Concerts and residencies bring artists of the
highest caliber to The Walden School
Artists in residence at The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat have included members of International Contemporary Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, Carlos Cordeiro, David Friend, Matthew Gold, Kyle Flens, Eric Huebner, Steve Beck, Teresa McCollough, Phyllis Chen, and Julia Bruskin and Aaron Wunsch. Recent Composers-in-Residence have included Marcos Balter, Lisa Bielawa, Annie Gosfield, George Lewis, Lei Liang, and Christopher Theofanidis.
Visiting Artists at Walden’s 2026 Creative Musicians Retreat
Nicole Mitchell, CMR 2026 Composer-in-Residence
Nicole Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader, and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by the Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2022). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s. She started with Maia and Shanta Nurullah in Samana (the AACM’s first all-woman ensemble) and as a member of the David Boykin EXPANSE. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections, and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Mitchell celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.”
Stay tuned for announcements of artists-in-residence at CMR 2026!
Concerts and residencies bring artists of the highest caliber to The Walden School.
Through the performance of diverse music, guest artists play an active role in helping stimulate students’ creativity. Guest performers have included The Alexander String Quartet, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Calliope Duo, Cyrus Chestnut, Clogs, Cross Country, Del Sol String Quartet, Bryce Dessner, Fantasy Duo, Thomas Hecht, Julian Martin, Teresa McCollough, The New Millenium Ensemble, Odd Appetite, Judith Panill, The Peabody Trio, The Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, The PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Claudia Stevens, and Robert Weirich.
Summer 2026
Start your application today!