Message from Seth Brenzel, Executive Director
An incredible summer of creative music making at Walden is flying by. Our Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) was as inspired as ever, and our Young Musicians Program (YMP) is entering its final stretch—Festival Week starts on Sunday!
We hope you will join us, either in person or online, for some of the amazing concerts we have lined up for the last week of YMP. Read on for more information, including livestream links!
In this edition of InterNetzo, we are excited to invite you to two upcoming fundraising events. Monday, July 29, is Giving Day, our annual online fundraiser showcasing live video updates from YMP. And Saturday, August 3, is our end-of-summer celebration and fundraiser in New Hampshire, featuring the acclaimed vocalist Hilary Kole, a Walden alumna and faculty member. We hope you will join us and support Walden!
Plus, Walden’s Board of Directors is matching every new and increased contribution—up to $15,000—that we raise through August 4, the last day of our Young Musicians Program. Your new or increased gift today will be put to work immediately toward student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies at Walden this summer.
Please read on for more news and updates from the Walden community, including reflections on this summer’s CMR from Caroline Mallonee, and an announcement of our new Memphis Composers Institute, an exciting orchestral performance opportunity for emerging composers. I hope our paths cross soon!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
This Weekend at Walden
At Dublin School,
Dublin, New Hampshire (and online!)
All events are free and open to the public.
Friday, July 26, 7:30 pm EDT
The Walden School Players
.Presenting Walden’s in-house contemporary music ensemble in a dynamic concert of new music, including works by YMP Composer-in-Residence Sarah Kirkland Snider
Walden is proud to host its own professional ensemble-in-residence, The Walden School Players. All distinguished musicians and specialists in contemporary music, the Players share their talent and wealth of experience in contemporary music with the Walden community each summer during the course of a two-week residency at the Young Musicians Program (YMP). While in residence at Walden, the Players work closely with student composers in readings and rehearsals, giving feedback as students prepare their pieces for Festival Week. Then, over the course of three Festival Week Composers Forums, they perform students’ pieces. In addition to their work with students, the Players present a concert of modern and contemporary chamber music in an event that is always a highlight of Walden’s concert series.
The 2024 Walden School Players are: Laura Cocks (flutes), Erica Dicker (violin), Kyra Sims (horn), Chris Wild (cello), Mabel Kwan (piano), Dennis K. Sullivan II (percussion), and Zachary Good (clarinets).
This concert will feature music by YMP 2024 Composer-in-Residence, Sarah Kirkland Snider, alongside contemporary works by Kyra Sims, George Lewis, Rick Burkhardt, Carolyn Chen, Hans Abrahamsen, Isang Yun, and Steven Long.
Sunday, July 28, 7:30 pm EDT
YMP Composer-in-Residence Presentation with Sarah Kirkland Snider
Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider writes music of direct expression and vivid narrative that has been hailed as “rapturous” (The New York Times), “groundbreaking” (The Boston Globe), and “ravishingly beautiful” (NPR). Recently named one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” by The Washington Post, Snider’s works have been commissioned and/or performed by the New York Philharmonic; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Cleveland Orchestra; San Francisco Symphony; National Symphony Orchestra; Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Philharmonia Orchestra; Birmingham Royal Ballet; Emerson String Quartet; Renée Fleming and Will Liverman; Deutsche Grammophon for mezzo Emily D’Angelo; percussionist Colin Currie; eighth blackbird; A Far Cry; and Roomful of Teeth, among many others. Join us for a presentation by Ms. Snider of some of her work.
Note: This event will not be livestreamed.
Upcoming concerts—Festival Week starts on Sunday!
Festival Week Composers Forums:
- Monday, July 29: YMP Festival Week Composers Forum I
- Tuesday, July 30: YMP Festival Week Composers Forum II
- Wednesday, July 31: YMP Festival Week Composers Forum III
Friday, August 2: YMP Choral Concert
See the entire Summer 2024 Concert Series lineup here.
Upcoming Fundraising Events
Giving Day is Monday, July 29!
Giving Day is Monday, July 29!Throughout the first day of Festival Week, we’ll be sharing live video updates from our Young Musicians Program (YMP) as part of a special fundraiser on our Facebook page. Help us raise $5,200 in honor of Walden’s 52nd summer.
Livestream events will include meals, classes, interviews with students, faculty, and visiting artists, a rehearsal of a student composition, and the first 2024 YMP Festival Week Composers Forum.
Plus, Walden’s Board of Directors is matching every new and increased contribution—up to $15,000—that we raise through August 4, the last day of our Young Musicians Program. Your new or increased gift today will be put to work immediately toward student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies at Walden this summer.
Now is a great time to make your first donation to Walden, or to increase your annual donation, to be sure to increase your contribution’s impact!
A Walden celebration in New Hampshire on Saturday, August 3
You’re invited to a fabulous Festival Week celebration to cap off Walden’s 2024 Young Musicians Program! Join us to celebrate the impact of Walden’s transformative music programs and to raise funds for student scholarships and inspiring artist residencies. Enjoy a performance by world-renowned vocalist Hilary Kole, a Walden alumna and faculty member, and jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky, followed by a reception with refreshments and wonderful Walden community.
While there is no charge to attend, gifts to support Walden’s award-winning programs may be made online, by check payable to The Walden School at P.O. Box 432, Dublin, NH 03444, or in person at the event.
For details or to RSVP, contact Noah Mlotek, Walden’s Director of Development and Alumni Relations, by email or by calling (603) 563-8212.
Reflections on the 2024 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR)
From Caroline Mallonee, Director of CMR
The 2024 Creative Musicians Retreat has come and gone. It was a wonderful week of music-making! This summer, we welcomed 46 participants from 21 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Australia. More than a third of the student body were alumni of CMR, back for more Walden magic, and one participant was an alumna of the Young Musician’s Program (YMP), returning to Dublin 37 years after her first summer at Walden!
We offered twelve different classes, including four musicianship/pedagogy classes, three electronic music classes, some favorite seminars, and two new skills classes in conducting and choral writing. Our curriculum was rounded out by workshops in Irish Traditional music, writing for the guitar, writing for the flute, and exploring the creative potential of the “electro-sandbox” in the Electronic Music Studio.
Our CMR Composer-in-Residence Oscar Bettison came to us all the way from the Netherlands to lead master classes, give private lessons, and moderate our three Composers Forums, in which we heard 39 world premieres! The pieces were performed beautifully by our artists-in-residence alongside performers from our student body. Our incredible 2024 CMR artists-in-residence were pianist David Friend and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble: Colleen Bernstein (percussion), Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flutes), Nicolee Kuester (horn), Dan Lippel (guitar), Josh Modney (violin), and Damian Norfleet (voice).
The CMR Chamber Choir, led by our choral director, Sarah Riskind, performed four world premieres at this year’s CMR Composers Forums. Sarah also led the morning choral rehearsals for the entire community. We delighted in singing both very new and very old music from a variety of composers, and we used a lot of solfège hand signs.
When we started the Creative Musicians Retreat, we hoped it would be appealing to musically inclined parents of students at our Young Musicians Program (YMP). It is! One of our participants, who had sent his daughter to YMP two years ago, came to CMR this year from his home in San Francisco. He invited his sister to join him, and she did — coming all the way from Australia! They played a delightful piano four-hands piece on Performers Night.
Performers Night kicked off with a performance by faculty member Alex Christie using slide projectors and tape loops; included six pieces by faculty and artists who coached ensembles playing their work; and offered one of the most memorable performances of the week. None of us will soon forget Liz Benjamin’s performance of PDQ Bach’s “Little Bunny Hop Hop Hop,” in which she donned a bicycle helmet and hit her head with boomwhackers (tuned percussion tubes)!
We were thrilled to return to our home at Dublin School after two years away. Although we have proved that the magic of Walden can be created elsewhere, being back in Dublin allowed us to reconnect with the memories and traditions cultivated here over forty years. It was a joy to revisit familiar spaces, revive past experiences, and build upon our shared history in this special place.
Sincerely,
Caroline Mallonee
Director, The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat
Announcing the Memphis Composers Institute
Walden is proud to announce a new performance opportunity for emerging composers: the Memphis Composers Institute, a partnership between The Memphis Symphony, the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music of the University of Memphis, and The Walden School.
Memphis Composers Institute invites composers in the early stages of their orchestral composing careers to submit one orchestra work for a chance to be performed by the Memphis Symphony. This is a three-day event beginning with rehearsals and panel discussions, culminating with a performance of three orchestral works by emerging composers with the Memphis Symphony conducted by Kyle Dickson on February 9, 2025.
For more information about this exciting call for scores, visit our Memphis Composers Institute webpage. The submission deadline is Thursday, September 12, 2024, at 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time.
Plus, be sure to visit our website for a searchable list of competitions, awards, and calls for scores. Opportunities are often posted in Walden’s community Facebook group as well.
Transitions on Walden’s Board of Directors
The Walden School’s Board of Directors held its annual summer meeting on July 19 and 20, in the midst of this summer’s Young Musicians Program (YMP). For two days, this group of dedicated volunteers met to work on plans for Walden’s long-term growth and sustainability. Board members also joined the YMP community for a barbecue dinner and a concert by the International Contemporary Ensemble. The weekend was capped off by a celebratory dinner hosted by Charlie and Dede MacVeagh at their home in Marlborough, New Hampshire.
At this year’s meeting, we were excited to welcome two new members to the board, and we expressed gratitude to Bob Bassett, whose term on the board came to an end. A Denver-based composer, Bob is a Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alum and a valued member of the Walden community. Thank you, Bob, for your service on Walden’s board!
We are pleased to welcome two new board members:
Stephen Smith
Stephen has worked in the biotechnology/pharmaceuticals industry for 28 years, developing medicines in neurology, virology, oncology, and various rare diseases. His passion is visual art and art history, and he works as a volunteer docent at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, where he leads school tours aiming to form deeper connections between young people in the 21st century and objects created hundreds or thousands of years ago. He holds degrees from George Washington University (political science and economics) and the Sotheby’s Institute of Art Institute in London (East Asian art). Stephen lives with his husband and their daughter in San Francisco.
David Bivins
David Bivins has been a dedicated supporter of The Walden School since 2022 when his son experienced a transformative first year as a student. His passion for the school’s mission stems from witnessing the profound impact it has had on the growth and development of his own child and many others. David is a seasoned marketing strategist currently serving Montefiore Einstein, a renowned hospital system in New York City. He holds a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Michigan State University. David’s creative outlets include photography and music composition and performance. His joy of music traces back to his youth when he played trumpet and served as drum major in his high school marching band.
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
