Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
Happy summer! Walden’s 2026 Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) was a blast, with participants of all ages spending an inspiriational week composing, improvising, singing, studying, and performing together, while building a vibrant creative community. We hosted an all-star cast of visiting artists and were privileged to have Nicole Mitchell with us as Composer-in-Residence.
Our 2026 Young Musicians Program (YMP) began just a few days ago. Together with the entire YMP faculty and staff team, I was overjoyed to welcome 52 students, ages 10 to 18, to the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire, where they will spending the next five weeks immersed in music, creativity, and community.
This edition of InterNetzo brings updates on the exciting concerts and fundraising events taking place this at Walden summer. Our online Summer of Creativity is underway, with members of our community taking on diverse creative projects while supporting Walden’s programs. It’s not too late to sign up with a project of your own! And mark your calendars to join us in Dublin, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 1, for a celebration and fundraiser featuring Eric Huebner, pianist of the New York Philharmonic, as well as Sunday, September 27, for a celebration and fundraiser in San Francisco at the historic War Memorial Green Room.
Thank you for all the ways you support and engage with Walden and our creative community. I wish you a wonderful and music-filled summer, and I hope our paths cross soon!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
(415) 587-8157
P.S. Check out this video of CMR participants rehearsing Birdsongs For Equitable Togetherness by Composer-in-Residence Nicole Mitchell.
Video credit: Bob Bassett
Walden’s Summer of Creativity
Support Walden creatively this summer–wherever you are!
This summer, Walden is hosting the Summer of Creativity, an online campaign in which Walden community members take on exciting creative projects while raising funds to support Walden’s programs.
Check out the Summer of Creativity website here! We have five amazing projects currently underway: Kittie’s knitting, Dede’s modal challenge, Sarah’s fiddle tunes, Dave’s clarinet composition, and Doug’s banjo arrangements.
We are still seeking more participants! If you’d like to take on a creative project of your own, you can sign up here, or write to us at donors@waldenschool.org to discuss ideas for a project.
Projects of all kinds are welcome, whether musical or nonmusical–including collaborations!
Upcoming Fundraising Events
Monday, July 27: Giving Day
Save the date for Walden’s annual online day of giving, which will take place on the first day of Festival Week at the Young Musicians Program (YMP). we’ll share live video updates throughout the day, including snippets of Walden classes, rehearsals, and other daily activities, as well as interviews with students, faculty, staff, and artists about what makes the Walden experience special. Mark your calendars and tune in to support our students!
Saturday, August 1: A Walden Celebration and Fundraiser in New Hampshire
Featuring Eric Huebner, pianist of the New York Philharmonic
We are delighted to present pianist Eric Huebner as the featured artist for a Walden celebration and fundraiser in Dublin, New Hampshire, on Saturday, August 1, starting at 2 pm. Please mark your calendars and join us to celebrate the culmination of Walden’s 2026 season.
Pianist Eric Huebner has drawn worldwide acclaim for his performances of new and traditional music since making his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 17. In January 2012, he was appointed pianist of the New York Philharmonic and currently holds the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Piano Chair. A devoted teacher as well as performer, Huebner is Professor and Chair of the Department of Music at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). He has been in residence at The Walden School during multiple seasons.
Community Event Recap
PRISM Quartet premieres works by Walden alums
Young Musicians Program (YMP) alum Henry Vidaver (pictured, left) was selected last year as the winner of The Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award, a longstanding partnership in which Walden and the PRISM Quartet collaborate to select a student composer, mentor that composer in completing their final score, and PRISM provides a world premiere performance experience.
In concerts in Philadelphia and New York City, on June 6 and 7, PRISM gave the first performances of Vidaver’s commissioned piece for saxophone quartet, Via Appia, on a program titled Premieres. The concerts also featured a new commissioned work by YMP alum Teddy Poll, recipient of PRISM’s Robert Capanna Commissioning Award.
Read more about Henry Vidaver and the PRISM commission
Walden sponsored receptions after both concerts, and we were pleased to see Walden alums, board members, and supporters in both cities. It was a busy weekend for Henry, who also graduated from high school on June 6. Congratulations, Henry!
Above: PRISM Quartet with Henry Vidaver. Left to right: Zachary Shemon, Matthew Levy, Henry Vidaver, Timothy McAllister, and Taimur Sullivan (photo credit: David Bivins)
Henry Vidaver is the 24th winner of the PRISM Quartet/Walden School Student Commissioning Award, initiated in 2000 and presented annually to a current or recent YMP student. Described as “a bold ensemble that set the standard for contemporary-classical saxophone quartets” (The New York Times), PRISM has commissioned more than 300 works from eminent composers. Walden is proud to collaborate with PRISM Quartet on this opportunity to support young composers in their creative development.
Walden’s Concert Series Continues
Each summer, Walden’s award-winning Concert Series presents leading professional musicians and ensembles on concerts that are offered free of charge to the public and webcast through high-quality livestreams.
This summer, Walden presents exciting concerts and presentations by The Walden School Players, Ensemble Dal Niente, Duo della Luna, the International Contemporary Ensemble, W4rp Trio, New Orleans-based jazz performer Aurora Nealand, and Composers-in-Residence Nicole Mitchell and Nathan Davis.
All concerts are free and open to the public, as well as livestreamed on Walden’s YouTube channel for a global audience. We hope you will join us—whether in person or virtually—for a season of dynamic performances, creative collaborations, and diverse new musical voices. Here are the concerts coming up this week:
TONIGHT: Tuesday, June 30, at 7:30 pm Eastern
YMP Composers Forum I
Featuring newly composed/improvised works by Young Musicians Program (YMP) students and discussions moderated by Susan Botti and Walden faculty member and Academic Dean Cara Haxo
Watch the YMP Composers Forum I livestream!
Friday, July 3, at 7:30pm Eastern
Aurora Nealand and Friends
On the Fountain Arts Building patio, Dublin School, Dublin, New Hampshire
Join us for a special evening of traditional New Orleans jazz at Walden! This annual outdoor performance, proudly co-presented with the Monadnock Folklore Society, is a beloved tradition of the Walden and Dublin communities. Aurora Nealand is a sound artist and multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, accordion, voice) based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An established bandleader, composer, performer, and improviser, and a former Walden faculty member, Nealand has become a prominent force in the New Orleans music scene since she first arrived in 2004.
This outdoor concert will not be livestreamed.
Walden Merchandise
Wonderful Walden merch is for sale on our website! We have Walden beach towels, blankets, vintage summer program shirts (YMP and CMR alumni: ask about your year!), canvas totes, stickers, pens, pencils, and more.
See what’s available and fill out an order form here.
Payment can be made by check, money order, Zelle, credit card, or PayPal. Zelle and PayPal payments should be directed to billing@waldenschool.org.
Please contact Mindy Williams, Walden’s Administrative Director, or call the Walden office at (415) 587-8157 if you have any questions.
Community News
Isaac Goodman receives national songwriting award
Young Musicians Program (YMP) alum Isaac Goodman is one of eight young musical theater songwriters selected as winners of the 2025–2026 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Alliance for Musical Theater (NAMT). Isaac’s song, “Another Dreamer Down the Hall,” is about a once-promising musical theatre songwriter now disillusioned by the industry, who finds his quiet Brooklyn apartment disrupted by a young composer who moves in down the hall. The song was premiered on June 15 during a live awards show and concert in New York City, which can be viewed here. Leading up to the concert, the winning songs were professionally orchestrated, and the students worked with mentors and musicians to hone their orchestrations while learning about process, technique, and production. Congratulations, Isaac!
Aaron Nichols receives Morton Gould Young Composer Award
YMP alum Aaron Nichols was recently named one of 17 recipients of the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. The ASCAP Foundation in recognition and encouragement of talented young composers of concert music ranging in age from 13 to 30. The juried national competition is named in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Morton Gould for his lifelong commitment to encouraging young creators. Congratulations, Aaron!
Cara Haxo featured on She ROARS! concert in Cleveland
She ROARS! is an annual concert series in Cleveland featuring the music of living female composers. The first concert this year, held on May 31 at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, was devoted to the music of Caro Haxo, a YMP alum, faculty member, and Academic Dean, who also serves as vice-chair and treasurer of the Cleveland Composers Guild. The concert featured nine works by Haxo, several of which were inspired by literary texts. A review on clevelandclassical.com stated: “A single-composer program can be risky, but this one showed Haxo’s range as well as her consistency. Her music turned literary, experiential, and visual prompts into pieces that roared with clarity and purpose.” The concert was livestreamed and can be viewed here. Congratulations, Cara!
Stephen Woltosz completes first year at Juilliard
CMR alum Stephen Woltosz has completed his first year in the composition program at the Juilliard School’s Extension Division. Over two semesters, six of his original works were performed by Juilliard musicians, including solos for flute, cello, piano, viola, and clarinet, and a trio for clarinet, viola, and piano. His clarinet solo, River, is named after his black Labrador retriever, a competitive agility dog who performs at the national and international level. Stephen credits his summer at CMR as the moment live collaboration stopped being something to fear and started becoming something to lean into—a lesson that made him far more at ease this year when working with performers. Stephen’s musical background also includes pipe organ studies, participating in the Stanford Jazz Workshop, writing electronic dance music, and winning Best Original Score at the Park City Film Festival.
Nnenna Ogwo’s Juneteenth LP celebration returns
The New York City-based music collective Juneteenth LP returned to Joe’s Pub for its 11th Juneteenth celebration. Founded by Nnenna Ogwo, Juneteenth LP reimagines classical music programming by embracing elements of jazz, funk, spirituals, and the blues, and its annual Juneteenth concert has become a beloved New York tradition. Ogwo is both a YMP and CMR alumna, as well as a past board member, faculty member, and visiting artist.
Jonathan Newmark performs with the US Army Band Woodwind Quintet
On May 21, CMR alum Jonathan Newmark (far left in photo below), performed with the United States Army Band Woodwind Quintet at a concert in Rockville, Maryland. The Quintet performed two of Jonathan’s works, including a wind quintet and a wind/saxophone sextet. They also performed piano-wind sextets by Francis Poulenc and Christopher A. Kaminski. The Quintet has since commissioned Jonathan to write a piano-wind sextet for them, only their second such commission.
Newmark, a neurologist, professor of neurology, and retired colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, will be appointed by Governor Abigail Spanberger of Virginia to a third four-year term on the Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel, an advisory group that assists the Governor’s staff and the state legislature on addressing threats to the people of Virginia.
Noah Stein conducts premiere of choral-orchestral work
YMP alum Noah Stein composed Avodat Hakodesh: A New Sacred Service as his senior undergraduate thesis at Yale. Stein conducted the premiere performance on April 19 at Battell Chapel in New Haven, Connecticut, in which YMP alum Charlie Zhong, also a student at Yale, sang in the chorus. For his composition, Stein was awarded the Beekman Cannon Friends of Music at Yale Prize “for the senior who has done distinguished work in an intensive major and who submits the best senior essay on a musical subject, or a musical composition exhibiting unusual originality and promise.” The premiere performance can be viewed here. Noah will start a master’s program in choral conducting this fall at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Congratulations, Noah!
Orchestral piece by Ruth Hertzman-Miller performed in Boston
On May 31, Horizon Ensemble performed an orchestral work by Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) alum Ruth Hertzman-Miller at the Church of the Covenant in Boston. Titled The Activity of Sound, the piece explores highway traffic sounds. Ahead of the performance, Horizon Ensemble’s Artistic Director, Julian Gau, interviewed Ruth about the work.
Summer update from Mivos Quartet
In May, past Walden visiting ensemble Mivos Quartet visited the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where they performed the complete string quartets of Steve Reich. They also worked with composition students of Lei Liang, professor of composition at UCSD, who has been a visiting composer at both of Walden’s programs.
In June, the quartet traveled to Vienna, Austria, to appear on a radio show, Salon Zeit-Ton with Rainer Elstner on Ö1, discussing Mivos past, present, and future. Soon after, on June 24, they played the premiere of Miroslav Toth’s dystopian sci-fi opera White Death at New Opera Days Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Their final show of June takes the quartet back to Vienna, where they will present an album release concert of their latest album May Our Centers Hold at Reaktor on June 25.
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 at Walden’s Young Musicians Program
