San Francisco Event – September 2026
Walden’s Celebration and Fundraiser in San Francisco: September 27, 2026
Our celebration and fundraiser in San Francisco was a delight! Held on Sunday, September 27, the event drew more than 50 Walden friends and supporters to the beautiful Green Room, where we enjoyed a ravishing performance of a cappella choral music by Nebula Consort.
Thanks to our host committee and all of our event donors, we raised $10,270 for Walden’s Annual Fund as part of this celebration. Thank you!
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The performance by Nebula Consort was a highlight of the afternoon. Directed by Eric Choate, Nebula includes Chris Martin, Walden’s Development Assistant, as a bass vocalist. The group performed captivating choral works by Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Carlo Gesualdo, John Farmer, and Giuseppe Verdi. Thank you, Eric and Nebula, for sharing your tremendous artistry with the Walden community!
Malcolm Gaines, an alum of Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR), spoke movingly about Walden’s impact on the lives of its participants. Inspired by Now I Walk in Beauty, a song that is frequently sung at Walden, Gaines explained how Walden teaches that the creativity within each person is worth cultivating and sharing with others, making the world a more beautiful place. Gaines is married to Seth Brenzel, Walden’s Executive Director, and they are the parents of a YMP alum. He thanked all those in attendance who have contributed to Walden, and encouraged continued support to expand access to Walden’s transformative programs.
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Our celebration featured delicious bites from On the Roll Catering and wine generously donated by Cultivar Wine, thanks to Walden board member Stephen Smith. Several lucky guests went home with fabulous door prizes, including a box of artisan chocolates; two pairs of premium-seating tickets for Cappella Romana’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (courtesy of Corty Fengler and Mark Powell); and two premium seats to an upcoming Nebula Consort performance, courtesy of Eric Choate and Nebula. We are grateful to our generous raffle prize donors.
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate music, community, and Walden in San Francisco! And a big thank you to everyone who made gifts of support to Walden as part of this event.
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Host Committee:
Eric Choate and Ellen Leslie
Corty and Alf Fengler
Malcolm Gaines and Seth Brenzel
Juli Anna Johnson and Charles Cecil
Drew Kravin
Christopher Martin
Noah Mlotek
Stephen Smith
Mary Szczepanik and Matt Agard
Mindy Williams and Phil Polishuk
Announcing the Summer of Creativity
Announcing Walden’s Summer of Creativity
This summer, Walden is launching an online campaign—the Summer of Creativity—in which members of our community will undertake creative projects and solicit donations to Walden from their friends, colleagues, and family members in order to support scholarships and artist residencies at our summer programs. This “create-a-thon” is scheduled to run throughout Walden’s summer season, from June 13 through August 2.
Watch out for updates about how you can support Walden community members in their creative endeavors, and write to us at donors@waldenschool.org if you are interested in starting a project of your own!
Projects of all kinds are welcome, whether musical or nonmusical—including collaborations!
Here are some FAQs about how this campaign will work:
How do I participate?
Write to us at donors@waldenschool.org if you are interested in taking on a creative project as part of the Summer of Creativity. We can help you come up with an idea for a project if you don’t have one yet! Once you decide to participate, we will set you up with a personalized fundraising page on our online platform, Raisely, where you can share details and updates about your project.
How do I raise money for Walden as a participant?
Creators will be encouraged to share their fundraising pages on social media or through email with their friends and family. Anyone visiting your page can make an online donation to Walden in support of your project, and you can send thank you messages directly to your supporters. We will provide some suggested strategies and templates for sharing your campaign page with your networks. We will also share updates on your projects with the broader Walden community throughout the campaign.
How long will the campaign last?
The Summer of Creativity will run from June 13 (the first day of Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat) through August 2 (the last day of Walden’s Young Musicians Program). You are welcome to join after the official start date, and it’s okay if your project wraps up before the end of the campaign.
How do I support the Summer of Creativity?
Check back here for more updates! We will soon have our campaign landing page ready to share, where you’ll see all the creative projects that our participants will be working on throughout the summer. You can support as many creators as you would like! If you are not already receiving email updates from Walden, you can sign up at the bottom of our homepage at waldenschool.org.
Don’t hestitate to contact us at donors@waldenschool.org if you have any questions about the Summer of Creativity!
San Francisco Event – September 2025
A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in San Francisco
Walden held a fabulous end-of-season celebration and fundraiser on Sunday, September 28, in the dazzling Green Room at San Francisco’s War Memorial. We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our event donors, who contributed $16,910 to Walden!
We enjoyed a dynamic, thoughtfully curated recital by Pedja Mužijević, a renowned pianist and former Walden School faculty member, who shared selections ranging from C.P.E. Bach and Robert Schumann to John Cage and Philip Glass, as well as a composition written this past summer by Sebastien Nothias, a student at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP).
Above left: Charles Cecil, David Conte, and Juli Anna Johnson; right: Stephen Smith with the youngest event attendees
We are grateful to David Conte, a past Composer-in-Residence at Walden, and Corty Fengler, a former Walden Board member, who spoke movingly about Walden’s life-changing creative music programs and expressed gratitude to the many donors who help our organization thrive. Thanks also to Walden Board member Stephen Smith and Cultivar Wine for arranging a generous donation of wine for the event.
This recap was originally published as part of the October 2025 InterNetzo.
Summer Fundraising Event
Summer Fundraising Events
July 28: Walden Giving Day
On the first day of Festival Week at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP), we shared live updates with Walden friends and supporters near and far as part of a one-day online fundraiser. Videos included classes and choral rehearsals, interviews with students and members of The Walden School Players, a rehearsal of a student composition, and our first 2025 Festival Week Composers Forum.
The video updates will remain available on our YouTube channel as well as Instagram and Facebook. Make sure to follow Walden on social media to keep up with all the latest news from Walden. Below, we share a bonus video with previously unreleased footage from Giving Day, chronicling the journey of YMP student Henry’s composition from rehearsal to premiere!
Our Giving Day goal was to raise $5,300 in honor of Walden’s 53rd summer. With your support, we raised $11,650, including $2,000 in matching funds that were unlocked by your generosity. Thank you to the more than 50 individuals and households who supported Walden on Giving Day, and a special thanks to those who made contributions in honor or memory of others.
August 2, A Celebration and Fundraiser in New Hampshire
Thank you to all who joined us for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Dublin and Harrisville, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 2!
In Dublin School’s Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall, we enjoyed a beautiful performance by flutist Laura Cocks and violinist Erica Dicker, two longstanding members of The Walden School Players. The celebration continued with a beautiful indoor/outdoor reception in nearby Harrisville, New Hampshire, where Ellen and Ed Bernard opened up their barn, and guests enjoyed delicious bites and drinks. Thank you, Ellen and Ed!
Robin Kenney, a former member of Walden’s Board of Directors, spoke about the transformative power of Walden’s creative music education programs. Watch some highlights in the video below:
We are so grateful to our host committee and to all of our event donors for their generosity. With your help, we raised a total of $18,450. Thank you!
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Thank you to our New Hampshire event host committee: Ellen and Ed Bernard, David Bivins and Kristen Davis, Seth Brenzel and Malcolm Gaines, Leah Kenney Butler and Anthony Butler, Jamie Hamilton, Anne and Thom Haxo, Teresa and Peter Imhoff, Robin and Leslie Kenney, Fred and Jean Leventhal, Anna Lumelsky and Joshua Goodman, Noah Mlotek, Nancy Nickerson and Steve Frietch, and Sarah Kirkland Snider and Steven Mackey
This recap was originally published as part of the September 2025 InterNetzo.
Baltimore Event – March 2025
A Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Baltimore, on Saturday, March 8! We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our donors, who contributed more than $7,800 to Walden.
We enjoyed a magical performance by the acclaimed jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, a Walden alumnus and Baltimore native. He began by telling the audience, “the sounds you are about to hear are designed for your ears, and your ears only.” Each Cyrus Chestnut performance is a unique experience, combining jazz standards, hymns, and improvisatory flights that only he could create. In between selections, Cyrus talked about his experience as a student at Walden, learning musicianship and engaging in “harmony wars” with a fellow student.
We are so grateful to Cyrus for his performance and all he has done to enrich the Walden community and the musical world.
We are also grateful for the passion and support of Walden’s Board of Directors, and especially Walden’s board chair Peter Colohan, who spoke movingly about Walden’s vision of “a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.”
Thank you to everyone who was part of our Baltimore celebration, and thank you to all of our donors for your invaluable support of Walden!
Thank you to our host committee: JoAnn Balingit, Seth Brenzel, Peter Colohan, Sky Macklay and Sam Pluta, Caroline Mallonee, Steve Messner and Liz Prelinger, Noah Mlotek, D. J. Sparr, and Kate Valenta
This recap was originally published in the March 2025 InterNetzo.
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.
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.
Lance Reddick Scholarship in the Keene Sentinel
The Keene Sentinel interviewed Executive Director Seth Brenzel about the newly announced Lance Reddick Scholarship.
“It’s expensive to run any kind of music education program,” Brenzel said. “We’ve always been committed to providing financial aid, and I’m just thrilled we’re going to be able to grow that number quite significantly and create even more access opportunities.”
Read the full article: Walden's Young Musician Program receives $450,000 to offer full scholarships
Lance Reddick Scholarship in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript covered the Lance Reddick Scholarship in a January 24, 2024 article.
"Lance was a wonderful supporter of Walden, and we are excited to see how Walden can be a springboard to future music creators who attend the Young Musicians Program as Lance Reddick Scholars,” stated Seth Brenzel, executive director of The Walden School. “We are so grateful to the generous donor who made this transformative gift to honor Lance's legacy."
Read the full article: Walden School announces Reddick Scholarship