eNews: Internetzo – December 2024
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Happy Holidays! I hope your season is bright with things that bring you joy—music, food, family, friends, or perhaps some much-needed downtime. We’re very excited to continue the holiday season into January with Walden holiday parties in six cities around the country, as well as a virtual gathering for alumni and families of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program. Please read on to find details about these wonderful events, and to RSVP!
Applications for Walden 2025’s programs are open! Our next application deadline is February 3, and there are several Young Musicians Program (YMP) information sessions coming up. Both YMP and our Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) will be held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire. If you know a creative musician, ages 9 to 99, or if you yourself might want to apply to be part of Walden Summer 2025, I hope you will pass along information about Walden and request an application.
We are so grateful to the many donors who have already given generously to support our 2025 summer programs through contributions to Walden’s 2025 Annual Fund. During our 2025 fiscal year (October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025), we seek to raise $415,000 in support of critical scholarships, inspiring artist residencies, and all our program expenses. If you’ve already made a gift toward Walden’s upcoming 2025 season, thank you! If not, I hope you’ll consider supporting Walden today with a year-end contribution. I wish you a very Happy New Year, and I hope to see you at a Walden event soon!
I wish you a very Happy New Year, and I hope to see you at a Walden event soon!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
Walden Holiday Parties
Warm up with Walden holiday parties! Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) community members will be gathering for holiday potlucks—and online!—in cities throughout the country in January. You are warmly invited to join us in the following cities:
Sunday, January 5, 3 to 5 pm
Sunday, January 12, 3:30 to 5:30 pm
Saturday, January 18, 3 to 5 pm
Saturday, January 25, 3 to 5 pm
Seattle Area (Bainbridge Island)
Saturday, January 25, 3 to 5 pm
Sunday, January 26, 4 to 6 pm
These events are open to Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumni, faculty, staff, artists, donors, and board members, as well as friends and family. Please save the date and help us spread the word!
These are a potluck-style events held at private homes. When you RSVP, please let us know what you would like to bring, and we will send you the address.
RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
It’s not too late to volunteer to host a party in your area! Please email us if interested. We are so grateful to this season’s hosts and the many volunteers who have hosted Walden holiday parties over the years.
Attention JCC community: Join us for a JCC Holiday Party on Zoom!
7 pm Eastern / 6 pm Central / 5 pm Mountain / 4 pm Pacific
Walden is excited to offer a holiday Zoom gathering for alumni and families of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program.
Bundle up in your favorite cozy scarf, pour yourself a cup of holiday cheer, and join fellow JCC alumni for a festive gathering over Zoom!
RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
Apply for Walden 2025
The winter application deadline is Monday, February 3.
The winter-round deadline to apply to Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) is Monday, February 3, 2025. 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
Year-End Giving
We’re counting on your support!
Thank you to the many generous donors who have made year-end gifts to Walden! Your contributions will help us offer life-changing musical experiences next summer to 100 students across our two programs, including critical student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies.
It’s not too late to make a contribution during 2024! Make a donation online, or see below for more ways to give. Gifts postmarked on or before December 31, or online gifts made before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 31, can be counted toward the 2024 tax year.
Give the Gift of Walden
Bring some summer magic to the holiday season and support Walden School programs and initiatives with your order of Walden merchandise!
Enjoy 20% off of all Walden merchandise orders, now through January 5.
We have Walden beach towels (new!), blankets (new!), hoodies, shirts, baseball caps, canvas totes, stickers, mugs, pens, pencils, and more.
See what’s available and fill out an order form here.
Orders can be placed by check or money order, or via credit card/PayPal. Please contact Mindy Williams, Walden’s Administrative Manager, or call the Walden office at (415) 587-8157 if you have any questions.
Young Musicians Program (YMP)
Information Sessions
Join us to learn more about the music camp that changes lives.
Join us to learn more about the music camp that changes lives.Do you know a student who writes songs or arranges music? Or a young improviser who wants to strengthen their musicianship and meet like-minded peers? Or a music teacher who might like to learn about Walden’s unique curriculum?
Join us at one of our online interactive information sessio
All YMP Info Sessions are held on Zoom. Learn more and register for one of the info sessions below:
These events are open to prospective students, music teachers, and anyone else who would like to learn about Walden’s flagship program for musicians ages 9 to 18.
Community News
Leo Liebeskind appears on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumnus Leo Liebeskind, who performs as Leo Lovechild, was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on a segment titled “Battle of the Instant Songwriters.” Leo and his competitor Meredith Lampe were each given an hour to come up with a song to match a made-up song title and perform it on the show. Leo’s song, Babysitting the Rizzler (world premiere), featured hilarious lyrics like “Told him to be in bed by nine / but now he’s live with the Costco Guys,” accompanied by acoustic guitar. Follow this link to watch the full clip, and more of Leo’s music can be found on his Bandcamp.
Osnat Netzer and Stacy Garrop programmed on “Concert for Peace”
The 26th Annual Concert for Peace, programmed by Chicago-based new music organization Fulcrum Point on the topic of Lamentations on the Disaster of War, featured two Walden composers, Stacy Garrop (left) and Osnat Netzer (right). Garrop is a YMP alumna and former YMP faculty member. Netzer is an alumna of Walden’s Teacher Training Institute (TTI), and she has taught at both YMP and the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). Netzer’s piece They bury their dead with great ululations and Garrop’s piece Lo Yisa Goy were performed on December 17 at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Both works deal with themes of conflict, grief, and peace.
Katherine Balch and Lei Liang win Fromm Commissions
The Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University announced twelve winners of its commissioning prize on December 18, including two composers from the Walden community. Former YMP faculty member Katherine Balch (left) and past CMR and YMP composer-in-residence Lei Liang (right) both received commissions as part of the foundation’s mission to bring contemporary concert music closer to the public. They join the ranks of many Walden-affiliated composers who have received this prestigious commission. Congratulations, Katie and Lei!
Freya Waley-Cohen featured on Visionary Sounds
In our November edition of InterNetzo, we highlighted an upcoming performance of YMP alumna Freya Waley-Cohen’s song cycle Spell Book by the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. The performance, part of the Orchestra’s Visionary Sounds series, took place on December 4 at the DiMenna Center in New York City, and Walden Board member Kate Valenta was in attendance. Many thanks to Kate and her husband Alex Johnston, Director of the DiMenna Center, for sharing this photo of Freya speaking to the audience about her work. A recording of Waley-Cohen’s song cycle, set to poems by Rebecca Tamás, was released on NMC Records in October. Photo credit: The DiMenna Center.
Aurora Nealand tours multiple countries as musical ambassador
Aurora Nealand, a former YMP faculty member and a perennial visiting artist at Walden, was selected along with her Inquiry Quartet as a touring artist by American Music Abroad. She was in Lesotho this month and will tour Kuwait and Algeria in January. Aurora Nealand’s Inquiry Quartet performs new music in the New Orleans jazz tradition. American Music Abroad (AMA) is a program sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Each year, approximately 10 ensembles of American music in different genres are selected from among hundreds of applicants to represent the U.S. through a multi-country tour, with a focus on reaching audiences with little or no access to American music.
Sky Macklay profiled in Peabody Magazine
Sky Macklay, a CMR and TTI alumna and former YMP faculty member, was recently featured in Peabody Magazine, a publication of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where she is an assistant professor of composition. The article, titled “A Composer Drawn to ‘Spicy Sounds’,” detailed how Sky’s longtime interest in multimedia has manifested in an acoustic sound installation called Harmonitrees, featuring inflatable harmonica-playing clear vinyl sculptures, which has traveled to Florida, Maryland, and Poland. Her work has been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. She’s also received several awards and prestigious honors, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris. Photo by Larry Canner for Peabody Magazine.
Ruth Franklin’s New Book Available for Preorder
YMP alumna and former board member Ruth Franklin has authored a new book, The Many Lives of Anne Frank, which will be released in January. The book is structured around the myriad identities of Anne Frank as a person, witness, author, and symbol following her death, from her agency as an artist and writer to the diverse applications of her legacy. More information about the book’s conception and background can be found in Ruth’s essay on Substack. The Many Lives of Anne Frank is now available for preorder here. Ruth Franklin is a book critic and former editor at The New Republic. Her first biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (2016), won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
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.
A dance during the 2019 Young Musicians Program
Aurora Nealand Tours Multiple Countries as Musical Ambassador
Aurora Nealand Tours Multiple Countries as Musical Ambassador
Aurora Nealand, a former YMP faculty member and a perennial visiting artist at Walden, was selected along with her Inquiry Quartet as a touring artist by American Music Abroad. She was in Lesotho this month and will tour Kuwait and Algeria in January. Aurora Nealand’s Inquiry Quartet performs new music in the New Orleans jazz tradition. American Music Abroad (AMA) is a program sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Each year, approximately 10 ensembles of American music in different genres are selected from among hundreds of applicants to represent the U.S. through a multi-country tour, with a focus on reaching audiences with little or no access to American music.
This profile was originally published in the December 2024 InterNetzo.
Mary H. Crawford and Jimmy Levi Engaged
Mary H. Crawford and Jimmy Levi engaged
We are excited to share the news that YMP alumni Mary Crawford and Jimmy Levi have gotten engaged! Mary and Jimmy live in San Francisco, where they attended Walden’s celebration and fundraiser in September.
Congratulations, Mary and Jimmy!
This announcement was originally published as part of the November 2024 InterNetzo.
The Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award
A Walden School/PRISM Quartet Premiere
Congratulations to Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumnus Aaron Nichols, recipient of The Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award, on the premiere of his commissioned work, Mesovortex!
Aaron’s piece was performed by PRISM Quartet in Philadelphia on November 17 and New York City on November 18. Walden hosted receptions after each concert, and we were so glad to see several Walden alumni and friends in attendance! Many thanks to Walden faculty member, academic dean, and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alumnus Nate Trier for organizing the receptions. Thanks also to Walden board member Kate Valenta and to Mary Anne O’Meara, a past board member and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna, for their assistance.
Walden is proud to partner with PRISM Quartet on this opportunity to support young composers in their creative development. We are especially grateful to Matthew Levy, founding member of PRISM Quartet and a former member of Walden’s Board of Directors, for his longstanding collaboration and leadership. The Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award was launched in 2000, and since then 22 Young Musicians Program (YMP) students have received the award and had their compositions premiered on PRISM’s concert series.
This post was originally published as part of the November 2024 InterNetzo.
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in New Hampshire
A Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore
Walden hosted a wonderful end-of-summer celebration and fundraiser in Dublin and Harrisville, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 3. The afternoon began with a sizzling performance by acclaimed vocalist Hilary Kole with pianist Misha Piatigorsky. Hilary and Misha were joined for one song by guitarist and composer Carlos Henrique Pereira, a faculty member at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and a parent of two Walden students.
Hilary Kole is a Walden alumna who returned to Walden this summer as a YMP faculty member, an attendee at Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), and the parent of a first-time YMP student! As Hilary shared during her performance, “Walden is not the same” as it was when she attended as a student—“it’s better!” Thank you, Hilary, for your incredible performance and powerful reflections on Walden.
Walden supporters Ellen Bernard (Emerita Walden Board member) and Mary Anne O’Meara (Junior Conservator Camp alumna and former Walden Board member)The celebration continued at the home of Ellen and Ed Bernard in nearby Harrisville. Thank you, Ellen and Ed, for hosting this event for the third year in a row! Thanks, also, to David Bivins, a Walden parent and a new member of Walden’s Board of Directors, who spoke movingly about Walden’s tremendous impact on his family. We are so grateful to our host committee and all our event donors for their generosity. With your help, we raised $28,500 through this event! Thank you!
This recap was originally published in the October 2024 InterNetzo.
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 29, in the dazzling Green Room at San Francisco’s War Memorial. We are so grateful to our host committee and all our donors, who contributed more than $10,000 to Walden!
Friction Quartet (Otis Harriel, Kevin Rogers, Mitso Floor, and Doug Machiz) gave a masterful performance, featuring works from the Quartet’s 2024 Faculty Commissioning residency at Walden by Cara Haxo, Francesca Hellerman, and Theo Trevisan, as well as a composition written during this summer’s Young Musicians Program by student Henry Vidaver. Thanks to Friction for sharing these amazing works with our West Coast Walden friends!
We are grateful to Walden parent Juli Anna Johnson and board member Stephen Smith, who spoke movingly about Walden’s incredible impact and the importance of supporting our programs.
Thanks also to Stephen Smith and Cultivar Wine for arranging a donation of wine for the event, and to Carlos Henrique Pereira and MacRostie Winery for contributing some fabulous raffle prizes.
This recap was originally published in the October 2024 InterNetzo.
Luke Poeppel Appointed Assistant Conductor of Kansas City Symphony
Luke Poeppel appointed Assistant Conductor of Kansas City Symphony
Luke Poeppel, a German-American conductor who attended YMP for five summers, is serving as as an assistant conductor to the Kansas City Symphony during Matthias Pintscher’s first season as music director. He will conduct the orchestra in Handel’s Messiah, among other performances this season. Poeppel is a 2024 graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received his master’s in conducting under the tutelage of Brad Lubman and Timothy Long. He recently served as cover conductor for a Pintscher-led concert with the New York Philharmonic featuring the premiere of Pintscher’s piece neharot, the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham, and Schönberg’s Pelleas und Melisande. Congratulations, Luke!
This profile was originally published as part of the October 2024 InterNetzo.
eNews: InterNetzo – June 2024
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Walden begins today!
Summer is here, bringing with it another summer of transformative music programs at The Walden School. Today, June 15, our 2024 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) begins, and our Young Musicians Program (YMP) starts on June 29. I can’t wait to experience the energy, diversity, and creativity that our more than 100 participants will bring to Walden this year.
In this edition of InterNetzo, we are excited to share the incredible lineup of faculty and staff who will bring our Summer 2024 programs to life. We also share a recap of the festive Walden celebration and fundraiser that was held on May 5 in Washington, DC, raising more than $11,000 in support of critical scholarships and world-class artist residences at Walden’s programs this summer.
Please read on for more news and updates from the Walden community. And stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer as our programs and Concert Series get underway. I hope our paths cross soon!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
This Weekend at Walden
At Dublin School,
Dublin, New Hampshire (and online!)
All events are free and open to the public.
Join us for the opening concert of Walden’s 2024 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), featuring artists-in-residence David Friend (piano) and members of International Contemporary Ensemble: Colleen Bernstein (percussion), Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flutes), Nicolee Kuester (horn), Dan Lippel (guitars), Josh Modney (violin), and Damian Norfleet (voice). The concert will feature music by current Walden faculty members and by CMR Composer-in-Residence Oscar Bettison.
Sunday, June 16, 7:30 pm Eastern
Composer-in-Residence Presentation
With CMR Composer-in-Residence Oscar Bettison
Note: This event will not be livestreamed.
Oscar Bettison’s music lives, thrillingly, on a razor’s edge between unpredictability and a groove wrought of full-bodied play. Born on the United Kingdom’s Channel Islands to Spanish and British parents, Bettison was fascinated from an early age by the interplay between the “weird, hazy, tenuous aural image” in his imagination and the wild effort to wrestle it onto the page. After studying in Amsterdam with Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding, he learned to embrace this creative discomfort, crashing through challenges with fantastic, imaginative twists. As Bettison has said: “It’s not that refinement is a bad thing. But there are times when it can get in the way.” Join us for a presentation by Mr. Bettison of some of his work.
Fundraising Event
Event recap: A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in Washington, DC
Thank you to all who joined us for The Walden School’s celebration and fundraiser in Washington, DC, on Sunday, May 5!
It was a wonderful afternoon of food, drink, conversation, and music held in the beautiful and historic DACOR Bacon House, just steps from the White House. The Claremont Trio (violinist Emily Bruskin, cellist Julia Bruskin, and pianist Sophiko Simsive) wowed with their engaging performances of works by Fanny Mendelssohn, Kati Agócs (a 2022 Composer-in-Residence at Walden), and Johannes Brahms. In between pieces, Julia Bruskin shared reflections from her many visits to Walden’s Young Musicians Program, saying, “There’s no place like Walden.”
We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our event donors for your generosity. With your help, we raised $11,480! Thank you! Your support brings Walden 2024 that much closer.
If you would like to show your support to Walden, contributions are warmly appreciated at any time. You are welcome to donate online or send a check to The Walden School at 7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204, San Francisco, CA 94131.
Summer 2024 Faculty and Staff
Each summer, Walden assembles a stellar team of faculty and staff to mentor and inspire our participants and provide them with unparalleled musical experiences. Our philosophy is that by participating together in all levels of community life, faculty, staff, visiting artists, and students can create an environment where close relationships develop and creativity flourishes.
Walden’s 2024 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 group 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 and arts advocates.
Visit our website to learn more about the faculty and staff at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR).
YMP Faculty and Staff
David Carlton Adams, Faculty
Zaki Andoh, Staff
William Bolles-Beaven, Faculty
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director & YMP Program Director
Kittie Cooper, Faculty, Academic Dean, & Director of Composers Forums
Shannon Dunning, Staff
Jeff Dutter, Staff
Kari Francis, Faculty & Choral Director
Aidan Gold, Faculty
Cara Haxo, Faculty & Academic Dean
Francesca Hellerman, Faculty & Assistant Director of Composers Forums
Gree Jordan, Nurse
Ross Karre, Technical Director
Hilary Kole, Faculty
Loretta Notareschi, Teaching Mentor
Carlos Henrique Pereira, Faculty
Dahlia Riddington, Staff
Marco Roberts, Staff
Luke Schroeder, Assistant Director of Operations & Faculty
Sammi Jo Stone, Director of Operations & Faculty
Theo Trevisan, Faculty
Nate Trier, Faculty
Samantha Wolf, Faculty
Paul Zito, Staff
CMR Faculty and Staff
Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Alex Christie, Faculty & Director of Electronic Music
Cara Haxo, Faculty
Francesca Hellerman, Staff
Caroline Mallonee, Faculty & CMR Program Director
Ted Moore, Technical Director
Loretta Notareschi, Faculty
Sam Pluta, Faculty
Dahlia Riddington, Staff
Sarah Riskind, Choral Director
Luke Schroeder, Staff
J. Sparr, Faculty
Sammi Jo Stone, Director of Operations
Call for Memories and Photos
Attention alumni! We are renewing a call for treasured memories and photos from your time at Walden or the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), to be included in a 50th/70th-Anniversary memory book.
Please aim to keep your reflections to a maximum of 250 words.
Alumni are also invited to share up to five treasured photos with the community to be included in the memory book.
Please send your memories and photos to us at alumni@waldenschool.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
Community News
Denise Ondishko’s Moments in Nature featured on new recording
A three-movement composition by Denise Ondishko, Moments in Nature for saxophone and digital audio, is featured on Inflorescence, a new album by saxophonist Kyle Horch. In these pieces, Ondishko is heard reciting a poem along with digital audio that she designed and created in her home studio, and a live saxophone recorded for the album. Ondishko is a Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumna and a former Walden staff member, faculty member, and Board member. She was featured in a previous edition of InterNetzo, where she shared that her work with Horch was instrumental in keeping her involved in composition.
Modney releases Ascending Primes
Composer-violinist Josh Modney, who performs and records as Modney, released a new double-album of solo and ensemble works on Pyroclastic Records, Ascending Primes. The album builds on Modney’s interests in tuning systems and exploring “extremes of harmonicity and dissonance.” The works are performed by prime-numbered ensembles featuring several Walden-affiliated artists: Erica Dicker (violin), Marina Kifferstein(violin), Mariel Roberts (cello), and Sam Pluta (electronics). Modney is a frequent Walden visiting artist who will return to both the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) and the Young Musicians Program (YMP) in Summer 2024.
Nnenna Ogwo’s Juneteenth Festival returns
This June, Juneteenth LP (Juneteenth Legacy Project), founded by Nnenna Ogwo, will present a series of musical events celebrating Juneteenth, the national holiday commemorating the end of slavery in America. The Juneteenth Festival will culminate in Ogwo’s annual Juneteenth celebration at Joe’s Pub on June 19, featuring music by Black composers across genres. Ogwo’s Juneteenth LP was honored this year with a special grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music (a Walden School supporter), in honor of the Fund’s 30th anniversary. Ogwo is both a YMP and CMR alumna, as well as a past board member, faculty member, and visiting artist. A complete lineup of the Juneteenth Festival can be found here.
Alex Christie earns PhD
Composer, electronic musician, and intermedia artist Alex Christie, a YMP alumnus and veteran Walden faculty member who will return to teach at CMR this summer, earned his PhD from the Department of Music at the University of Virginia on May 18. His dissertation is titled “Light, Sound, Systems, Deer: Nonhuman Agency and Intermedia Practice,” and it represents the culmination of many years of Christie’s artistic practice and scholarship. Congratulations, Alex!
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.
A dance during the 2019 Young Musicians Program
Washington, DC Event (May 2024)
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in Washington, DC
Thank you to all who joined us for The Walden School’s celebration and fundraiser in Washington, DC, on Sunday, May 5!
It was a wonderful afternoon of food, drink, conversation, and music held in the beautiful and historic DACOR Bacon House, just steps from the White House. The Claremont Trio (violinist Emily Bruskin, cellist Julia Bruskin, and pianist Sophiko Simsive) wowed with their engaging performances of works by Fanny Mendelssohn, Kati Agócs (a 2022 Composer-in-Residence at Walden), and Johannes Brahms. In between pieces, Julia Bruskin shared reflections from her many visits to Walden’s Young Musicians Program, saying, “There’s no place like Walden.”
We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our event donors for your generosity. With your help, we raised $11,480! Thank you! Your support brings Walden 2024 that much closer.
If you would like to show your support to Walden, contributions are warmly appreciated at any time. You are welcome to donate online or send a check to The Walden School at 7 Joost Avenue, Suite 204, San Francisco, CA 94131.
This recap was originally published as part of the June 2024 InterNetzo.
Joan Tower Honored by Da Capo Chamber Players
Joan Tower Honored by Da Capo Chamber Players
The Da Capo Chamber Players honored one of its founding members, the composer Joan Tower, with a concert on February 25 at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City. Tower, who is a past Composer-in-Residence at YMP and who has moderated a Walden Alumni Composers Forum, has described Walden as “one of America’s greatest hidden treasures.” The concert, in celebration of Tower’s 85th birthday, featured four of her works, spanning almost 50 years of Tower’s compositional activity.
This profile was originally published as part of the February 2024 InterNetzo.