eNews: InterNetzo – March 2020
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden community members,
I hope you will enjoy the March issue of InterNetzo. As there is so much uncertainty in this challenging time, we hope that our monthly communication to the Walden community will help maintain a sense of constancy in our disrupted world. Know, too, that we are still planning for summer and imagining being together again in Dublin, New Hampshire. If you missed my message from Friday, March 20, you can read it here.
We are accepting applications for our Summer 2020 Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat; our Spring application deadline is April 3 and our final deadline is May 1.
In this edition of InterNetzo, be sure to check out the "In the Spotlight" section to meet Sammi Stone, our new Director of Operations! Check out our Community News section to see some of the ways people are continuing to find creative community, despite physical distancing.
I send you my best wishes for health and peace during this difficult time.
Best wishes,
Seth
Community Events
New York celebration on March 7
On March 7, alumni, family, and friends of Walden gathered for a delightful evening of music and community at Tenri Cultural Institute in Manhattan. Walden alumna Hilary Kole, accompanied by bassist Paul Gill, performed a number of Hilary's original compositions, as well as some beloved jazz standards. Many thanks to Ian Munro, Walden alumnus and past faculty and staff member, for providing delicious food for the event!
Thank you to our host committee and all of our event donors for their generosity. With everyone's help, we raised more than $7,300. Thank you! Your support helps ensure creative musicians find a home at Walden for generations to come.
Special thanks to Whit Bernard, Ruth Franklin, and Jennifer Weidman for donating prizes for our raffle. Thanks also to our wonderful volunteers, Katie Balch and Cara Dibdin for keeping the event running smoothly, Paula Ortiz for photography, and Aliza Simons for her help in the kitchen.
If you or people you know are interested in future Walden events, please write to events@waldenschool.org.
Concert with Face the Music on March 10
On March 10, The Walden School and Face the Music collaborated to present a concert featuring students of both programs. The concert at Kaufman Music Center in New York featured Laura Cocks and Erica Dicker, members of The Walden School Players, CMR Artist-in-Residence David Friend, and musicians of Face the Music. The featured composers included alumni of both Walden's Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat.
Walden's featured composers:
Jack Bettigole - Rolf A Nu Ed Ad Iv A L (composed during YMP 2018)
Cashel Day-Lewis - The Long Path Down (composed during YMP 2018)
Darlene Castro Ortiz - Three Haiku (composed for CMR 2019)
Julian Hofstetter - Moon Song (composed during YMP 2017)Maggie McGinity - A-OK (composed for CMR 2019)
Upcoming
May 2: Josh Modney performs to benefit Walden 
Save the date! On May 2, violinist Josh Modney will perform a concert to benefit Walden, which you can watch via livestream. Look out for details coming soon by email, and we hope you'll join us online on May 2.
Josh Modney is devoted to creative music-making. A "new-music luminary," "superb violinist" (The New York Times), and "multitasking virtuoso" (The New Yorker), hailed for "jaw-dropping technical skill" (Bandcamp Daily), Josh is a frequent visiting artist at Walden.
Summer 2020 Programs
Walden 2020
We continue to accept applications for summer 2020, and our spring application deadline is coming up! We hope you (and all of the people you know!) will apply to join us at one of our programs this summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020 (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020 (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18); a 3-week program, from June 27-July 19 is an option for students through 7th grade.
Application materials are available for both programs at waldenschool.org/apply/.
Spring application deadline (postmark): April 3
Final application deadline (postmark): May 1
Please write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
In the Spotlight
Sammi Stone 
Meet Sammi Stone, Walden's Director of Operations! Sammi is an alumna of the Creative Musicians Retreat. Sammi grew up in Baker City, Oregon, and played oboe in middle and high school band and a community orchestra. She went to chamber music summer camp growing up, went to undergrad at Williams College, then did a Masters in Composition at the University of California San Diego. Now she is back in Baker City, helping her family with their coffee business. Sammi does all the small batch roasting, except during the summer, when she is looking forward to being at Walden.
How and when did your relationship with Walden begin?
I learned about Walden from one of my professors at Williams, Matthew Gold, who is involved with the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). I got into percussion in college, and Matt was my teacher. We worked together a lot, and I was also a composition student, so he encouraged me to go to CMR after I graduated from Williams. I had a really nice time at CMR, and really enjoyed the place and the people. I've been too busy in subsequent summers to think about going back, but I had a really wonderful time when I went.
What are music and creativity part of your life now?
My musical practice is pretty much private right now. I write music at home, make oboe reeds, and play the oboe. I teach oboe lessons to some high school students, which is really fun, and I learn a lot from that as well. I have a growing stack of composition sketches by my piano at home and I hope to get those out into the world and performed in the future, and to return to performing music myself. For now, I'm really enjoying being able to have a relaxed and solitary musical existence, after years in school for music.
What is a non-music hobby you love?
I love bird watching. It is really rewarding to me to see a bird and know what it is and know what its life history is like and what to call it. Even if I don't see the bird, it is a worthwhile challenge to hear a bird song and try recognize the caller just by that sound. I also love to go hiking and take walks in nature. And I love to cook.
Could you describe a favorite Walden memory?
One standout memory from CMR was doing a Pauline Oliveros meditation out on the quad on a beautiful day. I don't even remember which meditation, maybe the one with rocks, but the whole moment was just really beautiful. Everyone was joining in with a lot of sincerity, which in combination with the beautiful outdoor environment made for a meaningful memory.
What is something you're looking forward to this summer?
I am excited to meet people - coworkers, CMR participants, and YMP students. I am really looking forward to seeing YMP in action. I have never experienced or been a part of it, and the whole concept is really inspiring to me. I am especially looking forward to hearing compositions written by the students.
New Music Solidarity Fund
New Music USA is collaborating with composers and musicians to establish the New Music Solidarity Fund to help freelance performers with urgent financial needs following cancellations of their work in this initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100 artists, arts leaders, and professors in the field have announced the New Music Solidarity Fund, an initiative that aims to grant emergency funding to musicians impacted by COVID-19. At the time of the announcement, more than $130,000 has been pledged, with donations coming first from musicians, composers, and others from the new music community wishing to show their solidarity for those whom they know to be suffering.
The New Music Solidarity Fund will distribute at least two hundred and sixty, $500 emergency assistance grants. Any musician who has had a project involving a living composer canceled because of the pandemic is invited to apply. The New Music Solidarity Fund opens to applicants at 12 pm Eastern time on March 31, and will run until April 30. Grants will be available on a first-come, first-served basis as funds last.
Community News
Our Community News looks a little different in this edition of InterNetzo, as so much of our community is impacted by cancellations and postponements. As we adjust to reduce the spread of COVID-19, new virtual gatherings are springing up. We are inspired by how community members are continuing to build creative connections, making this a time of physical distancing and social bridging.
Cyrus Chestnut performs concert via livestream.
Walden alumnus Cyrus Chestnut performed a concert online via Facebook live on March 22. If you are on Facebook, you can watch the concert here. Cyrus is a jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and educator. Executive Director Seth Brenzel also hosted a "Watch party" in the Walden Facebook group, so keep your eyes out for future watch parties!
Del Sol String Quartet livestream
Charlton Lee and Kathryn Bates of Del Sol String Quartet performed a concert on March 21 via Facebook live. If you are on Facebook, you can see a recording of that concert here. Del Sol String Quartet is a past visiting artist at Walden, and performed on our Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco in February.
Rebekah Griffin Greene livestreams concert
On March 22, Rebekah Griffing Greene offered an all-improvised concert via Facebook live, her first performance on this platform. Rebekah performed number of pieces for bass, as well as bass and vocals, and even took requests. Rebekah is a Walden alumna, and has been on faculty at the Young Musicians Program.
Horszowski Trio performs on 24-hour virtual festival
Jesse Mills (violin) and Reiko Aizawa (piano) of the Horszowski Trio will participate in Music Never Sleeps NYC, a 24-hour virtual festival beginning at 6pm Eastern time on Friday, March 27. You can tune into this 24-hour livestream marathon on Facebook or YouTube. You can find the list of performers here--you may see some more familiar names! Reiko and Jesse are past visiting artists at Walden.
ICE hosts Pauline Oliveros' Tuning Meditation
On March 28 at 5 pm Eastern, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will host Pauline Oliveros' Tuning Meditation, led by Claire Chase and IONE. This will be a world-wide musical exchange, and you can sing along live from your computer, no music experience necessary. Pauline Oliveros was a visiting artist at Walden, and served on Walden's Advisory Council. ICE is a frequent visiting artist at Walden.
Hilary Kole composer-judge for Young Jazz Composers Competition
Walden alumna Hilary Kole served as one of three composer-judges for The ASCAP Foundation 2020 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Competition. Winners were announced on February 26, 2020. The recipients, who receive cash awards, range in age from 17 to 29 and are selected through a juried national competition. Hilary is a jazz vocalist and composer, and attended the Young Musicians Program for five summers.
Nate May performs improvised piano concert
Nate May performed a concert of improvised piano music on March 18 at 9 pm Eastern. Intending to calm the nerves of anyone who tuned in, Nate streamed the concert live via Facebook. Nate has served on faculty at the Young Musicians Program for the past three summers. Nate is a composer, performer, and educator whose interest in human ecosystems has impelled explorations of a wide variety of sounds and interactions.
Henry Samuels performs Bach
On March 23, Henry Samuels performed Bach via Facebook live. If you're on Facebook, you can see the recording here. Henry is a double bass player and music teacher living in Cleveland, Ohio, and also adapts violin and cello repertoire for double bass players. He is an alumnus of the Creative Musicians Retreat.
Steinberg Duo Online Concert Series
The Steinberg Duo, as part of their project Ashuelot Concerts, has launched a series of online lecture-concerts called Classically Curious? You can tune in on YouTube every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 pm Eastern time, and find the series schedule here. Each evening begins with a performance, then a talk about of the story of the composer and what makes the music so special. At the end, there is a repeat performance, allowing a new listening experience. Q&As will be available on their YouTube channel at the end of each event. The Keene-based Steinberg Duo was a visiting artist at Walden in 2019.
Drew Thams and The Liquorsmiths Virtual Concert
On March 25, Drew Thams performed a virtual concert with his band The Liquorsmiths. They streamed the concert live on both Facebook and YouTube. The Liquorsmiths (formerly Second Tuesdays) are a folk rock group born from a collision of contrasting ideas, styles and musicality. Vocalist/guitarist Drew is a past member of Walden's administrative team.
Tamsin and Freya Waley-Cohen launch Living Room Live
In light of current events, Tamsin and Freya Waley-Cohen are collaborating with George Fu and Daniel Ross to launch Living Room Live, a collaborative platform for world class musicians to share their music from their living rooms around the world. As musicians and audiences find their normal concert schedules fully cancelled, they hope that this will be a way to share the joy of live music-making for all involved! The first concert of the series was on March 26, and you can see upcoming concerts on their website or Facebook page. Freya is a YMP alumna, and her sister Tamsin has been a visiting artist at Walden.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – February 2020
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Greetings!
I'm glad to share with you this special February Leap Day edition of InterNetzo. We had a fantastic Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco, and we are looking forward to delightful events in New York in March and DC in May. We are accepting applications for our Summer 2020 Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat; our Spring application deadline is April 3!
We caught up with Walden alumnus and past faculty and staff member Ian Munro--read all about it in our "In the Spotlight" section. Check out our Community News section to learn about your fellow readers and the goings on in their lives and careers throughout the year. I hope to see you at a Walden event soon, and until then, happy reading.
Best wishes,
Seth
Community Events
Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco
We had a fantastic Composers Forum in San Francisco on February 22, featuring works 10 wonderful Walden alumni, performed by the brilliant Del Sol String Quartet.
After each piece, the composer took the stage to answer questions from moderator Nathaniel Stookey, a past visiting artist at Walden, as well as audience members.
Our featured composers:
Bob Bassett
Brett Eastman
Joaquin Feliciano
Evan Ghislin
John Ivers
Lukáš Janata
Emil Margolis
Nathan Nokes
Samara Rice
Sarah Rose Stiles
Center for New Music co-presented the event, and special thanks to Brett Eastman for recording all the pieces.
Walden in Los Angeles 
The Walden School had a delightful community gathering in the Arts District of Los Angeles on February 26.
It was great to catch up with Walden alumni from multiple programs and many different years, as well as past faculty, staff, and friends. We are looking forward to more Walden gatherings in LA!
Upcoming
New York celebration on March 7 
The Walden School is having a celebration and fundraiser in Manhattan on March 7! We are so looking forward to part of a delightful evening of music, creativity, and conversation with our wonderful community of friends and supporters. Walden alumna Hilary Kole will be performing some of her own original compositions at the piano and singing some jazz standards as well. She'll have a wonderful bassist with her, collaborating in making inspiring music for us (performance starts at approximately 5:45 pm). Ian Munro, Walden alumnus and faculty member, is preparing delicious bites for our event.
While there is no charge for the event, we are asking for donations to support our student scholarship programs and artist residencies. If you would like to RSVP or find out more about the event, write to events@waldenschool.org.
Concert with Face the Music on March 10
We're thrilled to collaborate with Face the Music to present a concert showcasing both programs' young composers!
Original music by students of The Walden School and Face the Music
March 10, 2020 at 7 pm
Merkin Hall Upper Lobby
Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street
New York, NY 10023
This event is free and open to the public!
While there are no tickets and no requirement to RSVP, we'd love to know if you are planning to attend. Please write to us at events@waldenschool.org.
This exciting concert will feature Laura Cocks and Erica Dicker, members of The Walden School Players, CMR Artist-in-Residence David Friend, and musicians of Face the Music. Repertoire includes compositions by alumni of both the Young Musicians Program and the Creative Musicians Retreat. Featured composers to be announced soon!
Summer 2020 Programs
Walden 2020
Applications for summer 2020 are pouring in, and our spring application deadline is coming up! We hope you (and all of the people you know!) will apply to join us at one of our programs this summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020 (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020 (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials are available for both programs at waldenschool.org/apply/.
Spring application deadline (postmark): April 3
Please write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
Hiring for Summer 2020 positions
Walden is hiring for our flagship summer 2020 Young Musicians Program.
Apply to join our incredible team of musical youth-serving professionals. Please spread the word with your colleagues and friends.
Open positions for summer 2020:
Young Musicians Program Faculty
Young Musicians Program Staff
Read full job descriptions and learn how to apply here. Positions open until filled.
In the Spotlight
Ian Munro 
Ian Munro attended Walden's Teacher Training Institute for three summers, and served several years on the faculty of both YMP and CMR, as well as on staff. Ian is one of the wonderful donors whose support makes our program possible. He also gives to Walden by offering his time and care in making beautiful food for Walden events, including our upcoming celebration on March 7.
How and when did your relationship with Walden begin?
In 2008, I was studying with Andrea Clearfield, who has previously been a Composer-in-Residence at Walden. She had heard Walden was looking for participants in the Teacher Training Institute, so she mentioned it to me. Oddly enough, that same week I had gotten a postcard for TTI, maybe by way of the American Composers Forum. It seemed interesting, and I'd never heard of it before. At the time, I was in college and I wasn't really thinking of being a teacher, but both of these recommendations in the same week struck me, so I applied to TTI. I got really hooked on the approach to musicianship and creativity in music at Walden, so I did three levels of TTI. I joined the faculty as soon as I could when I graduated in 2010.
What has been your relationship with Walden since then?
I was on the faculty for four and half years, which was really great. I taught composition, musicianship, computer musicianship, and some jazz. I taught at the Creative Musicians Retreat for one year, and it was really fun to work with adults on similar material. I really enjoyed that. The half year I mentioned was when I was working fulltime in New York for Face the Music, and Walden partnered with Face the Music to create the Monadnock Institute. We brought 8-10 students to do a two-week, performance-focused version of Walden. Since then, I've tried to stay involved. I go to Walden events in New York and I'm a donor, but now that I work full time not in a school setting, I don't have summers free to work at Walden anymore.
Could you describe a favorite Walden memory?
There's a lot of them. But one in particular was in 2012, which was sort of the John Cage centennial, marking 100 years since his birth. Matt Gold was a visiting artist at YMP with the Walden School Players, and he put together a massive John Cage celebration. It was a Wednesday night, and there were performances all over the quad--inside, outside, choral works, solo pieces, number works--music all over the place. It was a happening. The YMP students, all these middle and high school kids, were performing and participating and spectating. I thought, "This is the weirdest stuff I've ever seen, and everyone is so into it. It's amazing."
How are music and creativity a part of your life now?
I play piano. But more than that, creativity is something that Walden really drives home--weaving creativity through everything we do. I've had periods when I don't play as much music, but I express creativity in other ways, such as spending a lot of time in the kitchen, trying a new recipe every night. I've gotten really into computer musicianship, working more with web audio, not as much composition, but creating interactive web apps and instruments and interactions. There's a lot of really cool stuff happening in that realm.
Why do you give to Walden?
I think Walden is a community that has given me a lot, and I believe in giving back. I got a lot from Walden in terms of approach to music, approach to life, seeing transformation happen in kids' lives over the course of the summer. It's really important to me that there are places like that in the world, so I give to Walden.
What is a non-musical hobby you love?
I'll skip cooking, because I already talked about it. I love woodworking. I feel like it's similar to music and composition in some ways. There's a lot of planning that goes into it, but the fun part is that you still get to a place where you have a physical connection to the art and craft that's happening. The actions you take are manifested in what's created. It's a good balance to music and cooking.
Community News
American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards
The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced its 2020 Music Award winners! YMP faculty member Nate May has been awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship. Past visiting artist Pamela Z received the Walter Hinrichsen Award in Music, given for the publication of a work by a gifted composer.
Andrew Barnes Jamieson and Darnell Ishmel tour
For the past three years, Andrew Barnes Jamieson and Darnell Ishmel have been collaborating on "radical musical (re)imaginings, somewhere between classical, liturgical, gospel and activism." They were in the Bay Area in late February for a series of performances at Pacific School of Religions in Berkeley, Music at the Royale in Oakland, and Island United Church. On March 1, they will perform at All Ears Interfaith Sangha, a group based on the work of Pauline Oliveros, who was a visiting artist at Walden and a member of our advisory council. Andrew is an alumnus of the Young Musicians Program.
Katie Condon wins Eric Stokes Song Contest
CMR alumna Katie Condon is one of four winners of Zeitgeist's 25th Annual Eric Stokes Song Contest. Named in memory of late composer Eric Stokes, the contest is designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. Katie's winning composition, Insomnia, will be performed by Zeitgeist at their annual Playing it Close to Home concert, March 6-8 at Studio Z. Interviewed by Studio Z, Katie explains, "A little while back, I attended the Walden Creative Musicians Retreat in New Hampshire in order to get some time away to prepare for a film score improvisation. I ended up starting to put pencil to paper a bit, and that's the origin of this piece (Insomnia)."
Kim Diehnelt starts with Me2/Burlington
CMR alumna Kim Diehnelt is starting a new position as the Conductor of the Me2/Burlington Orchestra. Me2/ is the world's only classical music organization created for individuals with mental illnesses and the people who support them. Me2/Burlington, the flagship ensemble, is a non-auditioned orchestra that rehearses weekly and performs 3-4 times annually in traditional concert venues, inside correctional and rehabilitation facilities, and for mental health events. As she settles into Vermont, the University of Vermont Orchestra will perform Kim's orchestral work, Striadica: A Symphonic Passage, on April 4.
Mary Fineman premiere in Berkeley
On February 7, Mary Fineman debuted debuted a new piano piece at Grace Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California. The piece was part of a free concert with Piano Composers, a collective of composers, improvisers, and arrangers that is part of the Contra Costa Performing Arts Society. The concert featured many new works, including the premiere of Mary's piece. Originally from Baltimore, Mary is an alumna of the Junior Conservatory Camp.
Yiseul LeMieux premiere featuring David Friend
CMR alumna Yiseul LeMieux's piece, Lullaby, premiered on February 9 as part of the faculty concert series at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York. CMR artist-in-residence David Friend (an adjunct faculty member at Concordia College) performed on the premiere, along with Sheri Hammerstrom and Marija Illic. The premiere was coordinated with a photo exhibit.
Chris Maikish starts at Inner-City Arts
Chris Maikish has started a new job as Senior Manager of Communications with Inner-City Arts. Inner-City Arts is a learning oasis in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Under the guidance of professional teaching artists, Inner-City Arts' students are immersed in a safe and supportive environment where they may engage in a variety of visual and performing art forms in a studio setting. Chris worked for The Walden School for a number of years, handling all our design projects.
Ted Moore and Katie Balch engaged
Walden alumnus Ted Moore and Katie Balch are engaged! They met while they were both serving on the faculty at the Young Musicians Program. Congratulations!
Ash Paris-Carter wins Penn State Young Composers Contest
Ash Paris-Carter won the Penn State 2019 Young Composers Contest with their piece, an unlit place, for solo soprano and piano accompaniment. The Penn State 2019 Young Composers Contest was announced in August 2019 and received over 70 submissions from 18 U.S. states and 13 countries. Ash's piece will be considered for programming on the Penn State New Music Concert in April 2020. Ash has attended the Young Musicians Program for the past six summers.
Lance Reddick/The Wire at ABFF Honors
The Wire received the Classic Television Award at the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors on February 23. ABFF Honors is an annual awards season gala dedicated to saluting excellence in the motion picture and television industry, which this year paid tribute to HBO's critically acclaimed television series, The Wire. Cast and crew gathered for a celebration and special presentation of this year's "Classic Television Award." YMP alumnus and past YMP faculty member Lance Reddick was a member of the cast of The Wire.
Karalyn Schubring performs the music of David Lang
On Friday, February 21, Karalyn Schubring performed with the Contemporary Directions Ensemble at the University of Michigan, presenting an evening of the music of composer David Lang. The concert was the final event of his William Bolcom Guest Residency. Karalyn is an alumna of the Young Musicians Program, and currently earning her Bachelors in Music Composition from the University of Michigan.
Noah Stein wins Emerging Composer Competition
Noah Stein's piece, Forest - A Rotation of the Earth, won first place in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York's Emerging Composers Competition. The piece will premiere on May 3, performed by the Greater New Haven Youth Orchestra, in which Noah plays violin. It may also be programmed on the upcoming season of one of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestras. Noah attended the Young Musicians Program in 2018 and 2019.
Jonathan Thomas at Lyric Opera of Kansas City
Jonathan Thomas, former Development Manager at Walden, started on a new position on February 3 as Senior Manager of Individual Giving at Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Located in the heart of Kansas City's Crossroads community, Lyric Opera creates transformational opera experiences through their performances and through their outreach and education initiatives.
Austin Wulliman premieres with Conrad Tao
Violinist Austin Wulliman had his first performance with pianist Conrad Tao on February 25 at Columbia University's Miller Theater. The concert featured two world premieres of Austin's works: Insurgentes Sur for violin and piano and Frame for solo violin. Austin is a member of JACK Quartet, and has been in residence at Walden with Spektral Quartet and Ensemble Dal Niente, and has also performed at Walden events outside the summer.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – January 2020
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Greetings!
I'm glad to share with you the first InterNetzo of 2020. We started the year with an amazing Alumni Composers Forum in New York, and we are looking forward to another in San Francisco on February 22. It is application season for the Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat--our next application deadline is February 21.
We caught up with Junior Conservatory Camp alumnus Larry Wetzler--read all about it in our "In the Spotlight" section. Walden holiday party season has come to a close, and we are looking forward to more exciting events this spring. Check out our Community News section to learn about your fellow readers and the goings on in their lives and careers throughout the year. I hope to see you at a Walden event soon, and until then, happy reading.
Best wishes,
Seth
Community Events
Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco
Join us for an Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco! Del Sol String Quartet will be performing pieces written by our amazing alumni, all of whom will be present to discuss their works. This event is free and open to the public.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Featuring Del Sol String Quartet
Moderated by past visiting artist Nathaniel Stookey
Holy Innocents Episcopal Church
455 Fair Oaks Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
4-6 pm
While there are no tickets and no requirement to RSVP, we'd love to know if you are planning to attend. Simply write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org with your plans and question you might have.
We hope you'll join us for this inspiring afternoon of music-making.
We had a fantastic Composers Forum in New York on January 19, with 13 wonderful alumni of the Young Musicians Program and Creative Musicians Retreat. Mivos Quartet performed 12 world premieres. After each piece, the composer took the stage to answer questions from moderators Joan Tower and Loretta Notareschi, as well as audience members.
Walden at Chamber Music America 
Lots of familiar Walden faces at Chamber Music America's 2020 National Conference: Music, Equity, and our Future, January 16-19. Executive Director Seth Brenzel was joined by faculty members Doug Hertz, D. J. Sparr, Kittie Cooper, and Loretta Notareschi. Loretta and Kittie both spoke at the session "Music and Healing: Understanding Cognitive Difference Through Music."
George Lewis, 2019 Composer-in-Residence at the Creative Musicians Retreat, was the keynote speaker. Past visiting artist Joan Tower was honored with the 2020 Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, and still found time to moderate a Walden Composers Forum alongside Loretta.
Walden Holiday Parties
Many thanks to all our holiday party hosts! We had wonderful holiday potlucks in Boston, Chicago, McLean, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Summer 2020 Programs
Apply to be part of Walden 2020!
Applications for summer 2020 are pouring in, and our winter application deadline is coming up! We hope you (and all of the people you know!) will apply to join us at one of our programs this summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020 (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020 (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials are available for both programs at waldenschool.org/apply/.
Application deadlines (postmark):
February 21 (winter)
April 3 (spring)
Please write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
Hiring for Summer 2020 positions
Walden is hiring for our flagship summer 2020 Young Musicians Program.
Apply to join our incredible team of musical youth-serving professionals. Please spread the word with your colleagues and friends.
Open positions for summer 2020:
Director of Operations
Young Musicians Program Faculty
Young Musicians Program Staff
Read full job descriptions and learn how to apply here.
In the Spotlight
Larry Wetzler 
Dr. Larry Wetzler is an alumnus of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), the predecessor program to The Walden School. The JCC was founded in 1952 by Grace Newsom Cushman.
How did your relationship with the Junior Conservatory Camp and Walden begin?
Around the age of 10 or 11, I started taking musicianship classes with Shari Fleming. A few years later, I worked with Mrs. Cushman in her musicianship and theory classes. She would have ongoing potluck dinners at her home on Mt. Vernon Square, just across the street from Peabody. We would all gather for a great meal and some music. When I first attended the Junior Conservatory Camp with Mrs. Cushman in Lyndonville, Vermont, I was about 16 and already felt very much part of the community. I was taking piano lessons with Reynaldo Reyes at the time, and he was also on faculty at the camp.
Could you describe a favorite memory from JCC?
I have so many wonderful memories, but a few favorites. I loved studying Bach. We were analyzing Bach chorales in Mrs. Cushman's class at Peabody, and at the JCC, we studied one of the Brandenburg Concertos. Reynaldo Reyes performed Bach's Italian Concerto, and we would sing one of the Bach fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier.
I'll always recall Reynaldo Reyes, Zoltan Szabo, and others performing the Ravel and Debussy Quartets. Watching Linda Wilder perform a Martha Graham-inspired modern dance took my breath away.
What is a non-music hobby or activity you love?
For the past 25 years, I have been studying the work of Jacques Lacan, a French psychoanalyst. I attend an ongoing weekly Lacanian psychoanalytic seminar in Manhattan. I find his work fascinating and incorporate much of it into my own psychotherapy practice.
You support Walden in a very special way, by performing piano recitals and asking that attendees donate to Walden, rather than buying a ticket. How did this idea come about?
It came about through my belief in the power of great music to move us into a sacred dimension, transcending our ordinary lives. I want to encourage the Walden project, and enable young musicians to experience some of what I experienced in those early years.
How is creativity part of your life now?
I have written on the interface of music and psychoanalysis. Some of my work appears in the book Music and Psyche: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Explorations.
What advice would you give to would-be Walden students of today as they embark on their summer at Walden?
Be open to the miracle of music and the ways in which it taps into the heartfelt regions of existence beyond words.
Community News
Ben Adler to attend University of Chicago
YMP alumnus Ben Adler will be starting college this fall at the University of Chicago. Congratulations, Ben!
Katie Balch premiere at California Symphony
This March, the California Symphony will premiere Katherine Balch's new song cycle, Illuminations. Illuminations is written for three voices and orchestra, and is based on Les Illuminations by French poet Rimbaud. The world premiere performance will feature the California Symphony led by Donato Cabrera, and soloists Alexandra Smither, Molly Netter, and Kelly Guerra. Performances will be March 14 and 15 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA. Katie is a past faculty member at YMP.
Nick Benavides opera comes to life
CMR alumnus Nicolas Benavides is working on a full-length opera, Gilberto, based on the life of his grandfather. West Edge Opera's Snapshot will present Act 1, Scene 1 of Gilberto on January 31 and February 1 in San Francisco and Berkeley, respectively. Libretto by Marella Martin Koch. With Earplay joining WEO music director Jonathan Khuner, this opera jumps between the world of war and the world of mambo and rumba, and is set in the historic Sweet's Ballroom (which still exists today in Oakland). To learn more about Gilberto, you can listen to an interview with Nick on San Francisco Classical Voice.
Del Sol performs Du Yun Concert
On February 1, Del Sol String Quartet will perform Du Yun's Tattooed in Snow at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Tattooed in Snow "explores the temporary and fragile crystallization in nature and in space. The four players of the quartet form the four pillars of a musical space, and as a chant begins to move among theme, it layers, repeats and takes shape in the manner of a sculpture in sand or snow." Find concert details here. Del Sol is a past visiting artist at Walden, and will be performing at our Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco on February 22.
Stacy Garrop's Terra Nostra in Chicago
On February 9, Stacy Garrop's oratorio about planet Earth, Terra Nostra, will be performed at Alice Millar Chapel in Evanston, Illinois. The performance will feature Alice Millar Chapel Choir and soloists, Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, Evanston Children's Choir, and conductor Stephen Alltop. This is a free concert. Stacy is an alumna of the Young Musicians Program, and a former YMP faculty member.
Lucy McKnight wins ICEBERG New Music's Call for Scores
ICEBERG New Music's 2019-2020 Call for Scores received over 220 pieces from 163 composers around the world. For Unheard-of Ensemble, the winning piece was Lucy McKnight's Infested. Unheard-0f features Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza (violin), Issei Herr (cello), and Daniel Anastasio (piano), and will perform Lucy's piece in the upcoming season. Lucy is an alumna of the Young Musicians Program. Nathan Nokes, an alumnus of the Creative Musicians Retreat, received an honorable mention in the Hypercube division for his piece You Also.
Josh Modney Carnegie Hall solo debut
On January 28, Josh Modney made his Carnegie Hall solo debut, performing Jörg Widmann's Etude No. 2 for Solo Violin. The performance was part of a portrait concert of Widmann's music, alongside colleagues in the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). Josh is a frequent Walden visiting artist, most recently at the Young Musicians Program in 2019 with ICE.
Ben Richardson heads to curling championship
CMR alumnus Ben Richardson will be headed to the World Junior Curling Championship in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in February. Ben is a member of Team Violette, which won the Junior National Championship on January 19. Go Ben!
Freya Waley-Cohen premieres in January
On January 21, Britten Sinfonia performed the world premiere of YMP Freya Waley-Cohen's Spell Book, featuring the principals of the Britten Sinfonia and mezzo-soprano Katie Bray. Spell Book is a song cycle written for Britten Sinfonia, and is a setting of spell-poems from poet Rebecca Tamás' 2019 book WITCH. The concert also featured Frey's arrangement of Mahler's Rückert-Lieder for mezzo-soprano and chamber. Later that same day, the London Chamber Orchestra conducted by Oliver Zeffman gave the UK premiere of Freya's chamber orchestra work Changeling. The work was commissioned and performed by the LA Phil and John Adams in 2019.
Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Friends of the Albion Quartet
Tamsin Waley-Cohen is a violinist in the UK-based Albion Quartet, which is launching a new project: Friends of the Albion Quartet. The project will extend and continue Albion Quartet's work with underprivileged schools, SEN and Schools for Autistic Children, bringing music, creativity, and engaging the imagination of children across the country who otherwise would not have access. They will begin workshops next week, in collaboration with the Cavatina Trust. Tamsin is a past visiting artist at Walden, and sister of alumna Freya Waley-Cohen.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – December 2019
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Happy holidays from all of us at The Walden School!
The holiday season has arrived, and as the decade draws to a close, we have lots of exciting news. Walden community members have gathered for festive holiday potlucks in two cities, with six remaining. We're starting the new year with Alumni Composers Forums in New York and San Francisco so mark your calendars! We are now accepting applications for the Young Musicians Program and the Creative Musicians Retreat for summer 2020.
Our Walden administrative office is welcoming Elizabeth Susskind--get to know her in our "In the Spotlight" section. Check out our Community News section to learn about your fellow readers and the goings on in their lives and careers throughout the year. I hope to see you at a Walden event soon, and until then, happy reading.
Upcoming Events
Walden Holiday Parties 
Walden holiday party season is here! We have had two lovely gatherings in San Francisco and McLean, Virginia, and there are potlucks in six more cities still to come.
Join Walden and JCC alumni, faculty, staff, visiting artists, board members, family, and friends for one (or more!) of our festive holiday gatherings. RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
Baltimore: Saturday, January 11, 2020, 4-6 pm
Boston: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 12-2 pm
Chicago: Saturday, December 28, 2019, 6-8 pm
New York: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 6-8 pm
Portland: Saturday, January 4, 2020, 4-6 pm
Seattle: Sunday, January 26, 2020, 4-6 pm
These are potluck-style events at private homes. When you RSVP, please let us know what you would like to bring (e.g. savory appetizer, dessert, beverages, other item to share) and we will send you the address.
Alumni Composers Forums
We hope to see you at one or both of our Alumni Composers Forums! These events are free and open to the public. Come hear pieces written by our amazing alumni, who will all be present to discuss their works.
New York - Sunday, January 19, 2020
Featuring Mivos Quartet
Moderated by past visiting artist Joan Tower and Walden alumna and faculty member Loretta Notareschi.
Greenwich House
46 Barrow Street
New York, NY 10014
4-6 pm
San Francisco - Saturday, February 22, 2020
Featuring Del Sol String Quartet
Moderated by past visiting artist Nathaniel Stookey.
Center for New Music
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
4-6 pm
Summer 2020 Programs
Apply to be part of Walden 2020!
We are now accepting applications for summer 2020! We hope you (and all of the people you know!) will apply to join us at one of our programs this summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020 (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020 (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials are available for both programs at waldenschool.org/apply/.
Application deadlines (postmark):
January 3 (early)
February 21 (winter)
April 3 (spring)
Please write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
Job Announcement: Summer Operations Director
The Walden School is seeking a Director of Operations to join our dynamic summer program team in Dublin, New Hampshire. The Director of Operations performs a wide range of functions that keep Walden's summer programs running smoothly and operating efficiently and that complement the curricular and musical components of the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) and the Young Musicians Program (YMP). See the full job announcement here.
Walden Needs Your Support
Is Walden on your list?
If you would like to include Walden directly on your holiday giving list, we gratefully accept donations. Checks payable to The Walden School can be sent to our office, 30 Monterey Blvd., Ste. E, San Francisco, CA 94131, or you can make a gift online at waldenschool.org/donate. Your generous gift of any amount brings more music and community into the world. If you have questions about giving, we are glad to hear from you at (415) 587-8157 or at donors@waldenschool.org.
In the Spotlight
Elizabeth Susskind 
Elizabeth is a longtime friend of Walden who has just joined our San Francisco office as Administrative Assistant. Welcome, Elizabeth!
How did you get connected with Walden?
I sing in the Symphony Chorus with Seth, Walden's Executive Director, so I first heard about Walden through conversations with him. Seth's descriptions were very interesting, so I came to a couple events in San Francisco. I think what really appeals to me is that Walden students are not in competition with each other. I think that noncompetitive element is so important, when kids have so much competition in other areas of their life. Kids can fall through the cracks in those settings, but it seems like there are no cracks at Walden. They can just be themselves, and no one is judging them or telling them they're wrong or grading them. It seems like nothing you do at Walden is wrong-it's your way of being creative and expressing yourself. And no matter what you're doing, it's all about communicating, expressing, and listening.
How is music a part of your life?
It's always there--I can't imagine my life without it. I grew up listening to music, I listen to music all the time, and I perform music. I have a degree in Vocal Performance from Trinity College of Music in London, and I also did music theory and music history as part of that. When I came to the US, I sang in the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and the Opera Theatre Chorus. When I moved to San Francisco, I joined the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and I continue to be a member of the symphony chorus. I also sing in a church choir and do a few other performances as a vocalist. As a performer, music connects me to something greater than myself, something universal, and as a listener, music is immensely comforting and soothing. I went with my daughter to a Paul McCartney concert in massive sports stadium, packed with thousands of people all experiencing personal versions of the same thing. And being there with my daughter, who also loves music, was so important. For me, music always brings connection-with history, with other people, and with myself.
What is a non-music hobby you love?
I love playing mahjong. I play every week. Friday is my mahjong day. I also love yoga, and I love walking my dog. I love the ocean, so I live by the ocean and walk by the ocean a lot.
What is something you're looking forward to in the coming year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions, but every year I adopt a theme, one word that I want to permeate the year. For example, balance has been a word I've chosen, as I worked at balancing the different elements of my life. Health is my word for the coming year, encompassing physical, emotional, and spiritual health. I'm so lucky and so blessed, and I think physical things are becoming less and less important to me. Specifically, I'm looking forward to June, when the Symphony Chorus will be singing Mahler 8 and other amazing things to celebrate Michael Tilson Thomas' final season with the SF Symphony. I'm looking forward to being part of Walden, having this new community in my life. I'm looking forward to the continued journey, good health, wonderful friends, and beautiful music.
Community News
Kika honored at ASCAP awards
YMP student Kika Charles-Pierre was honored at the ASCAP Foundation awards this year in New York. Three YMP alumni were on hand to cheer her on--Executive Director Seth Brenzel, faculty member Doug Hertz, and Giacomo Baldelli, the teacher who first connected Kika with Walden. Kika also had a piece premiered by Giacomo in New York on December 5th at Arete Venue and Gallery. Congratulations, Kika!
Alex Johnston new director of DiMenna Center
Alex Johnston, a longtime friend and supporter of Walden, has been named director of The Dimenna Center for Classical Music. Alex has previously worked at the NY Philharmonic and National Sawdust. The DiMenna Center is committed to serving the musical community and its Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, and hosts hundreds of neighbors, families, and school children each year for free community events.
Sky Macklay featured by Sheet Music Plus
Walden alumna and longtime faculty member Sky Macklay was interviewed by Sheet Music Plus. The interview, which took place during Sky's residency at Civatella Ranieri in Umbertide, Italy, focuses on Sky's process as a composer, and how she collaborates with instrumentalists in bringing new chamber music to the concert stage. Read the full interview here.
Mackenzie Melemed makes Carnegie Hall debut
Pianist Mackenzie Melemed, an alumnus of the Young Musicians Program, made his Carnegie Hall debut on Friday, December 13. Currently studying in the two-year Artist Diploma program at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Emanuel Ax, Melemed holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.
Holiday performances by Nat Osborn
The Nat Osborn Band collaborated with No. 11 Productions as they presented A Christmas Carol. Nat Osborn Band worked on a portion of the show, and also provided the entertainment at the post-show afterparty on December 16. Nat also performed at Aimee Bayles' Holiday Music Extravaganza at Rockwood Music Hall. Nat is an alumnus of the Young Musicians Program.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – November 2019
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at The Walden School!
The holiday season has arrived. This edition of InterNetzo includes the cities and dates for our Walden holiday potlucks, as well as other community events coming up. Alumni Composers Forums are just around the corner in New York and San Francisco, so submit your scores and/or mark your calendars! Read our "In the Spotlight" section to hear from Dede Ondishko, Walden alumna, and a past faculty, staff, and Board member. Check out our Community News section to learn about your fellow readers and the goings on in their lives and careers throughout the year. I hope to see you at a Walden event soon, and until then, happy reading.
Upcoming Events
Featured Event: Walden alumni/teacher/student collaboration
On Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 7:30 pm, guitarist Giacomo Baldelli will present an electric guitar solo set featuring the world premiere of "Lost in Dull Time" by Young Musicians Program student Kayenne Charles-Pierre. The concert is at Areté Venue and Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. The concert will also feature a 1981 David Byrne/Brian Eno work - to be soon released as a single, and an improv set for electric guitar and electronics.
Kayenne Charles-Pierre attended the Young Musicians Program in 2018 and 2019, and received the 2019 ASCAP Irving Berlin Scholarship. She initially came to Walden with the recommendation and encouragement of her music teacher, Giacomo Baldelli.
Giacomo Baldelli is focused on exploring the 20th century, but also developing a new 21st century repertoire for guitar. Most recently, he has been interested in expanding the contemporary repertoire for electric guitar. He is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician, and has performed throughout Europe (Italy, Germany, France, England, Czech Republic, Poland), as well as the United States. In 2010, he attended The Walden School Teacher Training Institute, where he met pianist Laura Barger, to whom he is now married.
Walden Holiday Parties
Walden holiday party season is here! Join Walden and JCC alumni, faculty, staff, visiting artists, board members, family, and friends for one (or more!) of our festive holiday gatherings.
These are potluck-style events at private homes. When you RSVP, please let us know what you would like to bring (e.g. savory appetizer, dessert, beverages, other item to share) and we will send you the address.
RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
Baltimore: Saturday, January 11, 2020, 4-6 pm
Boston: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 12-2 pm
Chicago: Saturday, December 28, 2019, 6-8 pm
New York: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 6-8 pm
Portland: Saturday, January 4, 2020, 4-6 pm
San Francisco: Sunday, December 8, 2019, 3-5 pm
Seattle: Sunday, January 26, 2020, 4-6 pm
Washington, DC/McLean: Sunday, December 15, 2019, 4-6 pm
Alumni Composers Forums
>Whether or not you plan to submit a score, mark your calendars! These events are free and open to the public. Come hear pieces written by our amazing alumni, who will all be present to discuss their works.
New York - Sunday, January 19, 2020
Featuring Mivos Quartet
Moderated by composer Joan Tower and composer Loretta Notareschi.
Scores must be submitted by December 1, 2019.
Greenwich House
46 Barrow Street
New York, NY 10014
4-6 pm
San Francisco - Saturday, February 22, 2020
Featuring Del Sol String Quartet
Moderated by composer Nathaniel Stookey.
Scores must be submitted by December 15, 2019.
Center for New Music
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
4-6 pm
All alumni of the Creative Musicians Retreat, Teacher Training Institute, Young Musicians Program, and Junior Conservatory Camp are eligible to submit scores for music for any combination of string quartet players. If you can provide other performers (including yourself) for the event, you are welcome to submit scores that include other instruments beyond violin, viola, and/or cello. A committee of Walden faculty and staff will determine which pieces will be programmed on each of the two programs. We will notify you approximately two weeks after the deadline whether your piece has been selected for performance at the Composers Forum.
If you have any questions, please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.
Walden 2020
As we all settle into the winter season, it's not too early to plan for summer in Dublin! We hope you (and all of the people whom you know!) will apply to join us at one of our programs this summer.
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020 (for musicians ages 18-98)
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020 (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials will be available soon on our website, but you can make sure you receive application materials via email by signing up at: waldenschool.org/invite to apply/
Application deadlines (postmark):
January 3 (early)
February 21 (winter)
April 3 (spring)
Please write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org with any questions.
Job Announcement: Summer Operations Director
The Walden School is seeking a Director of Operations to join our dynamic summer program team in Dublin, New Hampshire. The Director of Operations performs a wide range of functions that keep Walden's summer programs running smoothly and operating efficiently and that complement the curricular and musical components of the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) and the Young Musicians Program (YMP). See the full job announcement here.
Holiday Giving
Walden Gear
Is there someone in your life who has been wishing for a Walden t-shirt? Or sweatshirt? Or tote bag? 'Tis the season! Of course, Walden gear is never out of season. To order merchandise, fill out this form and send it to us by fax ((415) 337-4557) or mail to The Walden School, 30 Monterey Blvd., Suite E, San Francisco, CA 94131.
Bandcamp
Have you seen Walden's bandcamp page? It has music from every Composers Forum of the Creative Musicians Retreat and the Young Musicians Program, as well as the YMP Choral Concerts from the past six years. You even can send a digital album as a gift!
Amazon Smile
If you shop on Amazon.com, ever, for anything, you can support The Walden School while you're shopping! Just go to smile.amazon.com and choose to support "Walden School" (you'll see San Francisco listed as our location). You'll know you've found the right Walden, because it lists our mission to inspire artistic expression and personal growth through experiential music programs. Once you've selected Walden, you can do all your Amazon shopping at smile.amazon.com, and it will save Walden in your settings. A portion of the proceeds of anything you buy will go to support Walden's programs.
Is Walden on your list?
If you would like to include Walden directly on your holiday giving list, we gratefully accept donations. Checks payable to The Walden School can be sent to our office, 30 Monterey Blvd., Ste. E, San Francisco, CA 94131, or you can make a gift online at waldenschool.org/donate. Your generous gift of any amount brings more music and community into the world. If you have questions about giving, we are glad to hear from you at (415) 587-8157 or at donors@waldenschool.org.
In the Spotlight - Dede Ondishko 
How and when did your relationship with Walden begin?
I was a piano student at Peabody Conservatory Preparatory Department. Peabody required all private students to take music theory, but somehow I was enrolled in both theory and musicianship. I really loved musicianship. Cindy Brackbill was my teacher, and she told me about Walden. My parents got really excited about it, because I was something of a wayward child, so they hoped it would reform me. And it did. In fact, it transformed me. I was a C-student before Walden. I didn't care about school or improving myself. But then I went to Walden, and I've been an A-student and an overachiever ever since! It was like I found the "on" button. I became an engaged person because of my first year experience at Walden.
What has been your involvement with Walden since then?
Today some of my best friends are kids and colleagues I went to camp with. I began as a student in 1974 at age 14 and was a student for four summers. I was on staff for one summer. I was on faculty for seven summers, and I also served a term on the Board of Directors 1998-2004. When I was on faculty, my stepdaughter, Danielle, was 12 and came for the shorter program, and she was hooked! She went every year that she could, then she served on faculty, and now she has joined the Board. As a music teacher I've sent my students to Walden. I'm also a contributor, and I've held concerts to raise scholarship money for YMP students. I was only able to go to Walden on scholarship, so I really want to thank and repay the people who gave to scholarships and basically paid for me to attend Walden. Walden is family. Like Lynn Hebden said, "You take Walden with you wherever you go." You never really leave.
Could you describe a favorite Walden memory?
A few years ago, I was interviewed as part of a Teacher of the Year award, and they asked about my favorite teacher, and my answer was David Hogan (we called him Hoagie). I was in my early fifties, but I started choking up right there in the interview, describing how much he gave me as a student. He showed me what I could do! He gave me opportunities no one had ever given me. He was the first teacher who saw what I could do, stood by my side and waited for me. He lit a fire in me!
Another example of that was Saturday hiking at Walden. I was a bit of a laggard, so I was in the last group, which basically went at Sunday-stroll pace-no one really even expected us to make it to the top! I was having fun, but I went to Jeff Hebden, who was on staff as activities director, and I asked if I could move to Group I, the group that was practically running up the mountain. He looked it at me the same way Hoagie looked at me and said, "You want to do it? Okay, go for it!" That Saturday, I hiked in Group I, and I was the first one to the top. This is something I didn't know I could do, but they believed in me.
I also loved listening to music in a new way. After Goodnight Music, a group of us would go to the listening library, turn off the lights, lie on the floor, and put our heads together like we were spokes of a wheel, and just listen. It was amazing to have this music listening hour with just us kids. We wanted to share the music we liked, and we were expanding each other's ears. That music sunk in on a level that transformed me, on a cellular level. Having that musical communing with kids my own age was transformative. That's when I heard Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht for the first time. I think I've spent my whole life trying to rewrite and recapture that piece!
How are music and creativity part of your life now?
I went to Eastman for graduate school, and I majored in Music Composition, specializing in Computer Music. After I graduated, I ended up going into computer network engineering, which I was able to do because of my computer music training. But sadly, I stopped playing or writing music! Kyle Horch, a saxophone performer in London who commissioned a series of pieces from me, single-handedly kept me writing. Later, after 12 years of working in computer networking, I realized there wasn't enough music in my life, so I applied for a job as a public school music teacher, even though it meant going back to school to get licensed. At age 39, I went into teaching music full time, until my husband and I decided to retire. Now I perform all the time as concert pianist and accompanist, as a symphony violist, and I sing in a vocal jazz group. I'm very active as a musician. I recently started writing symphonies-I just finished my third. And I hope to get them performed. I love creating music. Kurt Vonnegut said, "Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow," and I keep that quote above my workstation.
What is a non-musical hobby you love?
Music is intangible, you can't touch it or hold onto or see what you've accomplished so to counter that I've picked up some great concrete hobbies. I make paper cards and send notes to my family and friends. I sew. I garden. I play tennis and go biking and do lots of hiking. I just love hiking.
What advice would you give to an earlier-career musician as they are setting out along their path?
If you have the chance to take a music marketing or business class, do not miss out! Learn about promotion, marketing and production, learn how to send out scores and cover letters to perfect strangers. Pay attention, get informed, and reach out for guidance.
You have to feed your artistic spirit. As Vonnegut says, you've got to keep creating! Be careful of the gap of what you are doing and what you can imagine, or what you hear other people are doing. We're at a time when the best artists in the world are so easily accessible, so we can see world class musicians at any time. That can be discouraging! So I've learned to say to myself, "I know I'm not there yet, but I have the potential." I know that because my Walden teachers believed and told me so. As Ira Glass says, "Don't let the gap get you down!" Even though that gap is always there, you can strive and be happy with those moments when the gap shrinks a little bit. You've just got to go for it!
About: Denise Ondishko, Ph.D., is a composer, performer, and educator. Her works cover a wide, eclectic range of genres, including solo piano, solo violin, wind ensemble, orchestra, saxophone and piano, chamber ballet, children's theatre, elementary school band, and a number of works for live instrument and computer-synthesized tape. Dede won the Northern California Viola Society's 2018-2019 Composer Competition for her piece, Out of Mud.
Dede is active as a performer and collaborator. She studied at Carnegie Mellon University and the Eastman School of Music. Her teachers included Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, Barbara Kolb, David Hogan, and Leonardo Balada. She has done extensive research into the work of computer music pioneer Paul Lansky, a member of Walden's Advisory Council. She has taught composition at The Walden School and Oberlin Conservatory. In addition to her compositional work and research she has also developed a parallel career as an information technology management specialist.
ACF NextNote High School Music Creator Awards
The American Composers Forum is pleased to announce the sixth annual NextNotes High School Music Creator Awards. Whether you write for voices, electronics, or instruments, are a singer/songwriter or improviser, hip-hop artist or sound designer, ACF welcomes you to apply. Students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to apply with a single piece in any genre or style. NextNotes rewards and celebrates creativity, originality, skill, potential, risk-taking, bravery, and passion!
Deadline: January 6, 2020
For details and to apply, visit composersforum.org/education/nextnotes/
Community News
Grace Brigham wins Emerging Composer Competition
Grace Brigham, a CMR alumna, has won Cantus Vocal Ensemble's Young and Emerging Composer Competition. Her piece Discoveries explores the experiences of of female scientists, and includes the words of Euphemia Haynes, Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, Ada Lovelace, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Maria Mitchell. Grace wrote the piece for male voices, and workshopped it at Walden's Creative Musicians Retreat this summer. Grace is attending St. Olaf College. Cantus is a men's vocal ensemble based in Minneapolis, and will perform Discoveries at St. Olaf, as well as on tour.
Shawn Crouch premiere with Aperio
Aperio, Music of the Americas, in collaboration with New American Voices, will present the world premiere of Shawn Crouch's Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Featuring the poetry of Wallace Stevens, this new work explores multiple perspectives on the poet's blackbird motif through a collection of enigmatic haiku-like poems. Crouch's concept incorporates evocative lighting, live projections, and interactive staging to illuminate the relationship between perspective, repetition, and social dynamics. The concert will take place in Houston, Texas, in February 2020. Shawn is a YMP alumnus and former faculty member.
Annie Gosfield Composer Portrait in Austin
On November 23, Austin-based Tetractys Ensemble performed a Composer Portrait of Annie Gosfield, a past Composer-in-Residence at Walden. The concert featured Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery, a double quartet for strings and percussion that's inspired by factory environments; Long Waves and Random Pulses for violin and jammed radio signals; Daughters of the Industrial Revolution inspired by Annie's immigrant grandmother's sweatshop days; and Burn Again With a Low Blue Flame for cello, that was originally an installation work. Annie is spending the fall semester as a visiting professor of composition at UT Austin.
Julian Hofstetter receives PRISM/Walden commission
For more than 20 years, PRISM Quartet has partnered with The Walden School to make a yearly award to one deserving high school student. This year's recipient of The PRISM Quartet/Walden School Commissioning Award is Julian Hofstetter. A native of Newark, Delaware, Julian attends Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he studies music performance, theory, and composition. His works span a wide range of idioms and instrumentations, with an emphasis on electronic music. Julian will create a new saxophone quartet that PRISM will premiere in Philadelphia on May 23, 2020, and perform in New York City on May 24, 2020.
Ned McGowan flute and contrabass flute tour
Ned McGowan, a past visiting artist at Walden, is on tour offering concerts, masterclasses, workshops, and lectures. The concerts will feature Ned's most recent repertoire on the contrabass flute and flute, plus a new work written for contrabass flute and piano by HyeKyung Lee. Ned is currently based in the Netherlands, and his tour will take him to Ohio and California, notably to the Cleveland Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Upcoming publications from Russell Nadel
Russell Nadel, an alumnus of YMP and TTI, will have three choral octavos published in the next few months. I'm Sick of 'Mustn't's, for two-part treble chorus and piano, and Early Winter Tree, for SATB chorus and piano or harp, will both be published in the Henry Leck Creating Artistry Choral Series by Hal Leonard; these two works will join Eldorado (SSA and piano) and Windy Nights (two-part treble and piano), which are already in the series. Tov L'Hodot, a setting of the Hebrew text of the 92nd Psalm for SATB chorus and piano, will be published by Transcontinental Music Publications. Tov L'Hodot won the 2017 Ben Steinberg Young Composer's Award, sponsored by the Guild of Temple Musicians.
Osnat Netzer premiere at National Sawdust
On Saturday, November 23, Osnat Netzer's Philomelos received its world premiere at National Sawdust. The piece was commissioned and premiered by vocalist Lucy Dhegrae, 2019-20 Artist-in-Residence at National Sawdust. The performance was the first in The Processing Series, More Beautiful Than Words Can Tell, a series of four concerts exploring trauma recovery. Works written for Lucy Dhegrae by past Walden visiting artist Eve Beglarian, Angélica Negrón, and Katherine Young will also be featured on the series. Osnat Netzer is a Walden alumna and faculty member.
Congratulations to the Schoepflin Jimoh family
Congratulations to Katie Schoepflin Jimoh and her husband Ayo Jimoh on the birth of their daughter! Joan Aisha Jimoh was born on November 7, and everyone is doing well. Katie was most recently a member of the 2019 Walden School Players. Welcome to the family, Joan Aisha!
Dennis Sullivan performances on both coasts
As a member of Wavefield Ensemble, Dennis Sullivan performed a concert on November 16 at University Settlement Society of New York, featuring the world premiere of You would be like diving into the ocean, written by YMP alumna Victoria Cheah. On November 18, Wavefield performed a concert at UConn, featuring a new arrangement of Axamer Folio, written by Eric Wubbels, a member of the 2019 Walden School Players. On December 7, Dennis and Levy Lorenzo will be performing at UC Berkeley as Radical 2. The concert will feature new works by UC Berkeley students and is the culmination of a four-day residency. Dennis was on faculty at the Young Musicians Program in 2018 and 2019.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
eNews: InterNetzo – October 2019
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Greetings!
Autumn is here--time to appreciate another wonderful Walden summer and turn our attention to the year ahead. This edition of InterNetzo offers a preview of winter events, with Walden holiday potlucks and Alumni Composers Forums just around the corner. Check out our Community News section to learn about your fellow readers and the goings on in their lives and careers throughout the year. I hope to see you at a Walden event soon, and until then, happy reading.
Upcoming Events
Walden Holiday Parties
The holiday season is just around the corner! Walden community members will be gathering for holiday potlucks in cities throughout the country in December and January.
Look for an email listing dates and cities soon, and if you are interested in hosting a party in your area or want to learn more in the meantime about these upcoming gatherings, please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.
Alumni Composers Forums
New York - Sunday, January 19, 2020
Featuring Mivos Quartet
Greenwich House
46 Barrow Street
New York, NY 10014
4-6 pm
San Francisco - Saturday, February 22, 2020
Featuring Del Sol String Quartet
Center for New Music
55 Taylor Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
4-6 pm
Watch out for a call for scores to come shortly! All alumni of the Creative Musicians Retreat, Teacher Training Institute, Young Musicians Program, and Junior Conservatory Camp are eligible to submit scores for music for any combination of string quartet players. If you can provide other performers (including yourself) for the event, you are welcome to submit scores that include other instruments beyond violin, viola, and/or cello. These events will be free and open to the public.
If you have any questions or would like to express interest now, please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.
Walden 2020
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 13-21, 2020
Young Musicians Program: June 27 - August 2, 2020
Application materials will be available beginning in early November on our website, but you can make sure you receive application materials via email by signing up at: waldenschool.org/invite to apply/
Application deadlines (postmark):
January 3 (early)
February 21 (winter)
April 3 (spring)
In the Spotlight - Nate May
2019 was Nate's third summer on faculty at the Young Musicians Program. He has taught musicianship, composition, and specialty classes, and is our current Goodnight Music faculty leader. When not at Walden, Nate teaches at Thurnauer School of Music (along with faculty members Doug Hertz and Rebekah Griffin Greene) and at Montclair State University John J. Cali School of Music.
What is something about Walden you found surprising?
I heard about Walden from my friend Evan Williams, who had been on faculty, and it sounded awesome. In my head I imagined this utopic place, and Walden met that pretty well, which was surprising. Usually when I build castles in the sky, they come crashing down eventually. So I was surprised something like Walden can exist in the real world.
Why music?
I love the combination of rational and irrational that music has or can be approached with. I have both those elements--I am really interested in abstract things, but I also have very visceral reactions to sounds. I'm fascinated by combining those two sides.
What is a piece of Walden you carry with you outside the summer?
Practically, I use the pedagogy and approach to musicianship in my teaching all the time. I felt very affirmed that Walden is so big on the overtone series, because it's very important to me. It's pretty much missing from most music theory curricula, but I make it a big part of theory in my teaching.
The community of faculty and staff is also important to me year-round. I move a lot, so I love having those summers with people I've grown really close to. I really look forward to being back each summer.
I also think Walden has taught me a way of interacting with students that I carry with me. There are ways to unlock things with a student, but that unlocking takes time, and Walden gives students that time. Now when I encounter students elsewhere, I see those potentials.
What is a non-music hobby that you love?
I know this was meant to be a non-Walden question, but I love hiking. I'm not always able to fit trips in, and on the East Coast a lot of sites are closed some seasons. But I love just being in the woods.
Can you describe a favorite Walden memory?
We went to visit Caroline Shaw at the MacDowell Colony, and I drove one of the buses. She gave a presentation and then had everyone sing pitches and change the vowel shapes, really paying attention to the timbre of those pitches. When we got back in the van, I turned on the radio, but I turned it to AM, and it was static, but it had a sort of a drone to it. So I turned it up, and the kids started singing along with the drone with overtones! That lasted the whole drive back to campus, at least 20 minutes, and no one was talking, no one was laughing, no one took it as a joke. They were just communing with this AM static drone. Then we got back, I turned off the radio, and everyone just got off the bus. It was just another day.
About: Nate May is a composer, performer, and educator whose interest in human ecosystems has impelled explorations of a wide variety of sounds and interactions. Raised in Huntington, West Virginia, much of his work stems from a "fascination, love, and respect for the people" of Appalachia (Soapbox), including his oratorio "State," the result of interviews he conducted with Appalachian migrants on a fellowship from the Berea Sound Archives, and "Licorice Parikrama," a networked performance featuring a live conference call with West Virginians affected by the 2014 Elk River chemical spill. Nate is an accomplished keyboardist and improviser as well as an electronic musician and producer, collaborating with Paris-based choreographer Wanjiru Kamuyu on the world-touring work Spiral and indigenous experimental trio Khoi Khonnexion on their debut album Kalahari Waits, recorded during a year in South Africa on a Reese Miller scholarship from the Telluride Association.
Walden donors set a new record 
Walden's fiscal year ended on September 30. In the 2019 fiscal year, 500 donors gave more than $377,000--Walden's largest-ever class of donors! This year also set the record for new members of our donor community. Thank you! We are inspired by your generosity, and the transformative experiences of music and community you make possible.
BMI Foundation launches 2020 Scholarship Season 
The BMI Foundation announced that it is now accepting online applications for its 2020 scholarship season, open to students attending colleges and universities nationwide.
The Foundation will administer five distinct songwriting and composing scholarship competitions, judged by panelists of international musical acclaim. These annual programs include the BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship, BMI Student Composer Awards, John Lennon Scholarship, peermusic Latin Scholarship and the Nashville Songwriting Scholarship. In addition, the Foundation administers two scholarship competitions outside the area of music creation: the BMI Founders Internship Program for broadcasting students, and the Woody Guthrie Fellowship for scholars pursuing topics or themes related to the American folk music progenitor.
Most applications must be completed no later than January 15, 2020, though the Founders Award, Woody Guthrie, and Student Composer Awards have extended deadlines.
For details and to apply, visit bmifoundation.org/programs.
Community News
George Brandon's Blue Unity Sextet
George Brandon's Blue Unity Sextet performed in New York at Local 802 American Federation of Musicians on October 10. The concert was part of the Jazz in the Afternoon concert series, sponsored by Local 802, and all proceeds go to assist musicians in times of need. George is an alumnus of the Creative Musicians Retreat.
Eliza Brown's 'Figure to Ground" on MusicNow
Eliza Brown's "Figure to Ground" was performed on October 7 on the opening concert of the 22nd season of Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNow series. As described in the Chicago Tribute, "Figure to Ground" reveled in understatement, its hushed dynamics, transparent textures and hauntingly simple melodic fragments inducing the listener to lean in, the better to savor its whisperings." Eliza is a Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumna, has served on YMP faculty and staff, and in 2019 was an academic dean and faculty mentor for YMP.
Daniel Felsenfeld premiere with FearNoMusic
"Indelible in the Hippocampus is the Laughter," a piece written by Daniel Felsenfeld, premiered on September 23 in Portland, Oregon. The piece was part of HEARINGS: New Music inspired by the 2018 "Kavanaugh Hearings," a concert of world premieres presented by FearNoMusic. Danny was on faculty at the Young Musicians Program in 2018 and 2019.
Del Sol residency at Avaloch Farm
Del Sol String Quartet, a past visiting artist at Walden, will be in residence for one week at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen, New Hampshire. Based in the Bay Area, Del Sol is dedicated to bringing the voice of living artists to our diverse community and making contemporary chamber music a dynamic part of today's culture.
Douglas Hertz premieres on the West Coast
On October 1, "A Small Measure of Warmth," a piece written by Douglas Hertz for soprano, baritone, and piano, premiered at Meyer Sound Labs in Berkeley, California. The piece was the culmination of Doug's time as a Composer Fellow at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy. On October 21, "Fixtures in the Fold" was premiered in Portland, Oregon, by Portland Percussion Group. This piece won first prize in Portland Percussion Group's 2019 Call for Scores. The concert also featured the music of Paul Lansky, a member of The Walden School Advisory Council.
Alicia Jo Rabins - A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff
YMP alumna Alicia Jo Rabins wrote A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff based on her experience working in an artist residency on Wall Street during the 2008 financial collapse. Premiered in 2012, the solo chamber-rock opera has been adapted into a film with animation by Zak Margolis, in collaboration with Boom Arts, and is now in post-production.
Kate Soper and Sam Pluta open Wet Ink season
Wet Ink Ensemble, a past ensemble-in-residence at Walden, is opening their 21st season with Dialogues, a concert in Seattle on November 3. Kate Soper and Sam Pluta will present a new evening-length set of collaboratively developed music, alongside Kate's solo works. Sam served for 17 years on Walden's faculty, and was Walden's Academic Dean for nearly a decade at the Young Musicians Program. Kate has been a visiting artist with Wet Ink at both Walden's Creative Musicians Retreat and Young Musicians Program.
Seth Parker Woods in Recital in Seattle
Seth Parker Woods, a member of The Walden School Players, will perform with the Seattle Symphony on December 11. That Which is Fundamental is an exploration of language and essential truths of the human condition. The program presents compositions by Anton Lukoszevieze, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Vinko Globokar, Tonia Ko, Gustavo Tavares and Julius Eastman. The concert will feature percussionist Bonnie Whiting, also a member of The Walden School Players.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
The Walden School 2019 Season Highlights
Transformative Programs:
Young Musicians Program
Walden’s 47th Young Musicians Program (June 29-August 4) brought 49 young composers, ages 9-18, to Dublin from 17 states and two other countries. Of these creative, talented students, 27 were new to Walden, and 22 were returners. Eight younger students attended a shortened, three-week session, and all students spent life-changing weeks working with incredible faculty, dedicated staff, and top-notch artists and ensembles. Our guest Composer-in-Residence, Kati Agócs, was a wonderful presence, as she moderated three Composers Forums with thoughtful curiosity and gave a fascinating lecture-demonstration of her work. Two of her works were featured on other concerts, including a beautiful performance of Hyacinth Curl on Walden's Choral Concert, arranged for 12 voices by Walden's Choral Director, Dr. Sarah Riskind. Addressing YMP students at Walden’s Choral Concert, Kati said:
"I’ve been absolutely blown away by all of your works, your individual voices that I’ve heard. To me you’re like a firmament of stars, which has no limit to its potential—each one unique and brilliant. I feel the world really needs you and your passion for new music, and it gives me hope that you’re going to be going out there sharing that passion.”
As happens each summer, all YMP students took classes in musicianship and composition, as well as chorus. We welcomed back entirely returning faculty, and welcomed three new staff members to the team, including alumnus Theo Trevisan. Faculty members taught specialty classes in orchestration, film and video game scoring, Renaissance music, music for social change, jazz improvisation, and several other topics.
In the words of YMP student Ash Paris-Carter, reflecting on her 6th summer at Walden:
Year after year, every time I arrive at Walden, my heart glows. I’m always struck by the natural beauty of New Hampshire, combined with being surrounded by creative and talented individuals who love music as much as I do. My favorite thing about Walden is that music is tied into everything we do, from hikes, to meals, and even “Halloween in July.” I love that it is the only place in the world where a bunch of teenagers can rock out to Stravinsky and Philip Glass at a dance. I love that my teachers are so engaged and passionate about music, and that they will always have my back. I love that Walden has opened me up to the fact that music can take many different forms. That people write music of every genre and every technique and style and how Walden is more welcoming to that than anywhere else I’ve studied. This community lifts everybody up and reveals to them that music is everywhere, in every moment of time.
Creative Musicians Retreat
For Walden's eighth year of the Creative Musicians Retreat, 45 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 77, came from 22 states and Canada for nine immersive days of composing and learning from renowned faculty and guest artists. 14 of the participants were alumni of YMP, CMR, and/or TTI, and all participants came together in a wonderful community spanning many musical styles, talents, and backgrounds. Our fantastic Composer-in-Residence, George Lewis, shared excellent insights with the composers in master classes, three nights of Composers Forums, as well as during private lessons. We offered an evening of chamber music for the second time at CMR, with an amazing repertoire of entirely contemporary pieces. The wonderful Matthew Gold, David Friend, and Mivos Quartet were in residence this summer, and their enthusiasm and dedication shone through in their performances of participant works.
Award-winning Concert Series:
Our Composers Forums are at the heart of Walden's programs and are a unique element of our Concert Series. Whether or not students have written music before coming to Walden, all students compose at least one piece at Walden, and most complete more. Participants write in a wide array of musical styles, and these works are premiered on 11 Composers Forums (3 during CMR, 8 during YMP) by visiting artists, faculty and staff members, and other students. After their piece is premiered, the composer takes the stage to answer questions from faculty, other students, and audience members about their piece, their process, and their intentions going forward. We hope you enjoy this glimpse of a Young Musicians Program Composers Forum:
Walden’s Summer Concert Series included more than 20 performances, all free and open to the public. The Young Musicians Program had a wonderful opening concert with the Steinberg Duo, featuring the U.S. premiere of a sonata written for them by Philip Sawyers. Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses gave a lively outdoor performance of New Orleans jazz, delighting an audience of more than 300 before leading a musical parade down to the lake to watch 4th of July fireworks. The YMP Faculty Commissioning Concert featured four members of Ensemble Dal Niente, who performed eight new pieces by Walden faculty. The International Contemporary Ensemble gave an amazing performance of works by contemporary composers, including Walden faculty member Osnat Netzer, as well as performing student works on two of the Young Musicians Program Composers Forums. Eight returning members of The Walden School Players performed numerous student works during Festival Week, and also gave an exciting concert of works entirely written in the past 15 years, including works by Walden faculty member Ted Moore and 2019 YMP Composer-in-Residence Kati Agócs.
Our visiting artists also held community connections concerts at three locations. Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses performed at RiverMead Retirement Community, The Walden School Players performed at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, and the Steinberg Duo performed at the Keene Public Library.
Click on date to view program details:
Saturday, June 15: Mivos Quartet (string quartet); Matthew Gold, percussion; David Friend, piano, and Hai-Ting Chinn, voice. Included works by George E. Lewis, Composer-in-Residence
Sunday, June 16: Composer Presentation: George E. Lewis, CMR Composer-in-Residence
Tuesday, June 18: Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) Composers Forum I
Wednesday, June 19: CMR Composers Forum II
Thursday, June 20: CMR Chamber Music Concert
Friday, June 21: CMR Composers Forum III
Sunday, June 30: Steinberg Duo - Louisa Stonehill, violin; Nicholas Burns, piano
Tuesday, July 2: Young Musicians Program (YMP) Composers Forum I
Friday, July 5: Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses (New Orleans jazz)
At this lively outdoor concert, the band announced their set from the stage, with music primarily drawn from New Orleans jazz traditions, including, but not limited to, Gypsy Jazz and traditional New Orleans/American jazz music.
Tuesday, July 9: YMP Composers Forum II
Friday, July 12: Ensemble Dal Niente performing world premieres by Walden faculty members
Tuesday, July 16: YMP Composers Forum III
Thursday, July 18: YMP Composers Forum IV
Friday, July 19: International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Tuesday, July 23: YMP Composers Forum V
Friday, July 26: The Walden School Players. Included works by Kati Agócs, Composer-in-Residence
Sunday, July 28: Composers Presentation: Kati Agócs, YMP Composer-in-Residence
Monday, July 29 – Wednesday July 31: Festival Week Composers Forums
Composers Forum I | Composers Forum II | Composers Forum III
Friday, August 2: The Walden School Choral Concert, Sarah Riskind, Choral Director
Collaborative Partnerships:
Dublin School
Walden’s 37th season at our wonderful host Dublin School was particularly lovely as we celebrated our second season in the remodeled, air-conditioned Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall, with a beautiful, spacious stage and a Meyer sound system.
PRISM Quartet
Long-term collaborator PRISM Quartet performed PREMIERES in Philadelphia and New York, the 19th year of premiering Walden student pieces. The performance featured YMP alumna Francesca Hellerman, winner of the PRISM/Walden School Commissioning Award.
Ensemble Dal Niente
In March, Ensemble Dal Niente gave the world premiere of Meditation on Collision, a piece written by YMP alumna Ruby Landau-Pincus, winner of the 2018 Walden Dal Niente Commissioning Award. In May, Dal Niente performed Ruby's piece again, on a concert featuring the world premiere of Undersea, a piece by YMP alumna Victoria Cheah.
The MacDowell Colony
Walden continued a decades-long association with its annual visit to this preeminent artist colony. Students met with two composers--Philippe Bodin and Martha Mooke. French–born composer Philippe Bodin is a Guggenheim fellow and a laureate from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Composer and electric-acoustic violist Martha Mooke is a pioneer in the field of electric five-string viola. She allowed students to tour the MacDowell Colony studio where she is in residence, and even let several YMP students try out her electric viola.
Regional Events
We celebrated Walden with events in Dublin, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., featuring world-class performances by past faculty members, visiting artists, and friends of Walden. At our Washington, D.C. event, Eric Huebner, pianist for the New York Philharmonic, performed a piano recital featuring Ligeti, Chopin, and a piece written at Walden by a 2018 YMP student. Our New York event featured an amazing performance by the Claremont Trio, featuring a piece written at Walden by a recent YMP alumnus. In San Francisco, guests heard an astounding performance by cellist Dave Eggar, along with Phil Faconti, Waway Saway, and Charith Premawardhana. Our August event in Dublin featured violinist Violaine Melançon, a former faculty member and visiting artist at Walden, performing solo works by Jörg Widmann, Lei Liang, and Bach. These four events brought together more than 350 friends, alumni, and supporters of the Walden School for celebrations of Walden’s programs and people, all while delighting in music and community.
eNews: InterNetzo – April 2019
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Greetings!
Summer is almost here, with wonderful Walden programs ahead. May 1 is the application deadline for our 2019 programs. This edition of InterNetzo offers a glimpse of the amazing projects our Walden community members are working on, and the delightful Walden events happening around the country. Stay tuned in May for our summer concert series lineup. Until then, happy reading.
Be part of Walden 2019
Apply now for Walden's 2019 programs! Spaces are available in the Young Musicians Program, and we offer need-based financial aid.
Kati Agócs will be the Composer-in-Residence. Other guest artists will include Ensemble Dal Niente, The Walden School Players, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). Faculty members will include Cara Haxo, Ted Moore, Sarah Riskind, Cody Wright, Terry Greene, Nate May, and Rebekah Griffin Greene, among others. See the full list here.
Walden in Washington
On April 7, Walden Board members, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, family, and friends gathered at the Arts Club of Washington to celebrate our upcoming season and raise funds for student scholarships and artist residencies. We offer our deepest thanks to all our donors--your generosity makes everything we do possible.
Eric Huebner, pianist for the NY Philharmonic, gave an amazing performance of Beethoven, Chopin, Ligeti, and a recent work by a current Young Musicians Program student. It was a wonderful afternoon of music, conversation, and delicious refreshments, with all attendees entered into a raffle to add to the fun. Thank you to everyone who made the event so special!
Upcoming Events
Join us for celebrations to benefit Walden, featuring music, refreshments, and wonderful Walden community. We will be in San Francisco on May 11, and Dublin, New Hampshire, on August 3. We hope to see you there!
Walden in San Francisco
featuring Dave Eggar
Saturday, May 11
Dave Eggar is regarded as one of the finest cellists performing today. A musical prodigy as a child, Dave began playing the cello and piano at age three, performed on Broadway and with the Metropolitan Opera at age seven, and debuted at Carnegie Hall at age 15. A virtuoso performer and improviser of many styles, Dave has appeared worldwide as a cellist and pianist, both as a soloist and as an ensemble musician. His work is Grammy-nominated, and he has performed, recorded, and arranged with and for artists in many genres, including Tony Bennett, Beyoncé, Harry Belafonte, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Imagine Dragons, Talib Kweli, John Legend, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Ocean, Robert Redford, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Meryl Streep, James Taylor, The Manhattan Transfer, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. He has been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. He has been a visiting artist at The Walden School, was a member of The Walden School Players for two summers, and performs frequently at Walden events throughout the United States.
A Festival Week celebration in Dublin, New Hampshire, at the end of our 2019 Young Musicians Program. Artist to be announced.
For details or to RSVP, contact Gaela Dennison-Leonard, our Development Manager, at events@waldenschool.org or (415) 587-8157. Check out our calendar for other great concerts and events throughout the year.
In the Spotlight - Nnenna Ogwo
We are so grateful to our donors and the vital support they provide. Your generosity inspires us and ensures generations of musicians find a creative home and lifelong friends at Walden. Whether you are a member of our alumni community, a parent, a visiting artist, a faculty, staff, or Board member, or simply a friend who believes in our mission, thank you.
As we celebrate our donors, we asked Nnenna Ogwo to share with us some of what Walden means to her. Nnenna attended the Young Musicians Program for six summers, was a faculty member and visiting artist, served on Walden’s Board of Directors, and most recently returned to Walden as a Creative Musicians Retreat, and performed at Walden’s 2018 Alumni Reunion.
How and when did your relationship with Walden begin?
I was a student at Peabody Preparatory, and Lynn Taylor Hebden was the director of the Preparatory Department there. She was the one who had made it possible for me to attend Peabody, through scholarships and whatnot. She got talking to my mother, and suggested Walden. I spent six summers at the Young Musicians Program, 1982-1987. Once I got to Walden, it was significant because I had been on a very serious piano track, and so should have been at a more piano-focused camp such as Interlochen, but it wasn’t until my last year of high school that I did that. Walden didn’t take me away from piano, because I still went to Oberlin and majored in piano, got my masters in piano. But I’ve always had an inquisitive mind and been stimulated by different types of learning. That holistic approach to music, even if I wouldn’t have called it that then, was clearly something I was thirsty for. I was a kid who really liked to be challenged, so I loved finding out how music was built, and creating it myself. I had often been in conflict with my piano teacher because I didn’t like to practice the same things, until the summer at Walden I took Pam Quist’s class on Renaissance counterpoint, and after that, I came back from Walden, and my teacher was blown away. She said “This is what happens at Walden? You can go then.” Because normally a teacher won’t have the time to get a student to understand counterpoint.
What has been your involvement with Walden since then?
I was on faculty. I joined the Board while I was still in grad school. I’ve sent students, and I went to the Creative Musicians Retreat in 2014. In July I attended the reunion and performed on the alumni concert. I remember being part of Board conversations, and I was in the board room when we were saying “Why can’t there be a Walden for adults?” so it was amazing to be at CMR as a participant.
What is your favorite Walden memory?
I have to really think about this, because there are so many great Walden memories. My last summer there, I think the guest artist was the New England Brass Quintet. I wasn’t normally down to the wire with scores, but I had worked a lot on the first movement, still had a lot to do, and they were going to be reading my score the next day. That was also the year the older girls were living in the attic floor of the Main House. There were five of us, Kate Hollander, Sarah Brown, Leila Ellis, Rachel Burdick, and me, and we had all known each other a long time. We were realizing that we had all come to Walden at 11 or 12, and we’d heard these amazing pieces and thought we could never write like that, and suddenly here we were writing on that level. It was a really dark and stormy night, and we pulled all our desks into the main foyer, put our desks together, and kept each other company as we did our work. I’d never had that before, people working together like that. If someone finished early, they might take a nap and then they’d come back and help us copy parts. It was really stormy, thunder and lightning, and the lights went out. We were wondering what we would do, and then Lynn Taylor Hebden (aka Mrs. H) came up with a plate of snacks and candles and we got back to it. Most of us were up most of the night. And that moment bonded us. I’m sure we all remember it. My piece that year won an MTNA award and was a runner-up for a national award, but whenever it was acknowledged, I’d think “This was really a team effort.” It takes a village. It was the first time I ever experienced that sort of communal support. It was extraordinary.
Why do you give to Walden?
I was the recipient of scholarships that made it possible for me to experience something musically transformative in the summer. Everything that I contribute to Walden, whether by sending students, giving concerts, past service on the Board or donating is simply about helping to realize that possibility for others.
When you graduate college and get your first real job, your first paycheck, there are all these little indicators that you’re an adult. I sat down with my mom to talk about financial planning, and she said ‘I know you’re not making a lot, but you need to calculate how you want to give.’ And I said, “I’m giving to Walden.” You give to what has impacted you, because you have an intimacy with certain issues. People don’t make consistent gifts to things they’re not deeply emotionally connected to. My time at Walden included some of the most transformative musical experiences I’ve ever had. Because of that, Walden will always be on my list for giving.
Tell us about the roles music and creativity play in your life now.
I’m still a pianist and a teacher, I make my living that way. I started taking jazz piano lessons recently. I realized and had to laugh that I know a lot, but a lot of it is frozen on paper. That often happens with classically trained musicians. Jazz forces you to have working harmonic knowledge in real time. Walden teaches that, even if they don’t put it quite that way, and it’s one of the few places that does. It’s not tied only to jazz. I feel like a real student again, my brain freezes, and it’s funny. Once we’re teaching, we forget, we start to take knowledge for granted where it doesn’t exist yet. It’s good to be reminded how bewildering things were at age 11. In piano, I like to boldly try new things. I’m a pretty good improviser, but then because I’m highly technically trained, I can be very facile, watch my fingers fly and think, ah, that’s what all that training was for.
What would you want to tell a first-time Walden student before they arrive at camp?
I don’t think I would have anything to say. When I send my students, I tell them things to pack on a very pragmatic level. But students normally decide to go because they’ve heard my story. Students get anxious about “Will there be people who look like me? Will I fit in?” and they’ve heard music coming out of Walden and they’re intimidated. But I tell the story of feeling those things, of finding my place, of making lifelong friends.
It’s built into the ethos of the institution—good, decent-hearted people who are also very interesting and creative people. That checks a lot of boxes for who you want to surround yourself with for your life in general. So I just tell students, you will meet some of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet. You will grow in ways you couldn’t have imagined, no matter what people have told you, and your experience will be uniquely your own. You will grow and thrive in ways you can’t elsewhere, you can’t in a year-round school, no matter how good a school you attend. Go forth with an open heart, and see what happens.”
Community News
Shawn Crouch and Splinter Reeds
Stained Glass, a piece for reed quintet written by YMP alumnus and former faculty member Shawn Crouch, was performed by Splinter Reeds on April 13. Splinter Reeds was the Ensemble-in-Residence for Walden's 2017 Faculty Commissioning Concert, and bassoonist Dana Jessen is a member of the 2019 Walden School Players. The concert was at Maurice Gusman Concert Hall at the University of Miami.
New work by Michael Daugherty
Past CMR Composer-in-Residence Michael Daugherty's new work, To the New World, was premiered April 11, 12, and 13 in Costa Mesa, California. To the New World is an orchestral work composed in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, and the first step on the moon by astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969. The piece was commissioned and premiered by the Pacific Symphony, under the direction of Jean-Marie Zeitouni.
Jasmine Galante studies composition at Peabody
Jasmine Galante is currently studying composition at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. Jasmine spent three summers at YMP, and is a pop music artist, singer, songwriter, classical pianist, and actress. Jasmine's debut EP, "The Moon Also Rises", was released in January of 2017.
Francesca Hellerman and PRISM Quartet
This June, PRISM Quartet will present a program of world premieres, featuring work by YMP alumna Francesca Hellerman. She composed From Here to There as the winner of the PRISM Quartet/Walden School for Young Composers Student Commissioning Award. The piece plays with different iterations of a single musical idea, challenging the listener to consider how the material moves from one world to another. This marks the 19th consecutive year of longtime collaborator PRISM Quartet premiering Walden student pieces. The concert will be performed in Philadelphia on June 2 and New York on June 3.
Ruby Landau-Pincus and Ensemble Dal Niente
Thanks to the Evanston In-School Music Association, Ensemble Dal Niente brought its unique musical interpretation to the Evanston community with a concert on March 17, with music for flutes, oboe, clarinet, harp, and voice. They premiered a piece by YMP alumna Ruby Landau-Pincus, which she wrote through Walden's Dal Niente Commissioning Award. Dal Niente will perform the piece again on Sunday, May 5, at a concert premiering Undersea, a a new work for piccolo, English horn, and bass clarinet by Walden alumna Victoria Cheah
Sam Pluta awarded Guggenheim Fellowship
Sam Pluta has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Musical Composition. Sam spent nearly 20 consecutive summers at Walden, as a faculty member, staff member, YMP Academic Dean, and visiting artist. Sam is a Chicago-based composer, laptop improviser, electronics performer, and sound artist. Though his work has a wide breadth, his central focus is on the laptop as a performance instrument capable of sharing the stage with groups ranging from new music ensembles to world-class improvisers.
Alicia Jo Rabins teaches Torah through art
Girls in Trouble is an indie-folk song cycle and curriculum by YMP alumna Alicia Jo Rabins, exploring the complicated lives of women in Torah. The curriculum is a set of in-depth study guides, each following a woman through story, Rabbinic interpretation, visual art, and a Girls in Trouble song. With this project, Alicia Jo mines the complex and fascinating stories of Biblical women, exploring the hidden places where their lives overlap with her own. Alicia Jo is also currently on tour for her new book of poems, Fruit Geode.
Leah Reid wins 2019 Call for Electroacoustic Works
Winners have been announced for the 2019 Call for Electroacoustic Works, and among them is Sketch, a piece by YMP alumna Dr. Leah Reid. Leah is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Her primary research interests involve the perception, modeling, and compositional applications of timbre. Leah is on faculty at the University of Virginia, where Walden faculty members Chris Luna-Mega and Alex Christie, also a YMP alumnus, are pursuing their doctoral studies. Sketch will be included in a new album produced and released this year. As part of the prize, RMN Music will fund the development of the album cover and the chart registration in the US, the UK and Canada.
Vivian Adelberg Rudow among Johns Hopkins Distinguished Alumni 2018
JCC alumna Vivian Adelberg Rudow is among the 2018 recipients of the Johns Hopkins Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 1982, Vickie was the first Maryland-based composer to have an orchestral piece premiered in Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall by the Baltimore Symphony Orechestra. Vickie was founder and Artistic Director of Res Musica Baltimore/Res MusicAmerica, Inc., and produced concerts of music composed mostly by American living composers, from 1980-91 including 52 concerts, 26 symposia, and 22 youth concerts for the Baltimore City Public Schools.
Pamela Z awarded Rome Prize in Musical Composition
Pamela Z, a past visiting artist at the Young Musicians Program, has been awarded the Rome Prize in Musical Composition. Pamela Z is a composer/performer and media artist who works primarily with voice, live electronic processing, sampled sound, and video. A pioneer of live digital looping techniques, she processes her voice in real time to create dense, complex sonic layers. This year, Rome Prizes were awarded to thirty American and six Italian artists and scholars.
We want to hear from you!
What's been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news. 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, including upcoming regional alumni Composers Forums and Holiday Parties. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, and at waldenschool.org.
2019 Peter Carpenter Fellowship
Applications Open
The BMI Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of this year's Pete Carpenter Fellowship, a competitive residency for aspiring film, television, and video game composers. The program will award a $2,000 stipend for four to five weeks of intensive mentorship with award-winning BMI composers Christopher Lennertz and Timothy Wynn at their Sonic Fuel Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The 2019 fellowship begins in October and also includes opportunities to consult with other distinguished composers and leaders in the entertainment industry. The Fellowship is open to U.S. citizens or residents who are 21 years of age or older pursuing a career in film, TV, and/or gaming composition.
Deadline: June 30
For other upcoming deadlines and competitions, check out our resources page.
The Walden School 2018 Season Highlights
Transformative Programs:
Young Musicians Program
Walden’s 46th Young Musicians Program (June 30-August 5) brought 42 young composers, ages 11-19, to Dublin from 17 states and four other countries. Of these creative, talented students, 22 were new to Walden, and 20 were returners. Two younger students attended a shortened, three-week session, and all students spent life-changing weeks working with incredible faculty, dedicated staff, and top-notch artists and ensembles. Our guest Composer-in-Residence, Marcos Balter, was an amazing and enthusiastic presence, supporting students in their musical dedication, individual growth, and community spirit. After leaving Walden, Marcos wrote:
“I spent this past week with pre-college composers from around the world who wanted to discuss Nietzsche, Boulez, and Machaut at breakfast, rocked some 7:4 polyrhythms and sang elaborate canons like it was nothing, built thoughtful Max/MSP patches and worked on multimedia projects, sang along to Julius Eastman, composed works of ALL styles that sometimes surpassed those by your average university student, and, most importantly, embraced each other’s differences and celebrated diversity through art making and exemplary citizenship. [I am] leaving The Walden School with my faith in humanity fully renewed; thank you all for that…the future is very, very bright.”
As happens each summer, all YMP students took classes in musicianship and composition. We also offered classes in pop music arrangement, conducting, film scoring, and “Picture This,” exploring the integration of music with visual art, among numerous other specialty classes. One Sunday afternoon, all of the faculty and staff and students went to see Circus Smirkus, one of the premier circus schools in the country. The performers in this traveling circus are about the same age as our YMP students, and share a kindred dedication to craft and creativity.
We welcomed four new faculty to the team, including one previous staff member, Brian Fancher. We also added three new staff members, including YMP alumna Nina Kindrachuk, along with our wonderful new nurse Michele Taillon.
Creative Musicians Retreat
41 participants, ranging in age from 19 to 79, came from 25 states to join us for nine immersive days of composing and learning from renowned faculty and guest artists. Nine of the 41 students were alumni, seven previous CMR students and two YMP alumni. 35 students wrote pieces of music during the program, and our fantastic Composer-in-Residence, Christopher Theofanidis, shared excellent insights with the composers in master classes, three nights of Composers Forums, as well as during private lessons. We offered an evening of chamber music for the first time at CMR, which included a rousing performance of Steve Reich’s Four Organs. The amazing Matt Gold, Steve Beck, and Mivos Quartet were all back in residence this summer, sharing their enthusiasm and dedication to student pieces. The community was strikingly warm this year, infusing everyone with a wonderful esprit de corps. We went hiking up Monadnock on a rainy Saturday, and on our last evening all participated in an open mic night that ended in spontaneous group dancing.
Our new CMR choral director at the Creative Musicians Retreat, alumnus Thomas Colohan, did a wonderful job with both the full program choir, which met daily, and the Chamber Choir, which premiered new pieces by four CMR participants. The Washington Master Chorale, the choir that Thomas directs in Washington, D. C., will be performing two choral works by 2018 CMR alumnae Wendy Griffiths and Allison McIntosh on October 28! We also had lively improvisation sessions led by faculty members Loretta Notareschi, Osnat Netzer, Ted Moore, and Alex Christie.
Award-winning Concert Series:
Walden’s Summer Concert Series included more than 20 performance, all free and open to the public. The Young Musicians Program had a wonderful opening concert with Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, who also taught a workshop about their music to the students. We were fortunate to have a residency with Rajna Swaminathan’s Mangal, a collaboration with Anjna Swaminathan and María Grand. They led a workshop on listening, rhythms, and improvisation, and played a concert of improvised music that harmoniously intertwined jazz and classical Indian music.
The YMP Faculty Commissioning Concert featured the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), who performed 11 new pieces by Walden Faculty. ICE led a workshop on music by Michael Pisaro, a collaborative, large-group piece using found objects and sounds. Later in the summer, Walden students, alumni, and faculty joined ICE at Lincoln Center in New York on August 9th as part of a 100-person performance of Michael Pisaro’s piece, A wave and waves. Our visiting artists also held community connections concerts at three locations. The Walden School Players performed at Dublin Community Center and Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, and Mangal performed at the Keene Public Library.
Click event to view full musical program:
Sunday, June 17: Composers Presentation: Christopher Theofanidis, CMR Composer-in-Residence
Tuesday, June 19: Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) Composers Forum
Wednesday, June 20: CMR Composers Forum
Thursday, June 21: CMR Chamber Music Concert
Friday, June 22: CMR Composers Forum
Sunday, July 1: Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses (New Orleans jazz)
Tuesday, July 3: Young Musicians Program (YMP) Composers Forum
Friday, July 6: Mangal – Rajna Swaminatha, percussion; Anjna Swaminathan, violin; María Grand, tenor saxophone
Tuesday, July 10: YMP Composers Forum
Tuesday, July 17: YMP Composers Forum
Thursday, July 19: YMP Composers Forum
Sunday, July 22: Alumni Composers Forum
Tuesday, July 24: YMP Composers Forum
Friday, July 27: The Walden School Players. Included works by Marcos Balter, Composer-in-Residence
Sunday, July 29: Marcos Balter – YMP Composer-in-Residence
Monday, July 30 – Wednesday August 1: Festival Week Composers Forums
Forum I | Forum II | Forum III
Friday, August 3: The Walden School Choral Concert, Sarah Riskind, Choral Director
Collaborative Partnerships:
Dublin School
Walden’s 36th season at our wonderful host Dublin School was enhanced by a new dormitory and administrative building. We particularly celebrated our first season in the remodeled, air-conditioned Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall, with a beautiful, spacious stage and excellent acoustics. The renovations meant we were able to perform our annual YMP choral concert on campus for the first time in more than a decade.
PRISM Quartet
Long-term collaborator PRISM Quartet performed Color Theory 2.0 in Philadelphia and New York, the 18th year of premiering Walden student pieces. The performance featured YMP alumnus Max Chung, winner of the PRISM/Walden School Commissioning Award.
The MacDowell Colony
Walden continued a decades-long association with its annual visit to this preeminent artist colony. Students met with three composers—Kate Soper, Jeff Sugg, and Michael Fiday—all of whom serendipitously already had connections to Walden. Vocalist and composer Kate Soper is a past visiting artist to YMP and CMR, as part of the Wet Ink Ensemble. Video and projection designer Jeff Sugg is a long-time friend of our director Seth Brenzel. Composer Michael Fiday has taught a number of Walden students and faculty over the years at the University of Cincinnati. Our students also got to tour one of the MacDowell Colony studios.
Connecting the Walden/JCC Community:
Alumni Reunion
More than 75 alumni, guests, and board members gathered to celebrate 67 years of creative musicianship and transformative programs. Alumni from the Junior Conservatory Camp, Teacher Training Institute, Creative Musicians Retreat, and Young Musicians Program enjoyed events at the Dublin School campus and at the beautiful Aldworth Manor in nearby Harrisville. Highlights of the weekend included choral singing led by Sarah Riskind, Friday night Goodnight Music, a lively hike up Mt. Monadnock, and classes taught by Sky Macklay, Sam Pluta, and Caroline Mallonée. We also held a Composers Forum and a concert with faculty and alumni performers.
Regional Events
We celebrated Walden with events in Boston, Dublin, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., featuring world-class performances by Walden alumni. At our Washington, D.C. event, Mackenzie Melemed (YMP ’06, ’07)) performed a piano recital featuring Bach, Medtner, and Dorman. In Boston, Giacomo Baldelli (TTI ’10) played electric guitar. Our New York event featured cellist Dave Eggar (Visiting Artist ’06, ’07, ’11) with guitarist Phil Faconti and vocalist Sasha Lazard. In San Francisco, guests heard an astounding performance by violinist Nigel Armstrong (YMP ’00). Our Augustevent in Dublin featured members of The Walden School Players: cellist Seth Parker Woods, violinist Erika Dicker, and pianist Eric Wubbels. These five events brought together more than 250 friends, alumni, and supporters of the Walden School for celebrations of Walden’s programs and people, and delighting in music and community.
eNews: InterNetzo – December 2016
Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Happy Holidays to one and all!
I hope this message finds you enjoying the spirit of the season – full of anticipation and hope for the coming New Year. We here at Walden have been busy wrapping up the 2016 season and are now readying 2017 applications, mailing fundraising appeals to our supporters, organizing January holiday parties around the country, and turning our attention to the coming summer. So while you’re hunkered down through the winter, know that we are hankering for all things summer.
2016 was a banner summer, which unfortunately began the same day as the many-alarm fire in San Francisco that displaced the Walden administrative office. Just as we were welcoming participants to the Creative Musicians Retreat, we heard the news that the space we’ve been in for 15 years was lost. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but 8-10 buildings were destroyed or severely impaired, including Walden’s. We lost furniture and supplies, records and equipment, but a remarkable amount of things survived so that we could dry and clean them from the extensive water and smoke damage. Mostly, however, we’ve lost a home away from our New Hampshire summer home and of course, time – time to remove our items, time to find a new office, and time to work through restoring records and moving in. Thanks to all for your outpouring of support. We’re now settled in our new place, and if you’re in San Francisco, we hope you will come and visit us.
The Walden School
30 Monterey Boulevard, Suite E
San Francisco, California 94131
There are a lot of great stories in this newsletter. I hope you’ll read about the success of our wonderful summer programs, the Creative Musicians Retreat and the Young Musicians Program. For those of you who are alumni and past members of the summer community, I hope you’ll continue to identify in present-day Walden the many things that made your experiences so special when you participated. From hikes to local mountains, singing in chorus, the Word of the Day, Composers Forums, Goodnight Music, and more, much of the essence of Walden and JCC remains present and palpable to alumni who visit.
We mourn the recent passing of Pauline Oliveros, mentor to many Walden students and faculty, past and present. She was a member of Walden’s Advisory Council, a longtime and loyal donor, and a visiting artist. Her music is integral to Walden’s programs, performed by the community each summer. Her musicianship and teaching were legendary, and the music world has lost a remarkable person. Her music and her call to each of us to listen deeply will most certainly live on. Rest in peace, Pauline.
And finally, The Board of Directors, at its summer meeting, unanimously adopted Walden’s new mission and vision statements. Our wonderfully crafted previous mission and vision statements held us in good stead for the past 17 years, but it was time to refine and clarify Walden’s purpose for now and the years ahead. I share them here in hopes that you will derive as much inspiration from them as I do.
MISSION
The Walden School inspires artistic expression and personal growth through experiential music programs.
VISION
The Walden School envisions a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.
Best wishes for a joyous and peaceful holiday season.
A Revised and Refreshed Mission and Vision
by Rita Mitra, Board Member
The Walden School’s new mission and vision statements are the result of a year and a half collaboration among the School’s various constituents – faculty, administration, students, parents, alumni, and current and former board members. The mission and vision task force began its work at ground level by asking what the terms “mission” and “vision” really mean. Then we reviewed the prior mission and vision – here, it became clear that Walden has remained true to its essence over the years, and that our main task would be to reflect what Walden does, and why it does so, more clearly and concisely.
To that end, we sent out a survey to dozens of members of the Walden community and compiled the results. After months of spirited debates over both the global and the minute, the full board and members of the faculty and staff participated in a few ‘jam’ sessions during July’s board meeting, expertly led by our facilitator, Susan Meier. The Board voted unanimously to adopt the new statements. All in all, our work has felt like a meta-Walden process in itself – creative, thought-provoking, respectful, and collaborative. We look forward to curating a “values” section to describe Walden in more depth during the coming year. Many thanks to all involved in this effort.
SUMMER 2017 – Applications are Ready!
Would you or someone you know benefit from Walden’s creative pedagogy, inspiring teachers, and collaborative community?
Creative Musicians Retreat: June 17 – 25
Young Musicians Program: July 1 – August 6
Teachers, students, parents, children, teenagers, composers, conductors, pedagogues, performers, professionals and amateurs: we can’t wait to hear from you!
CONTACT US to get yours if you are interested in CMR or new to YMP. Returning YMP students will receive an abbreviated application this month.
Alumni – Hand Over Hand
We were thrilled to see familiar faces join us in Dublin over the summer. Who visited?
- Marguerite Ladd
- Montana Rogers
- Noah Mlotek
- Sophie Coran (performed a concert of original songs for Festival Week!)
- Emil Margolis
- Solomon Ge
- and Bob Weaver (who attended a YMP Composers Forum this summer, exactly 60 years after his first summer at the Junior Conservatory Camp!)
CALL FOR SCORES! Attention Walden & Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) program alumni! We want your music. We are announcing two exciting opportunities to have your works performed. Questions? Please write to us at alumni@waldenschool.org.
- January 21, 2017, 3:00 – 5:00 pm – Alumni Composers Forum in San Francisco. Featuring Wild Rumpus (with alumna Sophie Huet), moderated by Walden faculty members Emil Margolis and Alex Ness. Location: Holy Innocents Episcopal Church.
Walden program alumni (any program/any age) may submit scores for consideration. Scores are due to Walden by Wednesday, December 21, 2016 (email: scores@waldenschool.org). Pieces scored for a combination of piano, double bass, cello, clarinet, flute, and conductor will be considered for performance by Wild Rumpus. Composers may also submit scores for pieces to be presented by other performers (arranged for by the composer). Selected participants must be present in San Francisco at the event. Preference is given to works not having been previously performed.
- March 11, 2017, 2:30 – 6:30 pm – Boston Philharmonic Young Composers Initiative
Walden is thrilled to have been selected again this year to participate in this exciting orchestral reading/recording session. Preference given to composers 21 years of age or younger. Scores are due to Walden by Friday, January 6, 2017 (email: scores@waldenschool.org). If selected, parts are due no later than February 8. Pieces must be less than 6 minutes in length. Instrumentation not to exceed 3.3.3.3 (standard doublings), 4.3.3.1, Timp+3, harp, strings. Composer must be present in Boston on March 11.
CALL FOR NEWS – We want to hear from you! What’s been going on? If you have a recent or upcoming premiere, publication, award, new job or degree program, or a celebratory life event, please share the news.
- Send us your news in an email.
- Make sure we have your updated contact information.
- Connect with the Walden community on Facebook by joining our private group page.
We want to stay in touch with you, especially about the upcoming regional Composers Forums and Holiday Parties.
2016 Young Musicians Program
by Seth Brenzel, Director, Young Musicians Program
So many thrilling concerts and collaborations came to life during the 2016 Young Musicians Program. Our stellar faculty and staff served as caring teachers and mentors to 57 young students (ages 9-18) from around the world. They demonstrated how to be goofy, sophisticated, creative; how to be excellent musicians as well as confident, accomplished communicators. There were 100+ new musical works debuted by both faculty and student composers. We enjoyed weekly hikes, dances, open mics and swimming at the lake. We even were treated to visits by a large bouncy house, popcorn and snowcone machines, and a giant inflatable water slide on the lawn.
The opening weekend featured a marvelous concert by harpist Ben Melsky. In that first week we started in on classes, singing together in chorus, under the direction of Sarah Riskind, and we enjoyed the first of eight Composers Forums. After lots of learning and fun activities, Aurora Nealand & the Mississippi Gipsy thoroughly entertained us on a lovely evening outside the Fountain Arts Building.
Five members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) again joined us for a week of open rehearsals, coachings, and two public concerts. They commissioned and performed eight works from returning students: Francesca Hellerman, Theo Trevisan, Max Chung, Jane Lange, Ruby Landau-Pincus, Alex Colon, Jack Whitelaw, and Max Zelle. These new works got to have another debut in New York City during August as part of Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Read more about it below. In addition, six Walden faculty members (Katherine Balch, Alex Christie, Terry L. Greene, Sky Macklay, Osnat Netzer, and Moshe Shulman) wrote new pieces for ICE. The four students (Eva Montgomery-Morrison, Sam Thorpe, Charley Costantino, and Ionas Finser) from Dana Jessen’s Contemporary Performance class had the opportunity to share the stage with ICE, as well.
These giants of new music are such an inspiration, and we are honored to continue this partnership with them. ICE pianist Jacob Greenberg said, “Walden is a uniquely intense and encouraging environment. It’s not every day that we’re able to collaborate with students as engaged, curious, and gung-ho as the ones we meet here.”
On the third weekend we enjoyed an Open House for friends and neighbors, including class demonstrations and a concert by Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. These virtuoso singers wowed us all. Their program included works by Walden faculty members Ted Moore, Cara Haxo, Evan Williams, Rebecca Griffin Greene, D.J. Sparr, and Sarah Riskind. Violinists Josh Modney (ICE) and Austin Wulliman (JACK Quartet) joined us for this week, too, performing new student works during Composers Forums. We also enjoyed a wonderful Musicianship Frolic during the 3rd week, during which students and faculty showed off their musicianship drill and improvisation skills for one another during a fun, celebratory evening.
Walden was so fortunate to be joined again by our “house band,” The Walden School Players. This season’s excellent ensemble included Laura Cocks, flutes; Katie Schoepflin, clarinets; Dana Jessen, bassoon; Erica Dicker, violin; Tawnya Popoff, viola; Chris Wild, cello; Eric Wubbels, piano; and Bonnie Whiting, percussion. They played for our three Festival Week Composers Forums as well as their own superb concert, which included works by Katie Schoepflin, Walden Faculty member and Academic Dean Sam Pluta, and our guest Composer-in-Residence Paula Matthusen, Professor of Music at Wesleyan University.
Paula kicked off Festival Week with a lecture, sharing stories and examples, speaking candidly about developing her musicianship and her experiences as a composer. During Festival Week, we were visited by many Young Musicians Program students’ families. They joined us for the final Composers Forums, class demonstration, and Walden’s Choral Concert at All Saints’ Church in Peterborough.
All of this fun and learning wouldn’t be possible without the immensely important, talented, and beloved Walden School Staff. Kittie Cooper, Charlie Dees, Doug Friedman, Maddy Greenfield, Julie Kaplan, Elliott Nguyen, and Dean of Students Sara Riddington made all of the magic happen behind the scenes. So many rich memories and true friendships were formed at The Walden School’s 2016 Young Musicians Program.
Walden Alumnus and Faculty member Meade Bernard shares his good advice on keeping in touch with creativity, “When I need that extra spark of creativity I like to visualize the moment when I sit down at the piano in the Goodnight Music circle. The only thoughts in my head are the sounds I’ve just heard and the possibilities laid out on the instrument in front of me. The only expectation is that I should ignore expectations; I can filter out the noise of what music should be or should sound like, and just take a deep breath and play. I think we all face creative challenges all the time – musical or not – that can benefit from channeling that very Walden-y sort of free thinking.”
Student Commissions receive New York City debuts!
by Rita Mitra, Board Member
CE’s August performances of works by some of Walden’s young composers at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival were truly inspiring, highlighting the special collaboration that has developed over the years between ICE and Walden. As the performers-in-residence at Mostly Mozart, ICE premiered eight Walden young composers’ pieces on two programs at the festival enthusiastically and with perfection.
The first performance was at Lincoln Center’s outdoor plaza and featured four compositions in one of ICE’s mini-concerts (ICE Performs Music by Young Composers from the Walden School). Several people in the area were drawn to the performance as they wandered by during lunch hour on a gorgeous summer day, and although Walden was, at the time, fully immersed in its own festival week, a few Walden supporters were in attendance, including the grandfather of one of the composers who happened to be visiting New York City that week.
The second event was a fun-filled “trivia” night with a jam-packed audience (A New York Public Library/Mostly Mozart Trivia Concert). The evening included a fun-filled mix of friendly competition between the audience and ICE members, historical tidbits curated by the New York Public Library, and a sprinkling of premieres, four of which were composed by Walden participants in this year’s Young Composer’s Program. ICE pianist Jacob Greenberg graciously introduced The Walden School and its “whiz” kids at both programs. Cheers to ICE for its extraordinary support of new music education and for its ongoing collaboration with Walden!
Learn more about the extraordinary partnership between The Walden School and the International Contemporary Ensemble.
Creative Musicians Retreat 2016 – What an amazing week!
by Caroline Mallonée, Director, Creative Musicians Retreat
The opening concert, performed by resident artists Carlos Cordeiro (clarinet) and Steven Beck (piano), kicked off the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) with some serious fun. (Have you ever heard someone put both halves of a clarinet in his mouth at the same time? We have. Incredible!) University of Michigan Professor Michael Daugherty was our Composer-in-Residence. He inspired us with stories from his exciting life, gave composition lessons, and moderated each of the three Composers Forums.
The Mivos Quartet was our Ensemble-in-Residence. They presented a stunning concert that included Georg Friedrich Haas’s quartet performed in complete darkness and played many of the 35 new works heard on the Composers Forums. Their prowess and musicianship were tremendous.
This year’s participants came from across the nation and beyond, comprising working professionals, university students, and devoted amateurs—creative musicians of all levels. These talented and busy adults retreated from the demands of daily life and threw themselves wholeheartedly into their music.
Participants came from near and far: William Appleton came from Keene, Damjan Jovičin flew from Serbia, and singer-songwriter Hannah McPhillimy joined us from Northern Ireland. Kevin Kelly drove with his family all the way from Los Angeles to make a vacation of it! I believe this may be the farthest anyone has driven to get to Walden.
We got to know college seniors Jack Langdon from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and Richard An, a Young Musicians Program alumnus who joined us from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. (He didn’t drive.)
Walden’s Composers Forums are always refreshingly varied, and this year’s were no exception. New music written for our artists-in-residence, faculty performers and chamber choir was presented and discussed. We heard microtonal music by Noah Kahrs; we listened to music from a spread-out quartet by Meade Bernard; we were treated to a theatrical piece by Dylan Richards. Charmaine Lee shared her fluent vocal improvisations, and Ayanna Woods returned for her second summer at CMR, bringing along her clever choral work on tweets by Jaden Smith.
While Steve Messner’s career is in finance, he looks forward to creating music at Walden each summer. True fact: Steve has been to every CMR session since we started in 2011! Former Young Musicians Program faculty member Bob Crites is a data scientist who returned to Walden to renew his love for composing, first encouraged when he was a student at ‘camp’ in the 1970s!
Our outstanding faculty led classes and improvisation workshops. Osnat Netzer, Renée Favand-See, Ted Moore, Sam Pluta, Nicholas DeMaison, D. J. Sparr and I taught composition lessons, musicianship classes and weeklong seminars on contemporary topics, including in-depth studies of electronic music, orchestration, spatial music, conducting, sound masses and the music of Unsuk Chin. We couldn’t have done any of this without plenty of coffee from Prime Roast, delicious food and our amazing staff – Seth Brenzel, Juliet Kaplan, Doug Friedman, Ted Moore, and Kittie Cooper.
Our participants challenged and inspired each other in classrooms, on the quad, in the dining hall, at the lake, even while hiking Mt. Monadnock. It is safe to say that all participants emerged with renewed creative energy, new friends, and exciting plans for the future.
A wonderful mix of program participants who were new to Walden, alumni from Walden’s programs, and former faculty members came together for the The Walden School 2016 Creative Musicians Retreat to form a warm and creative musical community and to share music and ideas with each other. The open mic on the final night was one of the most varied and exhilarating displays of creativity I have witnessed in a long time. Walden magic!
Now Hear This! New Music by 2016 YMP Students
The 2016 Young Musicians Program saw the world premieres of more than 100 compositions, including this one:
Temporal Illusions by Theo Trevisan.
Listen carefully for the Schoolhouse bell that mysteriously begins and ends the experience. It was performed on the final Festival Week Composers Forum (August 3) by The Walden School Players.
Tawnya Popoff, viola; Chris Wild, cello; Eric Wubbels, piano; Bonnie Whiting, percussion; Sasha Paris-Carter (YMP), bell; Evan Williams, conductor
Development Corner – At Walden, we make fundraising fun!
by Jonathan Thomas, Development Manager
Most supporters of The Walden School are aware of the wonderful programs, staff, artistry, and creativity that happen every summer in Dublin, New Hampshire. Did you know that the Walden community gets together throughout the year to celebrate and raise awareness for these programs in different areas of the country? Walden’s two most recent fundraisers in Boston and Dublin were inspiring, successful, and a lot of fun!
On May 7th, 2016, nearly 50 people gathered at the Sloane Merrill Gallery in Beacon Hill for Walden’s first ever fundraiser in the Boston area. Many of the attendees were friends and colleagues of Walden faculty, staff, parents, and board members, learning about Walden’s mission and vision for the first time. Cellist Dave Eggar and guitarist Phil Faconti gave a memorable performance to a packed room. Remarks by Walden parent and board member Rebecca Hawkins spoke to the impact Walden has on participants and families. The event succeeded in raising more than $5,500 for Walden’s programs, and we made many new friends in Boston.
Unlike our first trip to Boston, the August 6th event in Dublin was a familiar part of the Walden summer and Festival Week. Susan and Loring Catlin once again opened their beautiful home, Red Top, on Dublin Lake to celebrate the close of another wonderful Walden season. More than 100 people enjoyed a beautiful, sunny afternoon reception with refreshments and a recital. Austin Wulliman, a member of the JACK Quartet and a Young Musicians Program visiting artist, played an exciting program of contemporary and traditional pieces for violin, including a piece by Margaret Taylor, a current Walden student, that fit seamlessly with the other diverse works on the program. More than $7,500 was raised for Walden’s programs at this event.The Walden development team is so appreciative of the generosity of our supporters. Our programs simply could not continue without your gifts. Thanks to your generous support we surpassed our Annual Fund goal!
Comings and Goings
by Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
One of the many wonderful things about Walden that I cherish is that so many people have worked tirelessly and so hard to make it what it is today, and many new people will come into contact and carry on the great work of the School, making Walden better each year.
This summer, Walden’s board bid farewell to four extraordinary Board members: Chad Shampine, Lucy Henningfield, Jamie Hamilton, and Amelia Lukas. Chad led our development committee for several years and hosted a number of terrifically successful fundraisers for Walden at his home in NYC. Lucy hosted fundraisers and holiday parties at her home in Baltimore, introduced Walden to numerous community members, and was a steady presence as a representative of Walden’s parent community. Jamie did wonderful work connecting Walden with the Monadnock community, and thankfully, she will continue to serve on Walden’s Planning and Program Development Committee. Amelia lent her insight to our outreach and communications efforts and was always a wonderful voice during board deliberations. We thank them all for their service, and we look forward to staying in touch.
We also welcome three new members to Walden’s team – board members and Walden parents Joe Murillo and Rita Mitra, along with Marketing and Communications Manager Natalie Gunn. Find out more about them below.
Meet Joe
We are thrilled to introduce Joe Murillo to the Walden community. Joe resides in Richmond, Virginia, and first learned about The Walden School through his son Danny’s former guitar and composition teacher, D. J. Sparr, an alumnus and current faculty member. Danny’s sister Allie also attended Walden. Both of Joe’s children had a wonderful time as students at the Young Musicians Program, and when Joe visited campus for Festival Week he was struck with how beautiful it is in Dublin, so green and pleasant. He could feel that this was a very special retreat. “The kids were running around making music all over the place! There was an atmosphere of camaraderie, and I could sense the warm, nurturing environment.”
Joe comes from a very musical family and grew up playing piano and drums. Every once in a while, he still learns something new (Walden-inspired!) from his son. Joe can tell that Walden has a significant impact on the students. In his own children (now post-college and college-aged), he has witnessed their self-confidence grow and their communities of creative friends thrive. “Walden shows the students that it’s okay to be really into music and the arts. It’s not competitive. It helps de-emphasize the terror of performance—people here are comfortable.”
There are two things Joe is passionate about: music and kids. When asked about what inspired him to volunteer to serve on the Board of Directors, Joe said it was a “no-brainer. Walden is a place that’s very special—it’s hands-on, it encourages kids through the arts. This is a great opportunity. I’m delighted to do it!”
Joe brings a lot of value to the Walden table. In his position at work he deals a lot in the areas of corporate strategy, sustainability, and external relations. He has been involved in all sorts of service endeavors, including the Richmond Symphony and other arts organizations. When he was growing up, many family gatherings turned into musical evenings. He even learned some jazz progressions on piano from his uncle—who learned them from Nat King Cole!
“Being a lifelong musician opens one’s mind because music is a constant learning experience. That’s what makes it so rewarding. Music is a language of creativity, a way to express.” Joe hopes that this message continues to be imparted to kids, and looks forward to working with Walden’s Board of Directors on long-term strategies to ensure a bright future for The Walden School.
Glad you’re back, Rita!
The Walden School warmly welcomes Rita Mitra back to the Board of Directors. “My interest in hearing, performing, and advocating for new music and art, and in providing experiential learning paths to as many people as possible, make this opportunity particularly meaningful–and an honor,” Rita shared with us. She previously served in this role from 2006-2010, and has already been contributing prior to rejoining the board. She headed up the Mission & Vision Task Force that guided the process for creating Walden’s new Mission and Vision, and represented Walden at the New York City premieres of the eight co-commissioned works written by Young Musicians Program composers and performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). (Learn more about these in the stories above.)
Rita came to know and love The Walden School during the years her daughter attended, about ten years ago. “My daughter Danielle still considers Walden her second home,” she says. There was an assignment in Danielle’s English class that sparked her interest in creating music. Her teacher was Sarah Cornog, a former Walden student and Board member herself! “It involved writing music to a literary piece, showing how Walden extends far and wide into other creative endeavors,” Rita adds.
Walden’s unique approach to learning is appealing to Rita. “It encourages its participants to experiment and create freely and without judgment, while at the same time, providing a structured curriculum and small-group/one-on-one instruction for honing the details of their craft. This dual focus on free-form expression and rigorous musical training, all within a close-knit community, leads to an extraordinary amount of personal and intellectual growth and output for anyone involved,” she explained.
In addition to her great contributions as a Walden parent and committee leader, Rita also brings experience as a professional musician and as a designer/developer in the educational publishing world. We are happy to have Rita back on Walden’s board.
Hello to Natalie
The Walden School is happy to introduce our new Marketing and Communications Manager, Natalie Gunn. A recent transplant from her hometown Portland, Oregon, where she sang in Resonance Ensemble with Walden alumna and faculty member Renée Favand-See, Natalie comes to Walden with a rich history of music education, performance, and communications experience in her professional background.
A former faculty member at Linfield College and Willamette University, Natalie also served in leadership roles for chapters of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and MTNA (Music Teachers National Association). She understands the challenges of music education in the 21st century as well as the business and discipline involved in professional music making. Her performing credits include outreach work for Portland Opera, the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival, and several contemporary and world-premiere works for voice and small ensemble. Natalie has been awarded national honors from major competitions and studied with the legendary Ellen Faull. She holds a Master of Music degree from Portland State University, and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at San Francisco State University.
As a business professional, Natalie brings a keen eye and ear to Walden. As an advocate for creativity and expression, she is impressed with Walden’s environment of powerful creative synergy, of inclusion and respect. During her time on campus this summer she had the opportunity to interact with students, faculty and staff, parents, donors, and members of the Board. “I witnessed the quirky, the sublime, the unknown come to life each day with such devotion. The Walden School is truly inspiring! I understand its value in the bigger picture and look forward to helping to ensure its bright future and honor its legacy.”
In her role, Natalie will be working on projects such as this newsletter, communications with our constituencies, marketing collateral, advertising and media relations, and partnering with program leadership teams in regards to student recruitment, among a myriad of other projects!
Please join me in welcoming Natalie to the Walden community!
A Revised and Refreshed Mission and Vision
Happy Holidays to one and all!
I hope this message finds you enjoying the spirit of the season – full of anticipation and hope for the coming New Year. We here at Walden have been busy wrapping up the 2016 season and are now readying 2017 applications, mailing fundraising appeals to our supporters, organizing January holiday parties around the country, and turning our attention to the coming summer. So while you’re hunkered down through the winter, know that we are hankering for all things summer.