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.