Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Happy Holidays! I hope your season is bright with things that bring you joy—music, food, family, friends, or perhaps some much-needed downtime. We’re very excited to continue the holiday season into January with Walden holiday parties in six cities around the country, as well as a virtual gathering for alumni and families of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program. Please read on to find details about these wonderful events, and to RSVP!
Applications for Walden 2025’s programs are open! Our next application deadline is February 3, and there are several Young Musicians Program (YMP) information sessions coming up. Both YMP and our Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) will be held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire. If you know a creative musician, ages 9 to 99, or if you yourself might want to apply to be part of Walden Summer 2025, I hope you will pass along information about Walden and request an application.
We are so grateful to the many donors who have already given generously to support our 2025 summer programs through contributions to Walden’s 2025 Annual Fund. During our 2025 fiscal year (October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025), we seek to raise $415,000 in support of critical scholarships, inspiring artist residencies, and all our program expenses. If you’ve already made a gift toward Walden’s upcoming 2025 season, thank you! If not, I hope you’ll consider supporting Walden today with a year-end contribution. I wish you a very Happy New Year, and I hope to see you at a Walden event soon!
I wish you a very Happy New Year, and I hope to see you at a Walden event soon!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
Walden Holiday Parties
Warm up with Walden holiday parties! Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) community members will be gathering for holiday potlucks—and online!—in cities throughout the country in January. You are warmly invited to join us in the following cities:
Sunday, January 5, 3 to 5 pm
Sunday, January 12, 3:30 to 5:30 pm
Saturday, January 18, 3 to 5 pm
Saturday, January 25, 3 to 5 pm
Seattle Area (Bainbridge Island)
Saturday, January 25, 3 to 5 pm
Sunday, January 26, 4 to 6 pm
These events are open to Walden and Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumni, faculty, staff, artists, donors, and board members, as well as friends and family. Please save the date and help us spread the word!
These are a potluck-style events held at private homes. When you RSVP, please let us know what you would like to bring, and we will send you the address.
RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
It’s not too late to volunteer to host a party in your area! Please email us if interested. We are so grateful to this season’s hosts and the many volunteers who have hosted Walden holiday parties over the years.
Attention JCC community: Join us for a JCC Holiday Party on Zoom!
7 pm Eastern / 6 pm Central / 5 pm Mountain / 4 pm Pacific
Walden is excited to offer a holiday Zoom gathering for alumni and families of the Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC), Walden’s predecessor program.
Bundle up in your favorite cozy scarf, pour yourself a cup of holiday cheer, and join fellow JCC alumni for a festive gathering over Zoom!
RSVP to events@waldenschool.org or call (415) 587-8157.
Apply for Walden 2025
The winter application deadline is Monday, February 3.
The winter-round deadline to apply to Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP) and Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) is Monday, February 3, 2025. We encourage you to share the news with your friends, family, colleagues, students, and teachers
Walden’s 2025 programs:
- Creative Musicians Retreat: June 14 – June 22, 2025, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (for musicians ages 18-98)
- Young Musicians Program: June 28 – August 3, 2025, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire (for pre-college musicians, ages 9-18)
Application materials for both programs are available on our website.
Write to us at applicants@waldenschool.org
Year-End Giving
We’re counting on your support!
Thank you to the many generous donors who have made year-end gifts to Walden! Your contributions will help us offer life-changing musical experiences next summer to 100 students across our two programs, including critical student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies.
It’s not too late to make a contribution during 2024! Make a donation online, or see below for more ways to give. Gifts postmarked on or before December 31, or online gifts made before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 31, can be counted toward the 2024 tax year.
Give the Gift of Walden
Bring some summer magic to the holiday season and support Walden School programs and initiatives with your order of Walden merchandise!
Enjoy 20% off of all Walden merchandise orders, now through January 5.
We have Walden beach towels (new!), blankets (new!), hoodies, shirts, baseball caps, canvas totes, stickers, mugs, pens, pencils, and more.
See what’s available and fill out an order form here.
Orders can be placed by check or money order, or via credit card/PayPal. Please contact Mindy Williams, Walden’s Administrative Manager, or call the Walden office at (415) 587-8157 if you have any questions.
Young Musicians Program (YMP)
Information Sessions
Join us to learn more about the music camp that changes lives.
Join us to learn more about the music camp that changes lives.Do you know a student who writes songs or arranges music? Or a young improviser who wants to strengthen their musicianship and meet like-minded peers? Or a music teacher who might like to learn about Walden’s unique curriculum?
Join us at one of our online interactive information sessio
All YMP Info Sessions are held on Zoom. Learn more and register for one of the info sessions below:
These events are open to prospective students, music teachers, and anyone else who would like to learn about Walden’s flagship program for musicians ages 9 to 18.
Community News
Leo Liebeskind appears on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Young Musicians Program (YMP) alumnus Leo Liebeskind, who performs as Leo Lovechild, was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on a segment titled “Battle of the Instant Songwriters.” Leo and his competitor Meredith Lampe were each given an hour to come up with a song to match a made-up song title and perform it on the show. Leo’s song, Babysitting the Rizzler (world premiere), featured hilarious lyrics like “Told him to be in bed by nine / but now he’s live with the Costco Guys,” accompanied by acoustic guitar. Follow this link to watch the full clip, and more of Leo’s music can be found on his Bandcamp.
Osnat Netzer and Stacy Garrop programmed on “Concert for Peace”
The 26th Annual Concert for Peace, programmed by Chicago-based new music organization Fulcrum Point on the topic of Lamentations on the Disaster of War, featured two Walden composers, Stacy Garrop (left) and Osnat Netzer (right). Garrop is a YMP alumna and former YMP faculty member. Netzer is an alumna of Walden’s Teacher Training Institute (TTI), and she has taught at both YMP and the Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR). Netzer’s piece They bury their dead with great ululations and Garrop’s piece Lo Yisa Goy were performed on December 17 at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Both works deal with themes of conflict, grief, and peace.
Katherine Balch and Lei Liang win Fromm Commissions
The Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University announced twelve winners of its commissioning prize on December 18, including two composers from the Walden community. Former YMP faculty member Katherine Balch (left) and past CMR and YMP composer-in-residence Lei Liang (right) both received commissions as part of the foundation’s mission to bring contemporary concert music closer to the public. They join the ranks of many Walden-affiliated composers who have received this prestigious commission. Congratulations, Katie and Lei!
Freya Waley-Cohen featured on Visionary Sounds
In our November edition of InterNetzo, we highlighted an upcoming performance of YMP alumna Freya Waley-Cohen’s song cycle Spell Book by the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. The performance, part of the Orchestra’s Visionary Sounds series, took place on December 4 at the DiMenna Center in New York City, and Walden Board member Kate Valenta was in attendance. Many thanks to Kate and her husband Alex Johnston, Director of the DiMenna Center, for sharing this photo of Freya speaking to the audience about her work. A recording of Waley-Cohen’s song cycle, set to poems by Rebecca Tamás, was released on NMC Records in October. Photo credit: The DiMenna Center.
Aurora Nealand tours multiple countries as musical ambassador
Aurora Nealand, a former YMP faculty member and a perennial visiting artist at Walden, was selected along with her Inquiry Quartet as a touring artist by American Music Abroad. She was in Lesotho this month and will tour Kuwait and Algeria in January. Aurora Nealand’s Inquiry Quartet performs new music in the New Orleans jazz tradition. American Music Abroad (AMA) is a program sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Each year, approximately 10 ensembles of American music in different genres are selected from among hundreds of applicants to represent the U.S. through a multi-country tour, with a focus on reaching audiences with little or no access to American music.
Sky Macklay profiled in Peabody Magazine
Sky Macklay, a CMR and TTI alumna and former YMP faculty member, was recently featured in Peabody Magazine, a publication of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where she is an assistant professor of composition. The article, titled “A Composer Drawn to ‘Spicy Sounds’,” detailed how Sky’s longtime interest in multimedia has manifested in an acoustic sound installation called Harmonitrees, featuring inflatable harmonica-playing clear vinyl sculptures, which has traveled to Florida, Maryland, and Poland. Her work has been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. She’s also received several awards and prestigious honors, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris. Photo by Larry Canner for Peabody Magazine.
Ruth Franklin’s New Book Available for Preorder
YMP alumna and former board member Ruth Franklin has authored a new book, The Many Lives of Anne Frank, which will be released in January. The book is structured around the myriad identities of Anne Frank as a person, witness, author, and symbol following her death, from her agency as an artist and writer to the diverse applications of her legacy. More information about the book’s conception and background can be found in Ruth’s essay on Substack. The Many Lives of Anne Frank is now available for preorder here. Ruth Franklin is a book critic and former editor at The New Republic. Her first biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (2016), won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
We Want To Hear From You!
If you have a recent or upcoming premiere or concert, publication, award, new job, or a celebratory life event, please share your news, which needn’t be music-related (although we love your music-related news to be sure!). 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. You can also find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, bandcamp, and at waldenschool.org.
A dance during the 2019 Young Musicians Program
