challenge and inspire Walden students. During Composers Forums, student improvisations and compositions are performed by faculty, students, and visiting artists, followed by an open discussion between the composer, moderators, and audience.
Across eight concerts, eleven Composers Forums, and two composer presentations, the 2025 Walden School Concert Series will feature cutting-edge works from artists of diverse contemporary musical genres. In a typical summer, Walden will present nearly 200 world premieres created by our students and faculty—approximately 140 by Young Musicians Program (YMP) students, 40 works by Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) participants, and 10 pieces commissioned from Walden’s YMP faculty.
We hope you will join us—whether in person or virtually—for a season of dynamic performances, creative collaborations, and diverse new musical voices.
Time: All performances at 7:30 pm
Location: Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall on the Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire (unless otherwise noted)
Admission: Always free and open to the public
CONCERTS
Saturday, June 14
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) artists-in-residence David Friend and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble performing new music, including selections by Walden faculty members and CMR Composer-in-Residence Paula Matthusen
Thursday, June 19
CMR participants and visiting artists presenting a curated selection of chamber music
Sunday, June 29
Impromptuo: an innovative improvisation-focused duo (picuted at right) made up of violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and pianist Joey Chang, a YMP alumnus
Friday, July 4
Aurora Nealand and friends, presenting a popular outdoor concert (pictured below) of New Orleans jazz on the Fountain Arts Building patio—co-presented with the Monadnock Folklore Society
Friday, July 11
Faculty Commissioning Concert with Talujon (pictured at right), a percussion ensemble described by The New York Times as possessing an “edgy, unflagging energy,” premiering new works by YMP faculty members
Friday, July 18
International Contemporary Ensemble, described by the New York Times as “one of the most accomplished and adventurous groups in new music”
Friday, July 25
The Walden School Players, featuring innovative performers Laura Cocks (flute), Erica Dicker (violin), Kyra Sims (horn), Chris Wild (cello), Mabel Kwan (piano), Dennis K. Sullivan II (percussion), and Zachary Good (clarinet), performing an exciting selection of contemporary works
Friday, August 1
The Walden School Choral Concert, showcasing the entire YMP community led by choral director Kari Francis
COMPOSER PRESENTATIONS
Sunday, June 15
Paula Matthusen, CMR Composer-in-Residence (pictured below at left)
Sunday, July 28
Peter V. Swendsen, 2025 YMP Composer-in-Residence (pictured below at right)
COMPOSERS FORUMS
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) Composers Forums
Tuesday, June 17; Wednesday, June 18; and Friday, June 20
Featuring newly composed and improvised works by CMR participants
Young Musicians Program (YMP) Composers Forums
Each Tuesday in July: July 1, 8, 15, 22, plus Thursday, July 17
Monday–Wednesday, July 28–30 (Festival Week Composers Forums)
Featuring newly composed and improvised works by YMP participants
Event Recaps
Spring fundraisers in New York City and Washington, DC
Above: Mikael Darmanie performing
Walden hosted two fundraising receptions in April and May, featuring incredible musical performances and wonderful Walden community!
New York City: April 27
On Sunday, April 27, we gathered in the intimate gallery at Tenri Cultural Institute to enjoy a performance by pianist Mikael Darmanie, a past visiting artist Walden. Darmanie played works by Franz Schubert, Caroline Shaw, Kenneth Frazelle, and Duke Ellington, along with his own improvisations, concluding with Scriabin’s Vers la flamme as an encore.
We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our donors, who contributed $15,400 to Walden as part of our New York City event.
Seth Brenzel, YMP alumnus and former faculty member Meade Bernard, former YMP faculty member Ian Munro, YMP alumnus Nat Osborn, and Walden alumnus and Director of Development and Alumni Relations Noah Mlotek (photo credit: Walden Board member David Bivins)
Seth Brenzel, Walden’s Executive Director, and Solon Snider Sway, a Walden alumnus and a member of Board of Directors, spoke to attendees about the lifechanging impact of Walden’s creative music programs and thanked the many donors who keep our organization flourishing.
Left: CMR alumnus and Walden faculty member Lukáš Janata and Erika Ji; right: Walden Board member Kate Valenta, Priti Gress, and Monica Girotra
Above: Walden Board member and YMP alumnus Solon Snider Sway (Photo credit: David Bivins)
Thank you to our New York City host committee: Sanda Balaban, Meade Bernard, David Bivins and Kristen Davis, Seth Brenzel, Sarah Cornog and Chris Chesney, Andrew Jacobs and Kathy Park, Noah Mlotek, Solon Snider Sway and Emma Sway, Harry Spitzer, Sammi Stone, Nate Trier, Kate Valenta and Alex Johnston, Jennifer Weidman and Barry Adler
Washington, DC: May 18
Walden also hosted an afternoon of music, community, and refreshments at DACOR Bacon House on May 18, raising $10,640 to support our inspiring programs for creative musicians!
We enjoyed a memorable performance by violinist/composer Modney, a frequent visiting artist at Walden, who played works by J.S. Bach, Caroline Mallonee (a Walden alumna and director of Walden's Creative Musicians Retreat), Aaron Helgeson, and himself.
Stephanie Ma; YMP and CMR alum Niki Main; CMR alumna Cary Fado; and YMP alumnus Lloyd Meeks
In between musical selections, Modney talked about his experiences working closely with students at both of Walden’s programs, where he has helped bring countless new compositions to life as a visiting artist with the International Contempory Ensemble and Wet Ink Ensemble. And Peter Colohan, a CMR alumnus and chair of Walden’s Board of Directors, spoke about Walden’s vision of a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.
Thank you to our Washington, DC host committee: Peter Colohan and Fenton Blake, William J. Friedman, Steve Messner and Liz Prelinger, Ellie Murphy-Weise, Noah Mlotek, Alison Wallace and Steve Lindaas, William Yale
Left: Walden board members Peter Colohan and JoAnn Balingit; right: Modney takes a bow
Thank you to everyone who was part of our celebrations in New York and DC, and to all of our donors for your generous support of Walden. Every donation makes a difference in the lives of our students and helps bring more music into the world.
Support Walden Today
Community News
Concert of music by Carole Miles
Carole (Deck) Miles, a Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna, is being honored with a concert of her music on May 31 at the Newark United Methodist Church in Newark, Delaware. The program, “From Faeries to Fishes,” begins with the first piece she wrote at age 7, The Wedding of the Faeries, and includes a song (from the latest song cycle she wrote) called Two Million Two Hundred Thousand Fishes. Mrs. Miles studied musicianship and composition with JCC founder Grace Newsom Cushman and with Pamela Layman Quist and David Hogan, two of the cofounders of The Walden School. She taught musicianship at the Wilmington Music School, and many of her students went on to attend Walden. The May 31 performance will feature a reception, door prizes, and an art sale fundraiser benefitting the 321 Foundation’s Boundless Arts program for “disabled and nondisabled artists performing together.” Visit this website or contact Carole’s daughter (and YMP alum) Cheryl Hampson at (302) 521-2533 or cherhamps@aol.com for more information.
Photo: Carole Miles with Shari Fleming at a Walden/JCC reunion
Climate Mass by Loretta Notareschi premieres at Carnegie Hall
YMP alumna and Walden faculty member Loretta Notareschi’s Climate Mass received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on April 6, with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and 140+ singers from across the country. The choral and orchestral piece combines text from the traditional Catholic mass with new poetry by Alyse Knorr to explore human culpability, grief, and hope around the issue of climate change, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
Augusta Cecconi-Bates presents Picking Elderberries
CMR alumna Augusta Cecconi-Bates has composed music for an original vaudeville-style musical set in Prohibition-era Cape Vincent, New York. The one act show, with script and lyrics by Craig Thornton, was performed as a workshop reading in progress on Saturday, May 17 at The Strand in Watertown, New York. Augusta and Craig were interviewed on WWNY7 News on May 14 to publicize the show!
Joshua Fath wins songSLAM prizes
YMP alumnus Joshua Fath (known to the Walden community as Joshua Clampitt) won two prizes as part of the Fourth Coast Ensemble Chicago songSLAM: first prize for his song To the Wanderer and a commissioning prize to compose a work for Fourth Coast Ensemble to be premiered in 2026. As another Walden connection, YMP alumna Stacy Garrop was the emcee for the event and had a collection of her art songs performed as the votes for the prizes were tallied. Congratulations, Joshua!
Wet Ink Ensemble releases Action, Choice, Thought
The Wet Ink Ensemble, a past visiting ensemble at Walden, has released an album titled Action, Choice, Thought, featuring works by longtime YMP faculty member Sam Pluta. The eight-member ensemble of composer-performers will celebrate the release of Action, Choice, Thought at Roulette in New York City on Friday, June 13, in a performance featuring new works by their artists-in-residence, including former Walden faculty member and frequent visiting artist Aurora Nealand! More information about the concert can be found on Roulette's website.
Kyra Sims and the Springtime 7s
Kyra Sims presented an evening of spoken word and her own music called Basking in Warmth, which is named after a song cycle she’s been working on this past year, on May 7 at Ars Nova NYC. And on April 7 at Joe’s Pub, together with actress and writer Mara Wilson, she produced and cohosted Grief Party, “a dynamic evening of song, comedy, live art, and stories about one of the most crucial parts of our humanity.” Kyra is a frequent visiting artist at Walden who will return this summer during YMP as a member of The Walden School Players—a group of 7 incredible performers!
Larry Wetzler gives piano recital in support of Walden
JCC alumnus Larry Wetzler gave an all-Chopin piano recital at the National Opera Center in New York City on April 13. Larry supports Walden through his occasional piano recitals, at which he encourages donations to Walden rather than selling tickets. We are very grateful to Larry for generously supporting Walden through his music making. Larry is a psychoanalyst and writes on the relationship between music and psychoanalysis, with two of his papers appearing in the book Music and Psyche. He was profiled in a previous edition of InterNetzo. At left, Larry is pictured with his wife Judy after the recital.
Alicia Jo Rabins releases Wild Nights EP
YMP alumna and Portland, Oregon-based composer and performer Alicia Jo Rabins has released Wild Nights, a six-song EP in collaboration with poet and musician Dao Strom. The EP features traditional and original songs, and the title track is a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem. Wild Nights had its release show on April 2. The EP was praised in the Portland Mercury as “sweet and ghostly” and “cinematic in its yearning.” Recent and upcoming events for Alicia include an afternoon show at Third Street Music School on May 19 in New York City and a live show at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon, on June 20.
A Song cycle of Eve Beglarian at Roulette
Eve Beglarian, former composer-in-residence at both CMR and YMP, had her song cycle finish what I haven’t started performed by Devony Smith, accompanied by Danny Zelibor, at Roulette in April, under the auspices of Brooklyn Art Song Society. The work delves into mid-century middle-class female unhappiness, and sets texts by Anne Sexton, Jane Bowles, Lucille Clifton, and others, and Eve added another song to the cycle just for this performance.
As part of Eve’s ongoing project of presenting a work for each day of the year titled a book of days, her April 1 entry is a piano piece called Miranda’s Kiss inspired by the signing chimpanzee from James Merrill’s The Changing Light at Sandover. A recording of the piece by Thomas Feng is available here.
Matt Siffert releases new album
CMR alumnus Matt Siffert released a new album called Magic of the New on March 28, featuring songs about parenthood, romance, travel, and more. Recorded remotely in home studios across the United States, it features seven tracks and can be found on Matt’s Bandcamp.
Lila Meretzky featured on New Downbeat premieres concert
A new composition by YMP faculty member Lila Meretzky was premiered on the sixth annual New Downbeat Composers-in-Residence Premieres Concert in Cincinnati. New Downbeat is a new music performance collective of women musicians performing works by living composers. The May 25 concert featured the premiere of Lila’s piece Slip Slip Knit performed by Molly Rains, violin, and Muning Wang, viola.
PRISM Quartet on the radio, featuring Aaron Nichols
PRISM Quartet was featured on The Classical Network in Concert, a two-hour broadcast by WWFM on Monday, May 26. There will be a repeat broadcast on Saturday, May 31, at 2 PM Eastern time, which can be heard online at wwfm.org. The broadcast includes the premiere performance of Mesovortex by YMP alumnus Aaron Nichols, winner of the 2024 Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award, presented annually to a YMP student selected by Walden and PRISM.
Walden run-ins in San Francisco
We love to hear about serendipitous Walden encounters! Recently, Executive Director Seth Brenzel ran into two Walden alums in San Francisco, YMP alumnus Daniel Kyte-Zable (left) and CMR alumnus Ernie Chow (right). Please send us photos and stories of your Walden connections in the world!
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have a recent or upcoming premiere or concert, publication, award, new job, or a celebratory life event, please share your news, which needn’t be music-related (although we love your music-related news to be sure!). 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. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
Students at Walden's Young Musicians Program (YMP)
eNews: Internetzo – March 2025
Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Spring is here, and Walden’s 2025 summer season is just around the corner!
Applications for Walden 2025’s programs are still open, and our spring application deadline is this Tuesday, April 1. Both the Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) will be held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire. Walden is also hiring for several summer positions at YMP—read on for more details, and please help us spread the word!
Over a weekend in early February, we launched the Memphis Composers Institute, an exciting new workshop and performance opportunity for emerging composers, in collaboration with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the University of Memphis. Congratulations to Walden alumnus and faculty member D. J. Sparr, who led the initiative, and to all the composers and participants on a successful collaboration! You can read D. J.’s reflections and see photos from the weekend here.
Earlier this month, Walden held a wonderful celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore featuring the incomparable jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, a Walden alumnus. And more celebrations are scheduled for New York City on April 27, featuring pianist Mikael Darmanie, and Washington, DC, on May 18. I hope you can join us!
I hope you are enjoying a beautiful spring. Summer is coming!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
Apply for Walden 2025
The spring application deadline is April 1.
The spring deadline to apply to Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) is Tuesday, April 1. We encourage you to share the news with your friends, family, colleagues, students, and teachers.
Walden’s 2025 programs:
- Creative Musicians Retreat: June 14 - June 22, 2025, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (for musicians ages 18-98)
- Young Musicians Program: June 28 - August 3, 2025, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials for both programs are available on our website.
Write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
Highlights from the 2025 Memphis Composers Institue
The Memphis Composers Institute, a new collaboration between the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, The Walden School, and the University of Memphis, came to fruition over the weekend of February 7–9 in Memphis, Tennessee. Following an open call for scores, works by three selected composers— Evan Erickson, Sina Karachiani, and Soomin Kim—were given premiere performances by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kyle Dickson, Madeleine Luce Moore Assistant Conductor Chair of the Memphis Symphony. The weekend also featured open rehearsals and panel discussions led by Walden faculty, and all events took place on the campus of the University of Memphis.
Walden alumnus and faculty member D. J. Sparr, who served as artistic coordinator for the initiative, composed a new viola concerto for the occasion, which was performed by his wife, viola virtuoso Kimberly Sparr, Associate Professor of Viola at Louisiana State University. Walden is proud to have offered this opportunity for emerging composers and thankful to D. J. for leading the project with enthusiasm and flair.
Visit our website to read D. J.’s reflections on the experience of launching the Memphis Composers Institute and to see photos from the weekend. Thank you to everyone who participated in this exciting collaboration!
Click to read more
Upcoming Fundraising Events
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in New York City
Sunday, April 27
3 to 5 pm
Join Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumni, families, faculty, staff, artists, and friends, for an afternoon of music and refreshments to celebrate Walden and support its 2025 summer programs.
Guests will enjoy a performance by pianist Mikael Darmanie, a dynamic cross-genre performer and past visiting artist at Walden.
This afternoon of music, community, and refreshments will be held near Union Square in Manhattan. For more information or to RSVP, email us or call (415) 587-8157.
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in Washington, DC
Sunday, May 18
3 to 5 pm
Please save the date for a Walden celebration and fundraiser to be held at a historic residence in downtown Washington, DC. For more information or to RSVP, email us or call (415) 587-8157.
Event Recap
A Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore, on Saturday, March 8! We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our donors, who contributed more than $7,800 to Walden.
We enjoyed a magical performance by the acclaimed jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, a Walden alumnus and Baltimore native. He began by telling the audience, “the sounds you are about to hear are designed for your ears, and your ears only.” Each Cyrus Chestnut performance is a unique experience, combining jazz standards, hymns, and improvisatory flights that only he could create. In between selections, Cyrus talked about his experience as a student at Walden, learning musicianship and engaging in “harmony wars” with a fellow student.
We are so grateful to Cyrus for his performance and all he has done to enrich the Walden community and the musical world.
Support Walden Today
We are also grateful for the passion and support of Walden’s Board of Directors, and especially Walden’s board chair Peter Colohan, who spoke movingly about Walden’s vision of “a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.”
Thank you to everyone who was part of our Baltimore celebration, and thank you to all of our donors for your invaluable support of Walden!
Thank you to our host committee: JoAnn Balingit, Seth Brenzel, Peter Colohan, Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta, Caroline Mallonee, Steve Messner and Liz Prelinger, Noah Mlotek, D. J. Sparr, and Kate Valenta
Support Walden Today
Walden is Hiring
Join our summer team.
Walden is hiring for 2025 summer positions at our Young Musicians Program (YMP) in Dublin, New Hampshire. 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:
2025 YMP Camp Nurse
2025 YMP Staff Member/Staff Lifeguard
Please contact us with any questions and inquiries. All positions are open until filled.
Community News
Brian Claeys wins Emmy Award
InterNetzo readers may recall that Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumnus Brian Claeys (pictured third from right) was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+. We can now congratulate Brian and his team on receiving the Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live Action Program! Brian was recognized alongside composer Bear McCreary and the team at Sparks & Shadows, McCreary’s music production and record label, at the third annual Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. Percy Jackson has another incredible connection to Walden: the character of Zeus was played by the late Lance Reddick, an esteemed Walden alumnus and faculty member, in his last screen appearance, and Brian wrote a special musical theme for his portrayal. Congratulations, Brian!
Stacy Garrop and Melody Eötvös recognized by the League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras recognized two Walden alumnae through the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program, designed to increase the representation of women and nonbinary composers on the stages of American orchestras. Stacy Garrop, a YMP alumna, has received a commission for a 25- to 30-minute concert work, to be premiered by a leading orchestra with additional performances by two orchestras in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. The organization also selected Garrop and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumna Melody Eötvös for a new repeat performance initiative, which will feature performances of existing works from 2025 to 2027: Eötvös’s Red Dirt | Silver Rain and Garrop’s Goddess Triptych. Congratulations, Stacy and Melody!
Drew Kravin composition to be performed in April
CMR alumnus Drew Kravin will have his piece Redwood Tree performed by Berkeley-based choral group Pacific Edge Voices at their spring concert. Redwood Tree was written for and premiered at CMR in 2022 and was also performed by the Washington Master Chorale, directed by past CMR choral director and Walden Teacher Training Institute (TTI) alumnus Thomas Colohan. The performance is on April 4 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland. More information about the concert can be found here.
Katherine Balch wins Royal Philharmonic Society Award
Katherine Balch
, a former YMP faculty member, has won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Award in the large-scale composition category for her work whisper concerto. Written for cellist Zlatomir Fung, the piece is named after the “agitato” whisper cadenza of György Ligeti’s cello concerto, and it was crafted to “provoke intimacy” between the cello and the orchestra, without compromising the integrity of the instrument’s low register. The concerto was premiered in 2023 by Fung and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gemma New, and Katherine was presented with the RPS award on March 6 at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Congratulations, Katie!
John O’Meara celebrated as Citizen of the Year
John O’Meara, an emeritus member of Walden’s Board of Directors, was honored as Citizen of the Year in his hometown of Moorestown, New Jersey. The award, bestowed by the Moorestown Service Clubs Council, recognizes John’s long history of volunteer service, including through leadership roles with the Rotary Youth Exchange, Burlington County United Way, Moorestown Improvement Association, and Moorestown Free Library Association. John’s partner in life and volunteer work is Mary Anne Polk O’Meara, a past Walden board member and an alumna of the Junior Conservatory Camp, Walden’s predecessor program. John celebrated the award alongside friends and community members at a dinner on February 5. Congratulations, John!
Graham Lazorchak featured on Cleveland Chamber Symphony concert
A new orchestral work, Book of Spells, by YMP alumnus Graham Lazorchak was selected for performance by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony on its Young and Emerging Composers Concert on March 8 at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Graham attended YMP for four summers and currently works as a computer science researcher at Oberlin College studying the symbiotic relationship between music and technology. In attendance at the concert were Cara Haxo (a YMP alumna, faculty member, and academic dean) and her husband Brian Fancher, a YMP faculty member.
George Brandon honored with artist fellowship
CMR alumnus George Brandon has received a $13,000 Individual Artist Fellowship for musical composition from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the MidAtlantic Arts Consortium. The fellowships are awarded to practicing New Jersey artists through an anonymous, competitive application process to help them pursue their artistic goals. Brandon is a scholar, composer, and integrative sound and music practitioner who has lectured and performed internationally. He founded and leads the Blue Unity Orchestra, an ensemble whose programs include gospel music, Yoruba chant, blues, jazz standards, Afro-Pop, and more.
Leah Reid presents sound art and painting show in Dublin
YMP alumna Leah Reid was featured in the January Art Show of the Dublin Community Center in a collaboration with her mother Chris Reid, an artist known for her plein-air landscapes and still life paintings. Leah is a composer, educator, and 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship winner whose work ranges from opera and chamber music to electroacoustic music and interactive sound installations, and she merged her talents in sound art with her mother’s paintings to present a stunning visual and sonic experience in the center’s South Room for the month of January. Check out this reel to see some photos of the display!
Ariel Kent gets married!
YMP alumna Ariel Kent was married to Amir Jaberi this month in San Francisco. Ariel is a practicing physician in obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, where she was born and raised. Congratulations, Ariel and Amir!
Shawn Crouch celebrates 10 years of Ensemble Ibis
Shawn Crouch is a comp
oser, choral director, and professor at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where he is artistic director of Ensemble Ibis, a new music performance group. Shawn is a YMP and TTI alumnus and a former faculty member at YMP and CMR. To celebrate 10 years of Ensemble Ibis, he is sharing highlights from the group’s performances online, including a recent performance of Sparkle by Chen Yi, a former composer-in-residence at Walden and a member of Walden’s Advisory Council, who served as Frost’s Distinguished Visiting Composer in Residence in 2024. Last year, Shawn led Ensemble Ibis in the premiere of his opera Stained Glass, about Mamah Borthwick, the romantic and intellectual partner of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Dennis Sullivan releases video album
Percussionist, composer, and electronic musician Dennis Sullivan II has released the first installment of a three-part video album entitled 33rd Blight. Part 3: Rot on his YouTube Channel. Dennis is a member of The Walden School Players and a past faculty member at YMP. He will be returning to Walden this summer as part of the Players’ two-week residency at YMP, where they work closely with student composers during Festival Week. Dennis describes his performance on the album as “the product of a practice [that] sits somewhere between premeditated composition and improvised real time composition while merging acoustic percussion and tactile electronic systems.”
Idan Rabinovici releases album
YMP alumnus Idan Rabinovici, who performs as RABINO, has released a new album entitled Promise of Summer. His brother Roy Rabinovici, also a YMP alum, contributed to the album on saxophone and keys. Idan and Roy have also performed and recorded together as members of the band Acollective.
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have a recent or upcoming premiere or concert, publication, award, new job, or a celebratory life event, please share your news, which needn’t be music-related (although we love your music-related news to be sure!). Email your news to alumni@waldenschool.org.
Stay in Touch
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Students at Walden's Young Musicians Program (YMP)
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in Baltimore
A Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore, on Saturday, March 8! We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our donors, who contributed more than $7,800 to Walden.
We enjoyed a magical performance by the acclaimed jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, a Walden alumnus and Baltimore native. He began by telling the audience, “the sounds you are about to hear are designed for your ears, and your ears only.” Each Cyrus Chestnut performance is a unique experience, combining jazz standards, hymns, and improvisatory flights that only he could create. In between selections, Cyrus talked about his experience as a student at Walden, learning musicianship and engaging in “harmony wars” with a fellow student.
We are so grateful to Cyrus for his performance and all he has done to enrich the Walden community and the musical world.
Support Walden Today
We are also grateful for the passion and support of Walden’s Board of Directors, and especially Walden’s board chair Peter Colohan, who spoke movingly about Walden’s vision of “a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.”
Thank you to everyone who was part of our Baltimore celebration, and thank you to all of our donors for your invaluable support of Walden!
Thank you to our host committee: JoAnn Balingit, Seth Brenzel, Peter Colohan, Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta, Caroline Mallonee, Steve Messner and Liz Prelinger, Noah Mlotek, D. J. Sparr, and Kate Valenta
This recap was originally published in the March 2025 InterNetzo.
Highlights from the 2025 Memphis Composers Institute
Highlights from the 2025 Memphis Composers Institute
The Memphis Composers Institute, a new collaboration between the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, The Walden School, and the University of Memphis, came to fruition over the weekend of February 7–9 in Memphis, Tennessee. Following an open call for scores, works by three selected composers—Evan Erickson, Sina Karachiani, and Soomin Kim—were given premiere performances by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kyle Dickson, Madeleine Luce Moore Assistant Conductor Chair of the Memphis Symphony. The weekend also featured open rehearsals and panel discussions led by Walden faculty.
Walden alumnus and faculty member D. J. Sparr, who served as artistic coordinator for the initiative, composed a new viola concerto for the occasion, which was performed by his wife, viola virtuoso Kimberly Sparr, Associate Professor of Viola at Louisiana State University. Walden is proud to have offered this opportunity for emerging composers and thankful to D. J. for leading the project with enthusiasm and flair. Below, D. J. shares personal reflections on the experience of launching the Memphis Composers Institute.
Reflections from D. J. Sparr, Artistic Coordinator
How it all began
“737 comin’ out of the sky, Oh, won’t you take me down to Memphis on a midnight ride?” — from “Travelin’ Band” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
These lyrics capture how I felt when I received an invitation to perform with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Conductor Robert Moody called me in September 2023 to support injured guitarist Vasti Jackson, who was scheduled to perform the world premiere of Chris Brubeck’s Confluence: Double Concerto for Classical Guitar, Blues Guitar & Orchestra the very next week! As it turned out, we performed the piece together—Vasti delivered his amazing blues solos, I covered key sections, and Thomas Flippin played classical guitar.
This performance, following my March visit to play my electric guitar concerto Violet Bond, created real momentum with the MSO. After the concert, I went out for barbecue with Peter Abell, the orchestra’s executive director, to discuss working together again. I wanted to write a new work for the orchestra, and I had another idea: what if we mentored emerging composers and put on a concert of entirely new music? That meal planted the seed for what would become the Memphis Composers Institute.
When considering how to launch a program for emerging composers, I immediately thought of The Walden School. This project aligned with Walden’s mission of inspiring artistic expression and personal growth through experiential music programs, and its values of mentorship, teamwork, and collaboration. I called Seth Brenzel, Walden’s executive director, about involving Walden. Seth immediately embraced the idea, diving into his famously energized brainstorming, imagining all the ways this alliance could benefit Walden alumni, faculty, staff, and emerging composers alike.
I played matchmaker in a subsequent Zoom meeting, connecting Seth and Peter, who hit it off famously. Peter suggested partnering with the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, and soon composition professor Mahir Cetiz joined with tremendous enthusiasm.
Roles were quickly established: the University would provide the venue, the Symphony the musicians, and Walden would conduct the composer search. It was agreed that we would select one Walden alumnus, one University of Memphis alumnus, and one “at-large” composer through an international search. A committee was assembled, including Caroline Mallonee, Sky Macklay, and Michael Kropf from The Walden School; Mahir Cetiz and Kamran Ince from the University of Memphis; and Assistant Conductor Kyle Dickson and composer/ French Hornist Robert Patterson from the MSO.
In addition to the selected works, I would compose a new viola concerto for Kimberly, a renowned violist.
The selection process and preparation
Our call went out on July 18, 2024—with no age limit, application fee, or attendance cost—and it drew over 100 applications. Together with Walden’s invaluable director of operations, Sammi Stone, we carefully coordinated and reviewed each application to ensure compliance with our guidelines. The response was strong, with submissions reflecting a talented pool of composers.
Our selection process was thorough and deliberate, considering the artistic merit and programmatic fit of each piece. Ultimately, the winners chosen were Soomin Kim (star / ghost / mouth / sea), Evan Erickson (Oobleck), and Walden Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumnus Sina Karachiani (Stranger of Kin). Additionally, two composers were honored with compelling works receiving honorable mentions: Walden Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumnus Liam Cummins (Joyas Voladoras) and Kian Ravaei (Majnun in the Wilderness).
The following months focused on the mentorship aspect of the Memphis Composers Institute, which was particularly exciting for me. I reviewed all scores and parts before sending them to the MSO. Ensuring that the selected composers had professional-quality scores and parts was imperative. One especially rewarding experience was a Zoom session with Sina, during which we addressed complex string divisi sections of his work. His dedication paid off—the orchestra had no questions during rehearsal.
All scores and parts, along with my new viola concerto, now titled Extended Play, were printed, delivered, and distributed to the musicians in January 2025. I want thank the amazing team at the MSO, especially librarian Mitchell Walker, who was a joy to work with.
The weekend arrives
Thursday, February 6, 2025, finally arrived. Violist Kimberly Sparr, my son Harris, and I drove up from Baton Rouge. Sadly, Evan Erickson was unable to join us in person due to personal circumstances. However, he was warmly represented by his peers—Sky and I even ran into Evan’s friends at Belltower Coffee making posters in his honor.
On Friday, several of us attended an MSO performance at a local public school, as part of the orchestra’s Orff Side-by-Side program. In partnership with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, this program brings the MSO to elementary schools for a public side-by-side concert featuring all students on percussion or in chorus, using the Orff method. This event was crucial to our weekend, embodying Walden’s core values of education, community engagement, and group singing!
Friday evening kicked off with a warm reception, followed by the first rehearsal, the thrilling moment when we finally heard our compositions performed by the MSO. It was a significant learning experience for all involved, including me, as we saw our work transition from page to stage, identifying what worked beautifully and what required minor adjustments. Sina and Soomin interacted seamlessly with Maestro Dickson and the orchestra. Kimberly Sparr crushed it on Extended Play. The evening concluded with an informal gathering at the hotel, thoughtfully organized by Seth, fostering a friendly atmosphere filled with camaraderie reminiscent of classic Walden evenings.
Saturday morning offered a “choose-your-own-adventure” experience. Many opted to visit the National Civil Rights Museum—a profoundly moving experience that connected our weekend’s artistic journey to Memphis’s rich historical roots. Harris and Kimberly visited the fantastic Memphis Children’s Museum.
The afternoon began with a luncheon hosted by Walden, which allowed participants to connect with musicians from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and committee members. Following lunch, engaging panel discussions commenced:
Panel 1: Bringing New Music to Life, moderated by Caroline Mallonee, Director of Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat, featured conductor Kyle Dickson along with composers Sina Karachiani, Soomin Kim, and myself. Caroline skillfully guided the conversation, allowing us to discuss our compositions and respond to audience questions.
Panel 2: Orchestras and New Music: What’s Next?, moderated by me, featured Mahir Cetiz, Kamran Ince, Caroline Mallonee, Sky Macklay, and Robert Patterson. This panel focused on the role of being teachers and mentors to emerging composers.
Following the panels, we headed downtown to one of Memphis’s renowned restaurants, which was fitting, as the entire project had begun over barbecue!
Saturday’s rehearsal had a bit more “edge” than the previous evening. Kyle dove deeply into details, meticulously preparing the orchestra for Sunday’s performance. Evan passed insightful notes from the previous night’s perusal recording to Mahir, who relayed them to Kyle. Sina eloquently described a specific whistle-tone flute technique to the principal flutist, who mastered it immediately. Soomin explained to violinists how an extended passage in solo strings drew inspiration from Korean folk songs of her youth. Kimberly and Kyle worked on navigating the virtuosic cadenzas of Extended Play.
A concert on Super Bowl Sunday? The Memphis Composers Institute made it happen—four works by living composers, performed at 2 pm at the University of Memphis. The program began beautifully with Soomin’s star / ghost / mouth / sea, described by a committee member as “immediately engaging,” and indeed it was hauntingly beautiful. Sina’s Stranger of Kin followed, with the orchestra elegantly capturing its intricate layers of memory. A panelist had aptly called it a “unique, beautiful musical representation of memory.” Evan’s Oobleck effectively captured a gooey, non-solid substance through creative microtonal techniques, executed impressively by the MSO. And, not to toot my own horn, but Kimberly Sparr, Kyle Dickson, and the MSO delivered an outstanding world premiere performance of Extended Play. Each composer introduced their piece. Evan sent a touching message to both the orchestra and his University of Memphis friends in attendance. Seeing Evan’s friends holding posters full of love and support they made at the coffee shop was deeply moving; I had to pause and dry my eyes before speaking. The Memphis Composers Institute brought people together in a truly meaningful and memorable way.
Following the concert, we engaged in a Q&A session, with the composers, Kimberly and Kyle, taking questions from the audience. The atmosphere was rewarding and uplifting, and many audience members stayed for this to connect further.
Eventually, we all parted ways to attend Super Bowl gatherings, catch flights home, or visit friends in the Memphis area.
I can’t say enough about this experience. Let’s (barbe)cue the reprise!
