Matthew Klahorst (WP)

November 2013 eNews: InterNetzo

Table of Contents

Message from the Executive Director
Now Hear This! Work by 2013 Walden Participants
Send Us Your Scores! Face The Music to Perform at April Alumni Composers Forum
Tiiiiiiiii…Do! (We Made It!)
Administrative Comings and Going
An Eventful Summer
An Update on Walden’s Board of Directors
Why Wait? Request An Application Today!
Jazz Musicianship Now Available Online
A Fall Walden Gathering…
…and a Holiday Party Coming to a City Near You
The Walden School Honored by Great Nonprofits
Join HandOverHand.org, Walden’s alumni website
Opportunities & Organizations Listing
Community News & Goods

Message from the Executive Director

While the past summer is fading into our memories, the experience at Walden in New Hampshire made an indelible impression on our students, parents, faculty, staff and artists, as you can read a bit from their own words, expressed in their evaluations of the summer:

“As a parent, it is exciting to see your child in an environment that is on the one hand very sophisticated in what it offers students, and at the same time very warm and encouraging so the students feel comfortable exploring their creativity and skills away from home.”

“The program choices and the staff were superb. What my son learned was life changing. He has been enlightened by the Walden School experience. Walden is a parents’ dream for their children! It is priceless! We are very grateful to you, and we thank you!”

“I would use the following words to describe our residency: productive, creative, challenging, positive, meaningful, mutually beneficial.”

“I loved working here this summer, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the Walden experience.”

“I loved the setting, I loved the food, I adored the dances and the hikes, but what I loved best of all were the people — the wonderful ‘faculstaff’ and the great friends I made among the students.”

In 2013, Walden’s Young Musicians Program was offered for the 41^st time. During the five-week program, we had exciting residencies with composers George Lewis and Joan Panetti (a Junior Conservatory Camp alumna), The Walden School Players, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Dal Niente, Phyllis Chen, Anne LaBerge and Peter Evans, among others. Our faculty, composed of a majority of returning faculty members, offered classes in musical theater, the music of Debussy, film scoring, computer musicianship, jazz improvisation, and of course, our core curriculum of musicianship and composition. Choral director Alysoun Kegel, ably supported by a crackerjack team of assistant conductors (Sam Pluta, Sarah Riskind and Peter Thompson) led The Walden School Chorus. The entire community presented a beautiful choral concert at the end of Festival Week at the Peterborough Town House, attended by more than 200 parents, friends, and local community members.

Amber Rubarth, Dave Eggar and Chuck Palmer made a special appearance on one of our Open Mics, and Walden alumna Hilary Kole gave a surprise performance during Festival Week for parents, students, faculty and staff. More than 100 compositions were given their first hearing this summer at Walden, as young musicians from around the world gathered with talented faculty and staff for a summer of musicianship, community, and creativity.

During the fall, we in Walden’s administration and faculty make our way through the dozens of pages of written evaluations from all of our summer program constituents. This process allows the board, administration and faculty to continually evaluate the markers and measures of Walden’s success while at the same time work to improve the experience for all of Walden’s future program participants.

And while we are in the midst of looking back at a fantastic Summer 2013 at Walden, we are busily making preparations for Walden 2014. I am delighted to announce that in 2014, from June 14-22, Walden will reprise the successful Creative Musicians Retreat that the School offered in both 2011 and 2012! Wet Ink Ensemble will be in residence, and we will be making additional announcements about the program’s faculty, staff and composer-in-residence in the coming weeks. This program is open to any adult musician seeking a ‘Walden’ experience – complete with singing, hiking, Composers Forums, chorus, musicianship, a concert and of course, the creative community that is a hallmark of Walden. For more information, please visit waldenschool.org/creative-musicians-retreat.

Our five-week flagship summer Young Musicians Program will commence its 42^ndseason on Saturday, June 28, 2014. We’ll be mailing applications in the next few weeks, and we’ll be making announcements about artists who will be in residence and faculty who will be teaching over the coming months. Aakash Mittal will be in residence for several days with a quintet performing a compelling program of North Indian-inspired jazz music. Enrollment is limited to 50 students, and our first application deadline will be in December. Financial aid in the form of tuition assistance is available to qualified families.

In addition to all of our plans for next summer, we are busy making plans for holiday parties in 5 different cities: the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City (December 8), Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston. Watch HandOverHand.org and Walden’s Facebook page and group for more information about dates and locations!

We have also announced an exciting collaboration with Face the Music of New York City, the nation’s only new music ensemble composed entirely of top-notch teen performers. On the evening of April 5, 2014, players from Face the Music will perform on a Walden/Junior Conservatory Camp Alumni Composers Forum in New York City to be moderated by past Walden visiting composer Eve Beglarian. We are delighted about this upcoming event. If you’d like to submit your score for consideration to be performed or have questions about the event, please write to us at events@waldenschool.org.

Finally, I hope you will take time to read the rest of this issue of InterNetzo. There’s lots of information about staff and board transitions, alumni & friends’ news and goods, a wrap-up of our summer events, and of course, a musical offering in the form of a recording of one of our 2013 YMP program participant’s compositions. None of what we do at Walden could happen without the generous contributions from our more than 350 donors – foundations, corporations and individuals like you. On behalf of everyone at Walden, thank you for your support!

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Now Hear This! Works by 2013 Walden Participants

The 2013 Young Musicians Program saw the world premieres of more than 100 student works, including “That’s So Metal” by Brooke Adams. Click here to listen to Brooke’s piece, performed by Jane Cords O’Hara on cello and Brooke herself on electronics.

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Send Us Your Scores! Face the Music to Perform at April 2014 NYC Alumni Composers Forum

Walden is excited to announce that this year’s annual New York City Alumni Composers Forum will feature the ensemble Face the Musicand will be moderated by recent Walden School Composer-in-Residence, Eve Beglarian. Selected compositions will be performed by members of Face the Music on the April 5th Alumni Composers Forum.

This opportunity is open to all Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp alumni and current students. We are seeking scores that are no longer than eight minutes (preference will be given to new works) and the composer must be present at the Composers Forum in New York City, on April 5th, 2014. Instrumentation can include any combination of the following: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, upright bass, electric bass, electric guitar, drumset, piano/keyboards, violin(x2), viola, cello. If you would like to include electronics please email us with details. If you are interested in submitting a score please email us at events@waldenschool.org – all submissions are due by December 16th, 2013.

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Tiiiiiiiii…Do! (We Made It!)

Wow! A BIG thank you to all of our supporters who helped us meet and surpass our fundraising goal for our 2013 fiscal year – because of your help we raised more than $400,000 to support creative music education from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013. You’ve empowered Walden to maintain the superlative caliber of our faculty and staff, to keep bringing world-class artists to campus for exciting residencies, and to provide vital financial aid to talented students.

A special thanks and congratulations to one mystery donor, whose donation brought us over the $400K mark. That generous person has won a weekend visit to the 2014 Young Musician’s Program.

Now, on to 2014! Whether giving for the first time or renewing your generosity, it’s never too early to change a life forever…

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Administrative Comings and Goings

By Seth Brenzel

It is with incredible gratitude and sadness and excitement – all at the same time – that we bid farewell to Esther Landau, Walden’s Director of Development since September of October 2004. She has accepted a position as the Director of Development at the Pomeroy Recreation & Rehabilitation Center (http://www.prrcsf.org) here in San Francisco, California, and the staff and community at Pomeroy are certainly fortunate to have lured her away from Walden! For nine years, Esther has partnered with me, Walden’s Board of Directors, volunteers, parents, alumni and donors to grow our annual fund to unprecedented levels, launch and sustain our alumni relations programs (including two wonderful Alumni Reunions and our annual regional Composers Forums), and to be one of the fiercest advocates around for Walden’s programs and mission. Her accomplishments have been multitudinous and have enabled Walden to expand beyond offering our flagship camp program to being able to offer programs for adult creative musicians, as well as year-round events and gathering for alumni, faculty and friends.

I have especially appreciated the opportunity to work with Esther, and I have learned so much from her. I cherish her collegiality, determination, wit and warmth. This past summer, Esther joined the ranks of Walden parents: her daughter Ruby was a first-time “camper” in 2013. I am excited that Esther and her wife Caroline will continue to stay close to Walden through their new relationship as Walden parents, and I know that their entire family will remain connected to Walden. In Esther’s own words, “I have to go, but I don’t want to leave.” There simply are not enough ways for Walden to express its gratitude to Esther for her service over this past near-decade.

Esther will be staying on through the end of December in a part-time capacity as she begins her new adventures at Pomeroy and helps us transition to our new Director of Development, a search for whom is currently in its final stages. If you’re interested in learning more about the search and what we’re looking for in Esther’s successor, you can check out the employment section of Walden’s website. And of course if you have any questions about this transition, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Walden also reluctantly said ‘arrivederci’ to Jefferson Packer, Director of Administration, last month, as he transitioned to a new position as Director of Marketing and Development at the California Symphony in Walnut Creek, California, where Jefferson has the opportunity to work with this important Bay Area institution in helping launch Donato Cabrera’s inaugural season as its new Music Director and Conductor. Jefferson worked with Donato at the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra, where prior to Walden, Jefferson served as the Orchestra’s Manager. Coincidentally, the California Symphony is the orchestra at which Walden alumnus and faculty member D. J. Sparr has been serving as Composer-in-Residence since 2011.

Even before joining our staff, Jefferson raised $1,250 for Walden’s programs through his generous and enthusiastic participation in Walden’s Compose-a-thon. I am most grateful for Jefferson’s work at Walden in the administrative side of Walden’s operations, helping us streamline our database processes, office operations, financial management, and launching our new website, over these past three years. Jefferson is also active as a wonderful professional baritone and collaborative pianist here in the Bay Area, and we trust that it won’t be too long before we see him again, on or off stage.

Walden staff member and alumnus Peter Thompson, who recently completed his undergraduate degree from Yale University in Music, has joined the Walden staff as our new Administrative Manager. We are thrilled to have his program experience, passion for Walden’s mission and programs and people, and his enthusiastic can-do attitude to help us fill Jefferson’s shoes. Peter has relocated to San Francisco from the East Coast and will also be present at Walden’s programs in 2014, joining the ranks of bi-coastal Walden faculty and staff.

And finally, returning from his too-early retirement as Walden’s Office Manager, Drew Thams has stepped into the role of Walden’s bookkeeper, working remotely as a contractor from his home in San Diego. We are delighted to welcome Drew back into service to Walden, and we know that Walden’s financial management and record keeping continue to be in excellent hands.

Welcome Drew and Peter – we are so glad you are here!

Good luck and farewell and THANK YOU to Esther and Jefferson – we wish you the very best on your new adventures and count on staying in touch!

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An Eventful Summer

Tawnya PopoffIn mid-July, the lucky attendees at Walden’s annual Open House on the campus of the Dublin School were treated to a special performance by the Treble Chorus, along with engaging demonstrations of musicianship, computer musicianship, and musical theater.

A few days later, alumni were guests at an online event, a webinar in real time featuring a mid-summer report from Director Seth Brenzel, as well as a mini-Composers Forum. Young Musicians Program students Alice Faye Kincade and Jack Whitelaw presented recordings of their newly premiered works, discussing their compositions with faculty moderator Sam Pluta. Attendees at the webinar were able to submit questions for the young composers. Discussion was lively and the event was a success. If you’d like to listen to the archived recording, write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.

On a glorious day in early August, Walden parents and friends gathered at the home of Susie and Loring Catlin in Dublin, New Hampshire, to celebrate the close of another successful summer at the Young Musicians Program. Violinist Jane Chung and violist Tawnya Popoff performed a delightful program of duos against the backdrop of Dublin Lake. And on an equally glorious day in mid-September, Bay Area friends enjoyed a party at the home of Teresa McCollough in Menlo Park. The musical program featured our host, Teresa, along with tenor Brian Thorsett, performing works by Britten, Schubert, Foster, and Walden Co-founder David Hogan, including Hogan’s arrangement of Bach’s Bist du bei mir. Attendees at both events were generous, encouraged by the knowledge that their donations would be matched by a challenge from Walden’s Board of Directors.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our event hosts, host committees, performers, volunteers, board members, and supporters for making all these events tremendously successful!

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Update on Walden’s Board of Directors

By Seth Brenzel

Walden’s dedicated Board of Directors met in Dublin, New Hampshire, for two days in July. As part of the annual meeting, faculty, staff and administration met with the board and consultant Shannon Ellis of CompassPoint, jointly discovering common language to discuss Walden’s enduring core values. On Saturday, relevant to the Board’s attention to long-range planning, the Board and administration focused on identifying and evaluating criteria to help the School better define and communicate its organizational impact – on its participants and on the broader world. It was a successful meeting, capped by a festive celebratory dinner at the home of Emeritus Director Charlie MacVeagh and his wife, Dede.

As happens each July, there were new additions to the Board of Directors as other Directors’ terms were ending. Joining the board in 2013 are Ellen Bernard (returning to the Board after previously serving most recently as Board Chair), Jamie Hamilton, Amelia Lukas, and Steve Messner.

Ellen Bernard and her husband Ed are long-time Walden friends, and parents of Walden alumni, staff and faculty Meade and Whit Bernard. Ellen serves on a number of Baltimore-based non-profit boards, including Baltimore Choral Arts and the Walters Art Gallery. Jamie Hamilton joins Walden after having served from 1996-2011 as the Priest-in-Charge at Emmanuel Church, the summer Episcopal church that is next-door to the Dublin School. She is the Associate Dean of Students at Phillips Exeter Academy, serving also on the faculty as a teacher of religion.

Amelia Lukas is a former member of Walden’s SF-based administrative team, of Walden’s summer program staff, and of The Walden School Players, and she is a Walden Teacher Training Institute alumna. She is active as a professional flutist in New York City, leads the new music organization Ear Heart Music, and manages the chamber and dance catalogues for music publisher G. Schirmer. Steve Messner is a two-time Creative Musicians Retreat participant and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC, since 2003. He works with the top management of small and medium-sized companies as a financial advisor or part-time CFO or COO to help them increase profitability and cash flow and improve operations.

In July, we bid farewell to three outstanding members of Walden’s Board of Directors, who between the three of them, served 21 years as members of Walden’s Board. To Todd Cleary, John O’Meara, and Molly Pindell, all of us at Walden offer you our heartiest appreciation and most heartfelt gratitude for all that you have done to sustain and strengthen Walden over the last number of years. Thankfully for Walden, Todd, John and Molly have each agreed to ongoing service on Board committees as non-director members, and I know that each of them and their families will remain close members of the Walden community.

For more information about the School’s Board of Directors, visit https://waldenschool.org/about-us/board-of-directors/.

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Why Wait? Request an Application Today!

Applications for The Walden School’s 2014 Young Musicians Program (June 28-August 3) and Creative Musicians Retreat(June 14-June 22) will be available soon. Sign up to have them delivered to your mailbox! Would you or someone you know benefit from Walden’s renowned creative pedagogy, inspiring teachers, and collaborative community? Teachers, students, parents, children, teenagers, composers, conductors, pedagogues, performers, professionals, and beginners: we can’t wait to hear from you!

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Jazz Musicianship Now Available Online

Bill StevensJazz Musicianship: A Guide for Integrated Learning Vol. 1, written by Bill Stevens (YMP ’92-’94, YMP Faculty ’00-’10, TTI Faculty ’06-’11, CMR Faculty ’12), is hot off the presses and now available for purchase directly online! Click hereto order your copy. The book is also available directly through The Walden School office. A portion of your purchase of this book benefits the Walden School. Junior Conservatory Camp alumna and Walden visiting artist, Marilyn Crispell states, “I think that Jazz Musicianship is an incredibly thorough, very well done, approach to learning jazz from the bottom up, laying strong foundations for further explorations and understanding of the jazz idiom. I am very impressed.” If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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A Fall Walden Gathering…

On October 13, about twenty recent alumni of the Young Musicians Program gathered for pizza at Johnny’s in New York City with ‘faculstaff’ members Marguerite Ladd, Sam Pluta, Sky Macklay, and Seth Brenzel. The gathering included a third of the 2013 YMP student body, as well as a few slightly less recent and equally beloved alumni. Students flew in from as far away as Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco for hugs, jokes, memories, and a LOT of cheese. Thanks to all of you for making the event such a success!

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…and a Holiday Party Coming to a City Near You

Alumni at
NYC holiday
party, 2012It is never to early to start planning your busy holiday season. Make sure you leave room for a Walden holiday party! Currently we are planning holiday parties in the following cities: Boston, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. Register at handoverhand.org or join Walden’s facebook group to get the latest on these events. We would love to help facilitate holiday parties all over the world, so, please contact us if you are interested in attending or hosting a party this season!

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Honored by Great Nonprofits

Thanks to the rave reviews of supporters like you, The Walden School has earned a spot on Great NonProfits 2013 Top Rated List! Walden is one of the first nonprofits to be honored this year and is now listed as a winner on their leaderboard. We are so grateful to all of you who helped us achieve this honor! It makes a big difference. If you’d like to write your own review or see what others have said about us, click here.

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Join HandOverHand.org, Walden’s alumni website

Did you attend a program at The Walden School? Are you a parent of a child who has attended Walden?
Register at Walden’s alumni website, handoverhand.org!

Features include:

• Program pages for JCC, YMP, TTI and CMR
• Personal profiles, photo albums, blogs and links to personal sites
• An events calendar
• Opportunities Center listing calls for scores and competitions
• An Alumni Forum for discussing topics of interest
• Links to sites of interest

As a registered member, you’ll be able to search for friends by the year they attended, send internal emails to other members, upload your own photos, post events to the calendar, and more. Go to: http://handoverhand.org and register!

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Opportunities & Organizations Listing

An opportunities listing for composers of multiple levels and age ranges, as well as organizations that provide services to composers, performers, music teachers, improvisers, and experimental musicians, is available here.

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Community News and Goods

The Walden School welcomes news and information from members of the Junior Conservatory Camp and Walden School communities to include in our print and online newsletters. News may be sent via mail or email. We will publish your contact information only if you specifically request that we do so. Please contact us on-line or send info to The Walden School, 31A 29th St., San Francisco, CA 94110. We reserve the right to edit submissions and regret we cannot publish all information provided. For upcoming event listings, go to the Walden and JCC alumni website, handoverhand.org. (Note: YMP=Young Musicians Program; TTI=Teacher Training Institute; CMR=Creative Musicians Retreat; JCC=Junior Conservatory Camp).

Hannah Addario-Berry (Visiting Artist ’06) performed the Sonata for Solo Cello by György Ligeti on May 6 at ODC Theater in San Francisco as part of BAASICS.3: The Deep End, an exploration of neurodiversities, mental disorders, and creativity, presented by the Bay Area Art and Science Interdisciplinary Collaborative Sessions (BAASICS).

Ethan Borshansky (YMP ’98-01, Staff ’05) has joined the faculty of Bergen Community College, where he teaches electronic music. His most recent release, Iselin Aerial EP, currently holds a place on the Thema label’s top ten Most Popular Releases.

Alan Chan (TTI ’04, ’06; YMP Faculty ’10-’11) and the Alan Chan Jazz Orchestra have released their first albums, the Rancho Calaveras EP and the ACJO Album. In other news, Alan’s piece Winter News received a New Music USA’s Composer Assistance Award.

Claire Chase (Visiting Artist ’05-’09; ’11) was featured on The Street, talking about the beginnings of International Contemporary Ensemble and her work in building community around new music. She also just dropped a new album, Density.

In September, Alex Christie (YMP ’02-04, TTI ’10-11, YMP Staff ’09, YMP Faculty ’10-13) made a homecoming to Oberlin Conservatory, where he recorded a new piece with pianist Tom Rosenkranz and presented a guest lecture/demo on electro-acoustic improvisation, joined by bassoonist Dana Jessen (YMP Faculty ’13). He also worked with Oberlin students individually, including no fewer than five recent Walden alumni: Sam Phillips-Corwin (YMP ’08-11), Kaeli Mogg (YMP ’08-11), Emma Eisenberg (YMP ’08-’12), Sarah Snider (YMP ’07-12), and Nicole Gutman (YMP ’11-12).

In September, Skyler Chu (YMP ’12) played a Beethoven Sonata for Emmanuel Ax at a master class hosted by the San Francisco Community Music Center. Mr. Ax was mighty impressed with Skyler’s performance!

Andrea Clearfield‘s (Composer-in-Residence, ’06) December 16th Holiday Salon in Philadelphia featured Nigel Armstrong (YMP ’00).

David Conte’s (Visiting Composer ’99, ’02) Three Poems of Christina Rosetti was performed as a part of the Old Firsts Concerts series on September 15th, by Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano and John Boyajy, piano.

Marilyn Crispell (JCC ’60-’64; Visiting Artist ’04, ’07-‘08) has been invited to lead a three-week residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. See their website for an application to work with her.

Shawn Crouch (YMP ’93-’96; YMP Staff ’97, YMP Faculty ’02 and ’05-’07, TTI ’08, YMP and CMR Choral Director) has stepped down as the director of the Miami Choral Academy to pursue doctoral composition studies at University of Miami, where his sextet Adolescent Psychology was performed on October 8.

Miranda Cuckson (YMP Visiting Artist ’08, ’11) had a slew of exciting October concerts, including on October 17 with Guy Barash and Rinat Shaham, on October 19 with composer/pianist Michael Hersch, and on October 24 with pianist Yegor Shevtsov, the last of which celebrates her successful first year as a Mannes College faculty member. She also is unveiling two solo CDs, including Melting the Darkness, an October release featuring microtonal and electro-acoustic works; and a January release of works by Sessions, Carter, and Eckardt.

Ensemble Dal Niente (YMP Visiting Artists ’13) kicked off the Liquid Music concert series in St. Paul on November 5, at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Center. The set featured world premieres and synched video.

Del Sol String Quartet (Visiting Artists ’06) explore the works of Robert Erickson in a pair of Bay Area concerts this month, including a concert at the Center for New Music on November 7 accompanying the visual art of Kimetha Vanderveen, and at the Hillside Club in Berkeley on November 17 presenting Erickson’s complete string quartets.

Nick DeMaison (YMP Faculty ’04-’07) began work this fall as the Director of Orchestras and Choirs at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

The Kronos Quartet just released Aheym, Bryce Dessner’s (Visiting Artist ’03) first full album of string quartets. His percussion quartet Music for Wood and Strings will be premiered by So Percussion at Carnegie Hall on November 23.

Ruth Franklin (YMP ’84-’89; Board Member ’03-’08) married Joseph Braude this summer. Congratulations Ruth and Joseph!

Stacy Garrop (YMP ’87-’88, YMP Faculty ’96) had Give Me Hunger, her new setting of Carl Sandburg’s poem, premiered by Chanticleer on September 20th in San Francisco. The concert, entitled She Said/He Said, was performed five times around the Bay Area.

Michael Gilbertson (YMP Faculty ’13) will join his old teacher Joan Panetti (YMP Visiting Artist ’13, JCC) as a professor at the Yale School of Music in January, teaching a section of Joan’s renowned musicianship class, “Hearing”. He currently teaches composition and music tech at the Educational Center for the Arts, a performing arts charter high school in New Haven.

Mark Greenwald, Ph.D., (YMP ’75-‘78) has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Study Section. Study Sections review grant applications and survey the status of research in their respective fields.

Sophie Huet’s (TTI ’09) Wild Rumpus New Music Collective opened their third season in September with a Nicolas Tzortzis world premiere, along with pieces by Reich, Feldman, and Takemitsu. The will premiere a work by Eliza Brown (YMP ’00-’02, YMP Staff ’04-’05, TTI ’07 and ’10, YMP Faculty ’08-’09) in Spring 2014.

Work is underway for Andrew Jamieson (YMP ’05-06) on Heaven Down Here, a new experimental/gospel chamber opera based on the Jonestown massacre. For more information, including how you can support his project, click here for updates.

Dana Jessen (Faculty ’13) is settling into her new home in Oberlin with a full slate of out-of-state performances, including the successful San Francisco debut of her newest ensemble, Splinter Reeds; and a two-day residency at the University of Michigan with the Rushes Ensemble. You also may have heard Dana’s collaboration with Michael Straus EAR Duo perform on NPR’s All Things Considered, as part of a story on EMMI’s musical robots.

Todd Lerew (CMR ’12) unveiled a pair of exciting works for new instruments in the Bay Area in October. Todd reprised a piece he wrote at CMR at the Music for People and Thingamjigs Festival, in which he dropped wax onto a drum head so that its timbre and pitch slowly changed. The Now Hear Ensemble also premiered his piece written for custom-built monochords.

Sky Macklay (YMP Faculty ’09-’13, TTI ’09, CMR ’11, CMR Staff ’11-12) began doctoral studies in composition at Columbia University this fall.

Teresa McCollough (Visiting Artist ’01) teams up with Michael Boyd to perform Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for 2 Pianos on November 8 at Santa Clara University’s Music Recital Hall.

Melody of China (Visiting Artists ’08) will play a blowout 20th Anniversary Concert on November 24th in San Francisco, featuring a fusion of jazz and Chinese traditions with a stellar list of guest performers. You can reserve tickets for the concert here.

On August 26th, Brendan Milburn (YMP ‘88) and Valerie Vigoda of the theatrical power-pop trio GrooveLily performed as a keyboard and violin duo at the MET Theater in Hollywood, CA.

Gary Monheit (JCC, YMP Faculty ‘75) performed a concert of originals and jazz covers at Yoshi’s San Francisco on June 28.

Osnat Netzer (YMP Faculty ’08-09, ’11, ’13) moved over the Charles River to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she now teaches composition and music theory as a Preceptor at Harvard.

Nathaniel Osborne (YMP ’00-’03) and the Nat Osborne Band opened for the Dave Matthews Band at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York, before kicking off their US tour in July.

Jefferson Packer (TTI ’09-’10, Director of Administration ’11-’13) performed as a member of the San Francisco Renaissance Voices in The Play of Daniel this past June. Click here to request a copy of the write up in Early Music America.

Alicia Jo Rabins (YMP ’88-’93) spent a week teaching art and Torah at the Contemporary Jewish Museum for Studio G-dcast, performed at K Records’ Helsing Junction Sleepoverin Rochester, Washington, and performed again at Fairfield University in Connecticut on October 15th. She has also announced a February run of her one-woman-show A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff at the Portland Playhouse.

Brendon Randall-Meyers (TTI ’10, Development Assistant ’10-’12) continues to flourish at the Yale School of Music, where Indefatigable Optimism, his first piece for orchestra, premieres on December 12.

Jessica Rudman (CMR ’11) married Jeffrey Paternostro on June 23. Congratulations Jessica and Jeffrey!

Vivian Rudow (JCC ’50-‘53) had her piece Rebecca’s Song performed at the Hong Kong Space Museum Lecture Hall by pianist Stanley Wong.

On August 13th, Matt Siffert (CMR ’12) curated a concert entitled “New Songs New Sounds” spotlighting composer-songwriters at CultureFix on the Lower East Side. He also performed his new EP “Rise”.

Kate Soper (Visiting Artist ’09, ’12 as part of Wet Ink) will premiere her vocal monodrama at Zankel Hall in New York City on January 18. Ably assisted by her Wet Ink colleagues, composer/singer/actor/performance artist Kate will bring Madame Bovary, Clytemnestra, and Daisy from The Great Gatsby to life.

Freya Waley-Cohen (YMP ’00-’07) continues to pursue her Masters in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. The pianist Nadav Hertzka will perform Five Breaths, the piece he commissioned from Freya, at five concerts over the next year.

Tamsin Waley-Cohen (Visiting Artist ’10) just signed with Ikon Arts Management, and will be playing two all-Schubert programs with the London Bridge Ensemble in November.

Wet Ink performed with the Evan Parker ElectroAcoustic Ensemble on September 30th at Roulette in Brooklyn. They also played with Yarn/Wire (Visiting Artists ‘12) in Chelsea on October 1st.

Yarn/Wire (Visiting Artists ‘12) threw their annual season kick-off party in New York City featuring works by Laura Barger (TTI ’09) and others. Learn more about their 2013-14 season with three diverse concerts in their home city of Chicago.

On November 20th in Brooklyn, Pamela Z (YMP Visiting Artist ’11) will premiere Carbon Song Cycle, her new collaboration with video artist Christina McPhee.

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by Matthew Klahorst (WP)

June 2013 eNews: InterNetzo

Table of Contents

Message from the Executive Director
2013 Concert Series Announced
Still a Few Places Remaining in Our 2013 Young Musicians Program — Apply Today!
Walden Events in Baltimore and Los Angeles; Upcoming Open House in Dublin
Walden publishes Jazz Musicianship
Join HandOverHand.org, Walden’s alumni website
Community News & Goods
Opportunities & Organizations Listing
Now Hear This! Work by 2012 Walden Participants

Message from the Executive Director

Greetings from Walden!

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well and enjoying the start of summer. This month’s newsletter is chock-full of updates, information and news about Walden, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it all.

Seeing as we are a summer music camp, festival and school, the period leading up to summer is one of Walden’s busiest times of year, as we prepare for the arrival of faculty, staff, guest artists and students at Walden later this month. Many of my colleagues in the educational world talk about how things are winding down for them at this time of year (summer vacation on the way, etc.)…but not for us here at Walden. We’re just winding up, and what an exciting time it is!

For the 2013 Young Musicians Program, we have assembled a crackerjack faculty and staff team, consisting of many returning members and a few new faces. Returning on faculty and staff this summer are Erica Ball, Alex Christie, Rebekah Griffin Greene, Marguerite Ladd, Sky Macklay, Caroline Mallonée, Emil Margolis, Ian Munro, Osnat Netzer, Loretta Notareschi, Sam Pluta, Peter Thompson, Ann Goehe, Sarah Riskind and Meade Bernard! New additions to the faculty staff team this summer are Alysoun Kegel, who will be our choral director and teach one course in the curriculum; Michael Gilbertson, composer and pianist; Josie Kovash and Joshua Clampitt, both Young Musicians Program alumni, who will join the staff this summer; and William Kelly from California, who will also join the staff. You can read more about each of them on our website.

We are super excited about Alysoun Kegel joining the Walden team, taking over the reins of the choral program this year. She comes to us most recently from earning her Masters in conducting at Carnegie Mellon, where she was one of American choral luminary Robert Page’s final students. Prior to receiving her Masters, she gained experience working with young voices, having been the Artistic Director at PALS Children’s Chorus for several years. This fall she will become the choral director at Rosemary Choate Hall in Connecticut. She also has studied Dalcroze, and holds a Masters from Longy in that subject. We look forward to her artistry and leadership this summer!

With Alysoun’s arrival, we say farewell to longtime Walden choral director Leo Wanenchak. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous and innumerable contributions Leo has made over the years to The Walden School, and particularly, to Walden’s choral program. His are big shoes to fill to be sure! All of us at Walden express our gratitude for his teaching and choral leadership over these past many years, and we all wish Leo the very best in his new endeavors. Thank you, Leo!

With this issue of InterNetzo, we also announce the 2013 Walden School concert series. Commencing this year’s series on June 30 is Phyllis Chen, composer and pianist, who will be performing a concert that features her collection of toy pianos, piano music inspired by toy pianos and more; it promises to be a stupendous evening of sound. Joan Panetti, a Junior Conservatory alumna and faculty member at Yale University, will co-moderate a Composers Forum with her former student, Caroline Mallonée. Ms. Panetti will be in residence for several days, mentoring and training Walden faculty. George Lewis, our composer-in-residence, will have a new work of his featured on the July 26 concert given by The Walden School Players. In addition, the Walden School Chorus is going to give the world premiere of his first-ever choral piece on Friday, August 2nd at Walden’s annual choral concert, which will feature all of Walden’s students, faculty and staff in concert performing for the Monadnock Region community at the Peterborough Town House. Chicago-based Dal Niente will perform the world premieres of eight new works written for the July 12 concert by eight Walden faculty members. And to celebrate the excitement and joy of musical improvisation, along with 15 years of electronic music at Walden, Sam Pluta has organized a concert on July 19 featuring Anne LaBerge, Peter Evans, Sam himself, Alex Christie and a sound installation designed by Ian Munro.

I am also excited to welcome both Caroline Mallonée and Loretta Notareschi as faculty mentors this year. Carrie and Loretta, in addition to leading teacher-training sessions for our faculty members, will be assisting Sam Pluta in his role as Academic Dean this summer. The team of Drs. Mallonée, Notareschi and Pluta will provide our curriculum, faculty and students with wonderful academic leadership. I am grateful to them for their work this spring in planning summer 2013 and for their many contributions in the days and weeks ahead!

In other news, The Walden School is excited to announce the publication of Walden alumnus and faculty member Bill Stevens’ Jazz Musicianship, available for purchase for $29 (including tax and shipping) from The Walden School office. While Walden is not primarily a book publisher, when Bill brought the project to me 5+ years ago, I embraced his vision enthusiastically and thought the Walden community could ably assist Bill with the work of layout, editing and production/publication. He had been teaching material in the jazz idiom that was an extension of Walden’s Musicianship Course, and it seemed like Walden could be a valuable partner to him in helping bring his book to life. And so now here we are, with many people from Walden contributing materially to making this happen over the last number of years.

First of all, many thanks are owed to Walden faculty members Whit Bernard and Tony Makarome, who worked with Bill in editing his text. And then the team of Walden faculty, staff and alumni who helped with layout, book design, project management, graphic creation and more all deserve a hearty round of applause: Marguerite Ladd, Meade Bernard, Noah Mlotek, Marshall Bessières, and Ben Aldridge. And finally, several people have helped bring the book to life as readers: Ian Munro, Andrea Grody, Peter Thompson and Peter Krag. Thanks to this giant team of Walden faculty, staff and alumni, as well as Bill’s initial brilliant vision and his own hard work, Bill now has a wonderful new book that you can order here. I hope you’ll order yourself a copy and help Bill and Walden spread the word about the book’s availability.

And another item of note that I wanted to share with you is a project that The Walden School and Youth Radio in Oakland, California, are collaborating on. Walden alumnus and faculty member Alex Christie is working with a group of five student interns at Youth Radio to create sonic postcards to share with Walden Young Musicians Program students. A group of Walden students will then create responses to these “postcards” during the Young Musicians Program. Then there will be performances in New Hampshire and Oakland over the summer, and in all likelihood, a podcast containing all of the music so that all of you can share in the fruits of this exciting project. We are grateful to Kurt Collins and his colleagues at Youth Radio for working with us on this project, and we look forward to sharing the results with all of you in the fall.

Thanks for reading! If you’re any where near Dublin, New Hampshire, this summer, I hope you will come and visit – taking in a concert, attending our Open House on July 17th, joining us for a meal, or participating in one of our seven Composers Forums, during which the creativity of Walden students are showcased. Have a wonderful weekend and a terrific summer!

Best wishes,

Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
sbrenzel AT waldenschool DOT org
(603) 563-8212

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2013 Concert Series Announced

This summer brings another eclectic mix of artists to Dublin School Campus for weekly concerts, including Phyllis Chen, composer and toy pianist, the return of Aurora Nealand’s Royal Roses with New Orleans-style jazz, world premieres of works written by Walden Faculty members and performed by members of Chicago’s Dal Niente Ensemble, an evening celebration of improvisation and electronic music, featuring Peter Evans and Anne LaBerge, as well as the perennial Walden School Players residency, the beloved choral concert, and composers forums, moderated by Composer-in-Residence George Lewis. All events are free and open to the public. Learn more about Walden’s 2013 Concert Series.

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Still a Few Places Remaining in Our 2013 Young Musicians Program — Apply Today!

There are just a few places remaining in Walden’s 2013 Young Musicians Program. Click here to download new student application materials — returning students, contact us if you need yours. We look forward to another wonderful summer — the Young Musicians Program will run on Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire, from Saturday, June 29 to Sunday, August 4, 2013.
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Walden Events in Baltimore and Los Angeles; Upcoming Open House in Dublin

Guests at the home of Jack and Lucy Henningfield in Baltimore were treated to an afternoon of delicious food, wine and music on April 7th, a benefit for Walden’s scholarship program. Cellist and Walden favorite Dave Eggar (Visiting Artist ’06-’07, ’11) performed and spoke eloquently about the value of Walden’s offerings. He was joined by award-winning singer-songwriter Amber Rubarth and acclaimed hammer dulcimer virtuoso Max ZT. The artists hit it out of the park, and so did the guests at the party, contributing more than $2,500 toward financial aid. Thank you, everyone!

Alumni and friends in the Los Angeles area enjoyed a casual gathering in Studio City on Thursday evening, June 13, complete with dinner and swimming!

If you will be in the New Hampshire area on Wednesday, July 17th, we hope you’ll join us for Walden’s second annual Open House, taking place on the campus of the Dublin School from 5 to 6:30 p.m. This event offers attendees a great behind-the-scenes view of what happens at Walden, complete with a demonstration by faculty and students of musicianship drills and other course activities. Do join us, even if you attended last year, as the presentation will be different – and invite your friends! Let us know if you’d like to be on the invite list. Hope to see you there!

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Walden publishes Jazz Musicianship

It has arrived! Jazz Musicianship, written by Bill Stevens(YMP ’92-’94, YMP Faculty ’00-’10, TTI Faculty ’06-’11, CMR Faculty ’12), is hot off the presses and ready to be ordered by you! It costs $29.00, including shipping and handling within the U.S.

To purchase the book, fill out our order form and send with your payment to our San Francisco address: The Walden School, 31 A 29th St., San Francisco, CA, 94110. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Join HandOverHand.org, Walden’s alumni website

Did you attend a program at The Walden School?
Register at Walden’s alumni website, handoverhand.org!

Features include:

• Program pages for JCC, YMP, TTI and CMR
• Personal profiles, photo albums, blogs and links to personal sites
• An events calendar
• Opportunities Center listing calls for scores and competitions
• An Alumni Forum for discussing topics of interest
• Links to sites of interest

As a registered member, you’ll be able to search for friends by the year they attended, send internal emails to other members, upload your own photos, post events to the calendar, and more. Go to: http://handoverhand.org and register!

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Community News and Goods

The Walden School welcomes news and information from members of the Junior Conservatory Camp and Walden School communities to include in our print and online newsletters. News may be sent via mail or email. We will publish your contact information only if you specifically request that we do so. Please contact us on-line or send info to The Walden School, 31A 29th St., San Francisco, CA 94110. We reserve the right to edit submissions and regret we cannot publish all information provided. For upcoming event listings, go to the Walden and JCC alumni website, handoverhand.org. (Note: YMP=Young Musicians Program; TTI=Teacher Training Institute; CMR=Creative Musicians Retreat; JCC=Junior Conservatory Camp).

Hannah Addario-Berry (Visiting Artist ’06) performed the Sonata for Solo Cello by Gyögy Ligeti on May 6 at ODC Theater in San Francisco as part of BAASICS.3: The Deep End, an exploration of neurodiversities, mental disorders, and creativity, presented by the Bay Area Art and Science Interdisciplinary Collaborative Sessions (BAASICS).

Blair McMillen, Steven Beck, Eric Huebner, and Cory Smythe backstage at Avery Fisher Hall
Steven Beck (Visiting Artist ’09-’11), Eric Huebner (Visiting Artist ’04-’08, ’11), and Blair McMillen (Visiting Artist ’01-’02) were three of four keyboardists in performances April 17-20 of Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 4 with the New York Philharmonic in Avery Fisher Hall.

A “re-imagined [Stephen] Sondheim piece” by Eve Beglarian (YMP Composer-in-Residence ’12), Perpetual Happiness, was performed as part of the Tribeca New Music Festival on May 12. Upcoming concerts of her work include June 8 at the Town Hall in Brandon, Vermont, and a performance by the International Society of Contemporary Music of Eudora Welty: Waiting for Billy Floyd on June 17.

Shawn Crouch (YMP ’93-95,’96, TTI ’08, Staff ’97, YMP Faculty ’99-00,’02,’05-07, CMR Faculty ’12) premiered his Firewind, a choral setting of three California texts by American poets Virginia Hamilton Adair, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman, in Palo Alto, California on April 28.

Violinist Miranda Cuckson (Visiting Artist ’08, ’11) joined pianist Blair McMillen (Visiting Artist ’01-’02) on a program at Columbia University in New York City on May 8. The program included the world premiere of Strömkarl, written for the duo by Jason Eckardt.

Florilegium, the chamber choir directed by Nicholas DeMaison (YMP Faculty ’04-07), gave a concert of Gesualdo madrigals on June 2 in New York City in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the composer’s death.

The Oakland East Bay Symphony will feature a new work (currently titled Songs) by Mary Fineman (JCC ’68) on their February 21, 2014, subscription concert.

In honor of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg’s 80th birthday, her children commmissioned Stacy Garrop(YMP ’87-’88, YMP Faculty ’96) to compose My Dearest Ruth on a text by Ginsburg’s husband, for voice and piano. The work had its premiere on April 6 at the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

Wild Rumpus, a new music ensemble founded by member clarinetist Sophie Huet (TTI ’09), performed their final concert of the season on May 11 in San Francisco, California with works by Julian Day, Ruben Naeff, Jonathan Russell, Jeffrey Treviño, and Dan VanHassel.

Amelia Lukas (TTI ’05-’06, YMP Visiting Artist ’10, Administration ’05-’07) and Brendon Randall-Myers (TTI ’10, Administration ’10-’12) participated together recently in a performance of the opera Three Truths by Matthew Welch at Symphony Space on June 4 in New York City.

Whistler Waves for cello and string orchestra by Caroline Mallonée (YMP ’87-’92, TTI ’07, YMP Faculty ’98-’12, CMR Faculty ’11-’12) was given its world premiere in Buffalo on April 14.

Kate (Davis) Mathews (Administration ’08-’11) has had a busy spring, with a recital of Emily Dickinson settings on April 14 and performances of Mark Adamo’s opera, Little Women throughout the month of May at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

John McGinn (YMP ’79-’80) has just been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Music at Austin College.

Following a successful debut at Yoshi’s jazz club in San Francisco by pianist Gary Monheit (YMP ’72, YMP Faculty ’75-’78, ’80, ’97, Board of Directors ’99-’00) and bassist Dan Krimm on April 24, the duo has been invited for a return appearance at the club on June 28.

Giorgio Moroder, father of Alex Moroder (YMP ’00-’03), talks about his work on the new Daft Punk album in this video on YouTube.

Nat Osborn‘s (YMP ’00-’03) and his band showcased their recently-released debut album, “The King and the Clown”, at concert on a May 7 concert at Mercury Lounge in New York City. The band also made their TV debut on May 31 as part of the Artie Lange Show.

A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff by Alicia Jo Rabins (YMP ’88-’93) continued its robust performance life in Washington, D.C., on May 4 as part of the Washington Jewish Music Festival. You can watch a trailer of the piece.

The world premiere of A Universal Prayer For Peace And Reflection by Vivian Adelberg Rudow (JCC ’50-’51) will be performed by the American BoyChoir on June 9 in Princeton, NJ. On July 7, her work, Rebecca’s Song, in memory of Rebecca Blackwell, will be performed in the Hong Kong Space Museum Lecture Hall.

Matt Siffert (CMR ’11-’12) performed with his “steady ensemble” at The Bowery Electric’s Map Room on May 14.

Peter Thompson (YMP ’03, YMP Staff ’12) presented his senior conducting recital on April 27 in New Haven, Connecticut, in Dwight Chapel at Yale University.

The Journal, a British newspaper, interviewed Freya Waley-Cohen (YMP ’00-’07) about the world premiere of A Pyrrhic Smile at the Northern Chords Festival in Tyne, England. Read the article, in which Freya talks about Walden and the opportunity it provided her. On June 19, Freya’s Ascension for solo cello by will be premiered at a concert in London’s Rada Bar.

A hymn tune and setting by Bob Weaver (JCC ’56-’63, CMR ’11) was performed on April 14 at an American Guild of Organists Hymn Festival.

Yarn/Wire (Visiting Ensemble ’12), whose members include pianist Laura Barger (TTI ’10) and percussionist Ian Antonio (Visiting Artist ’12) presented a concert as part of the University of California, Santa Cruz Contemporary Music Festival on April 26. On the program was Meanders by Paul Nauert (YMP ’82-’83, YMP Faculty ’87-’94, ’98).

Transitions

Singer Rob Morsberger (YMP ’76-’77) passed away on June 2. In September of 2011, Morsberger was diagnosed with grade 4 Glioblastoma. In the months following, Morsberger was determined to release a series of new albums, as his battle with terminal brain cancer was documented by USA TODAY, WBUR/PRI’s Here & Now and numerous other outlets. Read his full obituary.

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Opportunities & Organizations Listing

An opportunities listing for composers of multiple levels and age ranges, as well as organizations that provide services to composers, performers, music teachers, improvisers, and experimental musicians, is available here.

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Now Hear This! Works by 2012 Walden Participants

The 2012 Young Musicians Program saw the world premieres of more than 100 student works, including Zikra Jameela (A Beautiful Memory) by Tyson Laa Deng. Click here to listen to the performance by Reiny Rolock, French horn; Jane Chung, violin; Jane Cords-O’Hara, cello; and Tony Makarome, double bass.

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by Matthew Klahorst (WP)