Walden Holiday Parties Recap
2025 Walden Holiday Parties
Throughout January, Walden community members gathered for holiday/new year parties in cities around the country, and online!
Walden holiday parties were held in Baltimore, San Francisco, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Bainbridge Island (Washington), and New York City. Alumni of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program, also gathered for a holiday reunion over Zoom.
These events brought together Walden and JCC alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and board members for festive potluck gatherings. Delicious food and drinks were shared, music was played, new friendships and connections were made, and much merriment was had. Many thanks to our wonderful volunteer hosts: Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta in Baltimore, Ruth Rainero and Pieter de Haan in San Francisco, Josh Goodman and Anna Lumelsky in Cambridge, Danielle Schindler Cheung and Jason Cheung in Bainbridge Island, and Michael Schessel in New York City.
Thank you to all who gathered to celebrate the new year with Walden community!
This recap was originally published as part of the February 2025 InterNetzo.
Marilyn Crispell Receives NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship
Marilyn Crispell Receives NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship
Marilyn Crispell, a Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna and past Walden visiting artist, has received the 2025 Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a prestigious award that recognizes her status as a “living legend” for her exceptional contributions to jazz. The National Endowment for the Arts describes her as “one of the most original and sought-after avant-garde jazz pianists and composers,” both for her prolific recording history and her extensive touring and performance experience. Marilyn has previously been granted a composition commission from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and a Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition. Marilyn will be honored alongside three other Jazz Masters on Saturday, April 26, in a free concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
This profile was originally published in the February 2025 InterNetzo.
Matthew Hunter Retires from Berlin Philharmonic
Matthew Hunter Retires from Berlin Philharmonic
Matthew Hunter, a JCC alumnus, parent to a Walden alum, and past Walden visiting artist, is retiring from the Berlin Philharmonic after a 30-year career with the renowned orchestra. A violinist turned violist at the age of 27, Hunter fell in love with the “dark chocolate” tone of the instrument and shortly thereafter won the Gee International Viola Competition. After winning a seat in the Berlin Philharmonic, he also became known to audiences as a guitar player during performances of Mahler’s 7th Symphony, adding yet another classical string instrument to his skill set. In a farewell interview with the Philharmonic, he mused, “becoming an artist is one of humankind’s greatest challenges. At the same time, it is one of the greatest privileges—can you imagine being able to devote your energy in pursuit of a sound-world ideal? From a philosophical perspective, a life dedicated to art music connects us to the eternal, to the essence behind representation.” The full interview can be found here.
This profile was original published in the February 2025 InterNetzo.
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.
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.
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.