Message from Seth Brenzel,
Executive Director
Dear Walden friends,
It’s been a busy spring at Walden, with several fundraising events and lots of planning for Walden’s 2025 summer season—which is less than one month away! Our Creative Musicians Retreat begins on June 14, and the Young Musicians Program starts on June 28. Both programs will be held on the beautiful Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire.
This summer, Walden’s Concert Series will once again showcase world-class performers and engaging, adventurous music. All of our concerts are free of charge and open to the public, and they will also be livestreamed on Walden’s YouTube channel. The full Concert Series lineup is shared below; please join us in person or online!
I’m grateful to the many Walden friends and supporters who attended our recent fundraising events in New York City and Washington, DC, featuring performances by pianist Mikael Darmanie and violinist/composer Modney. Read on for highlights from these wonderful events, and thank you to all of Walden’s donors for your generous support.
Enjoy the rest of spring—summer is almost here!
Sincerely,
Seth Brenzel
Executive Director
415-587-8157
Summer 2025 Concert Series
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.
Visiting artists and Composers-in-Residence are integral to Walden’s programs, leading workshops, demonstrations, and dialogues that challenge and inspire Walden students. During Composers Forums, student improvisations and compositions are performed by faculty, students, and visiting artists, followed by an open discussion between the composer, moderators, and audience.
Across eight concerts, eleven Composers Forums, and two composer presentations, the 2025 Walden School Concert Series will feature cutting-edge works from artists of diverse contemporary musical genres. In a typical summer, Walden will present nearly 200 world premieres created by our students and faculty—approximately 140 by Young Musicians Program (YMP) students, 40 works by Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) participants, and 10 pieces commissioned from Walden’s YMP faculty.
We hope you will join us—whether in person or virtually—for a season of dynamic performances, creative collaborations, and diverse new musical voices.
Time: All performances at 7:30 pm
Location: Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall on the Dublin School campus in Dublin, New Hampshire (unless otherwise noted)
Admission: Always free and open to the public
CONCERTS
Saturday, June 14
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) artists-in-residence David Friend and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble performing new music, including selections by Walden faculty members and CMR Composer-in-Residence Paula Matthusen
Thursday, June 19
CMR participants and visiting artists presenting a curated selection of chamber music
Sunday, June 29
Impromptuo: an innovative improvisation-focused duo (picuted at right) made up of violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and pianist Joey Chang, a YMP alumnus
Friday, July 4
Aurora Nealand and friends, presenting a popular outdoor concert (pictured below) of New Orleans jazz on the Fountain Arts Building patio—co-presented with the Monadnock Folklore Society
Friday, July 11
Faculty Commissioning Concert with Talujon (pictured at right), a percussion ensemble described by The New York Times as possessing an “edgy, unflagging energy,” premiering new works by YMP faculty members
Friday, July 18
International Contemporary Ensemble, described by the New York Times as “one of the most accomplished and adventurous groups in new music”
Friday, July 25
The Walden School Players, featuring innovative performers Laura Cocks (flute), Erica Dicker (violin), Kyra Sims (horn), Chris Wild (cello), Mabel Kwan (piano), Dennis K. Sullivan II (percussion), and Zachary Good (clarinet), performing an exciting selection of contemporary works
Friday, August 1
The Walden School Choral Concert, showcasing the entire YMP community led by choral director Kari Francis
COMPOSER PRESENTATIONS
Sunday, June 15
Paula Matthusen, CMR Composer-in-Residence (pictured below at left)
Sunday, July 28
Peter V. Swendsen, 2025 YMP Composer-in-Residence (pictured below at right)
COMPOSERS FORUMS
Creative Musicians Retreat (CMR) Composers Forums
Tuesday, June 17; Wednesday, June 18; and Friday, June 20
Featuring newly composed and improvised works by CMR participants
Young Musicians Program (YMP) Composers Forums
Each Tuesday in July: July 1, 8, 15, 22, plus Thursday, July 17
Monday–Wednesday, July 28–30 (Festival Week Composers Forums)
Featuring newly composed and improvised works by YMP participants
Event Recaps
Spring fundraisers in New York City and Washington, DC
Above: Mikael Darmanie performing
Walden hosted two fundraising receptions in April and May, featuring incredible musical performances and wonderful Walden community!
New York City: April 27
On Sunday, April 27, we gathered in the intimate gallery at Tenri Cultural Institute to enjoy a performance by pianist Mikael Darmanie, a past visiting artist Walden. Darmanie played works by Franz Schubert, Caroline Shaw, Kenneth Frazelle, and Duke Ellington, along with his own improvisations, concluding with Scriabin’s Vers la flamme as an encore.
We are so grateful to our host committee and all of our donors, who contributed $15,400 to Walden as part of our New York City event.
Seth Brenzel, YMP alumnus and former faculty member Meade Bernard, former YMP faculty member Ian Munro, YMP alumnus Nat Osborn, and Walden alumnus and Director of Development and Alumni Relations Noah Mlotek (photo credit: Walden Board member David Bivins)
Seth Brenzel, Walden’s Executive Director, and Solon Snider Sway, a Walden alumnus and a member of Board of Directors, spoke to attendees about the lifechanging impact of Walden’s creative music programs and thanked the many donors who keep our organization flourishing.
Left: CMR alumnus and Walden faculty member Lukáš Janata and Erika Ji; right: Walden Board member Kate Valenta, Priti Gress, and Monica Girotra
Above: Walden Board member and YMP alumnus Solon Snider Sway (Photo credit: David Bivins)
Thank you to our New York City host committee: Sanda Balaban, Meade Bernard, David Bivins and Kristen Davis, Seth Brenzel, Sarah Cornog and Chris Chesney, Andrew Jacobs and Kathy Park, Noah Mlotek, Solon Snider Sway and Emma Sway, Harry Spitzer, Sammi Stone, Nate Trier, Kate Valenta and Alex Johnston, Jennifer Weidman and Barry Adler
Washington, DC: May 18
Walden also hosted an afternoon of music, community, and refreshments at DACOR Bacon House on May 18, raising $10,640 to support our inspiring programs for creative musicians!
We enjoyed a memorable performance by violinist/composer Modney, a frequent visiting artist at Walden, who played works by J.S. Bach, Caroline Mallonee (a Walden alumna and director of Walden’s Creative Musicians Retreat), Aaron Helgeson, and himself.
Stephanie Ma; YMP and CMR alum Niki Main; CMR alumna Cary Fado; and YMP alumnus Lloyd Meeks
In between musical selections, Modney talked about his experiences working closely with students at both of Walden’s programs, where he has helped bring countless new compositions to life as a visiting artist with the International Contempory Ensemble and Wet Ink Ensemble. And Peter Colohan, a CMR alumnus and chair of Walden’s Board of Directors, spoke about Walden’s vision of a world in which people engage with one another creatively, collaboratively, and with respect.
Thank you to our Washington, DC host committee: Peter Colohan and Fenton Blake, William J. Friedman, Steve Messner and Liz Prelinger, Ellie Murphy-Weise, Noah Mlotek, Alison Wallace and Steve Lindaas, William Yale
Left: Walden board members Peter Colohan and JoAnn Balingit; right: Modney takes a bow
Thank you to everyone who was part of our celebrations in New York and DC, and to all of our donors for your generous support of Walden. Every donation makes a difference in the lives of our students and helps bring more music into the world.
Support Walden Today
Community News
Concert of music by Carole Miles
Carole (Deck) Miles, a Junior Conservatory Camp (JCC) alumna, is being honored with a concert of her music on May 31 at the Newark United Methodist Church in Newark, Delaware. The program, “From Faeries to Fishes,” begins with the first piece she wrote at age 7, The Wedding of the Faeries, and includes a song (from the latest song cycle she wrote) called Two Million Two Hundred Thousand Fishes. Mrs. Miles studied musicianship and composition with JCC founder Grace Newsom Cushman and with Pamela Layman Quist and David Hogan, two of the cofounders of The Walden School. She taught musicianship at the Wilmington Music School, and many of her students went on to attend Walden. The May 31 performance will feature a reception, door prizes, and an art sale fundraiser benefitting the 321 Foundation’s Boundless Arts program for “disabled and nondisabled artists performing together.” Visit this website or contact Carole’s daughter (and YMP alum) Cheryl Hampson at (302) 521-2533 or cherhamps@aol.com for more information.
Photo: Carole Miles with Shari Fleming at a Walden/JCC reunion
Climate Mass by Loretta Notareschi premieres at Carnegie Hall
YMP alumna and Walden faculty member Loretta Notareschi’s Climate Mass received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on April 6, with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and 140+ singers from across the country. The choral and orchestral piece combines text from the traditional Catholic mass with new poetry by Alyse Knorr to explore human culpability, grief, and hope around the issue of climate change, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
Augusta Cecconi-Bates presents Picking Elderberries
CMR alumna Augusta Cecconi-Bates has composed music for an original vaudeville-style musical set in Prohibition-era Cape Vincent, New York. The one act show, with script and lyrics by Craig Thornton, was performed as a workshop reading in progress on Saturday, May 17 at The Strand in Watertown, New York. Augusta and Craig were interviewed on WWNY7 News on May 14 to publicize the show!
Joshua Fath wins songSLAM prizes
YMP alumnus Joshua Fath (known to the Walden community as Joshua Clampitt) won two prizes as part of the Fourth Coast Ensemble Chicago songSLAM: first prize for his song To the Wanderer and a commissioning prize to compose a work for Fourth Coast Ensemble to be premiered in 2026. As another Walden connection, YMP alumna Stacy Garrop was the emcee for the event and had a collection of her art songs performed as the votes for the prizes were tallied. Congratulations, Joshua!
Wet Ink Ensemble releases Action, Choice, Thought
The Wet Ink Ensemble, a past visiting ensemble at Walden, has released an album titled Action, Choice, Thought, featuring works by longtime YMP faculty member Sam Pluta. The eight-member ensemble of composer-performers will celebrate the release of Action, Choice, Thought at Roulette in New York City on Friday, June 13, in a performance featuring new works by their artists-in-residence, including former Walden faculty member and frequent visiting artist Aurora Nealand! More information about the concert can be found on Roulette’s website.
Kyra Sims and the Springtime 7s
Kyra Sims presented an evening of spoken word and her own music called Basking in Warmth, which is named after a song cycle she’s been working on this past year, on May 7 at Ars Nova NYC. And on April 7 at Joe’s Pub, together with actress and writer Mara Wilson, she produced and cohosted Grief Party, “a dynamic evening of song, comedy, live art, and stories about one of the most crucial parts of our humanity.” Kyra is a frequent visiting artist at Walden who will return this summer during YMP as a member of The Walden School Players—a group of 7 incredible performers!
Larry Wetzler gives piano recital in support of Walden
JCC alumnus Larry Wetzler gave an all-Chopin piano recital at the National Opera Center in New York City on April 13. Larry supports Walden through his occasional piano recitals, at which he encourages donations to Walden rather than selling tickets. We are very grateful to Larry for generously supporting Walden through his music making. Larry is a psychoanalyst and writes on the relationship between music and psychoanalysis, with two of his papers appearing in the book Music and Psyche. He was profiled in a previous edition of InterNetzo. At left, Larry is pictured with his wife Judy after the recital.
Alicia Jo Rabins releases Wild Nights EP
YMP alumna and Portland, Oregon-based composer and performer Alicia Jo Rabins has released Wild Nights, a six-song EP in collaboration with poet and musician Dao Strom. The EP features traditional and original songs, and the title track is a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem. Wild Nights had its release show on April 2. The EP was praised in the Portland Mercury as “sweet and ghostly” and “cinematic in its yearning.” Recent and upcoming events for Alicia include an afternoon show at Third Street Music School on May 19 in New York City and a live show at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon, on June 20.
A Song cycle of Eve Beglarian at Roulette
Eve Beglarian, former composer-in-residence at both CMR and YMP, had her song cycle finish what I haven’t started performed by Devony Smith, accompanied by Danny Zelibor, at Roulette in April, under the auspices of Brooklyn Art Song Society. The work delves into mid-century middle-class female unhappiness, and sets texts by Anne Sexton, Jane Bowles, Lucille Clifton, and others, and Eve added another song to the cycle just for this performance.
As part of Eve’s ongoing project of presenting a work for each day of the year titled a book of days, her April 1 entry is a piano piece called Miranda’s Kiss inspired by the signing chimpanzee from James Merrill’s The Changing Light at Sandover. A recording of the piece by Thomas Feng is available here.
Matt Siffert releases new album
CMR alumnus Matt Siffert released a new album called Magic of the New on March 28, featuring songs about parenthood, romance, travel, and more. Recorded remotely in home studios across the United States, it features seven tracks and can be found on Matt’s Bandcamp.
Lila Meretzky featured on New Downbeat premieres concert
A new composition by YMP faculty member Lila Meretzky was premiered on the sixth annual New Downbeat Composers-in-Residence Premieres Concert in Cincinnati. New Downbeat is a new music performance collective of women musicians performing works by living composers. The May 25 concert featured the premiere of Lila’s piece Slip Slip Knit performed by Molly Rains, violin, and Muning Wang, viola.
PRISM Quartet on the radio, featuring Aaron Nichols
PRISM Quartet was featured on The Classical Network in Concert, a two-hour broadcast by WWFM on Monday, May 26. There will be a repeat broadcast on Saturday, May 31, at 2 PM Eastern time, which can be heard online at wwfm.org. The broadcast includes the premiere performance of Mesovortex by YMP alumnus Aaron Nichols, winner of the 2024 Walden School/PRISM Quartet Student Commissioning Award, presented annually to a YMP student selected by Walden and PRISM.
Walden run-ins in San Francisco
We love to hear about serendipitous Walden encounters! Recently, Executive Director Seth Brenzel ran into two Walden alums in San Francisco, YMP alumnus Daniel Kyte-Zable (left) and CMR alumnus Ernie Chow (right). Please send us photos and stories of your Walden connections in the world!
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.
Students at Walden’s Young Musicians Program (YMP)