Walden Outreach & Education

The Walden Chamber Players considers education an essential component of its mission and focuses its initiatives especially on rural and underserved communities Programs are tailored to serve the needs of individual schools. Offerings include master classes, chamber music coaching, open rehearsals, youth concerts and a string instrument "petting zoo." Residencies are used as an opportunity to integrate selected students into the ensemble for a rehearsal or public performance with the Walden Chamber Players.

Artistic Director Christof Huebner has developed several curricula for educational enrichment. "Music and the Social Conscience" is a program specifically designed for junior and senior high-school age students. Throughout history, music has been used as a forum for social dialogue and exchange and as a tool in the struggle for greater civil and human rights. "Music and the Social Conscience" conveys the powerful message that music truly is the human experience translated into sound. As such, we recognize music as a vital component of our shared experience, connecting us to each other across ethnic and social boundaries. The Walden Chamber Players see it as an important part of their mission to serve as a valuable resource for the community.

Representative Programs

Music and the Social Conscience
This multi-media presentation is designed to call students' attention to the social undercurrent intrinsic in music and in the process of musical composition. Throughout history music has been used as a forum of social dialogue and exchange-sometimes overtly to promote a political platform, sometimes covertly as a subterfuge for protest. Music and the Social Conscience (MaSC) seeks to show students specific moments in history during which music has played a large role in informing and unifying people for a common cause-in essence, catalyzing social change. This presentation is made not only for the purpose of educating students about history and music, but also so that students can draw a parallel between that history and their own story.

Depending on the demographics of the student population, the course affords great flexibility by adjusting the content to respond to the cultures, heritages and societal backgrounds of the class, to best address each particular classroom situation. Music and the Social Conscience aims to teach students what kinds of positive resources may be drawn upon to effect change in their lifetime.

MaSC is about 1 and 1/2 hours in length and can be followed with a live performance by the Walden Chamber Players of the 8th string quartet by Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the composers and works prominently featured in Music and the Social Conscience. The length of the presentation can be varied slightly by adjusting it's content. MaSC has been presented at colleges and high-schools across the United States to enthusiastic reception.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council recently awarded Music and the Social Conscience it's Gold Star Award.

"Thou art all my art . . ."
The Elizabethan age in music, poetry and image
Thou art all my art is a multi-media presentation which explores the music, literary and visual arts in England during the Elizabethan period. The presentation is centered on sonnets by William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth 1st, poetry of both, great passion and contemplation. Readings from the literature are framed with music by Gibbons, Morley, Dowland and others whose music we know to have been introduced by Shakespeare, an artist shrouded in mystery, into his plays and by slides of paintings of some of the most important painters of the age such as Nicholas Hilliard. Through the juxtaposition of music, image and word Thou art all my art dramatically recreates the mood of an age full of passion, secrets, unrequited love and mystery.

Boccherini in Madrid
Boccherini in Madrid is a multi-media presentation, combining music, literature and the visual arts.Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) was an Italian composer who spent most of his creative life in Madrid, Spain. Although a composer of the highest distinction he is today somewhat neglected. Boccherini in Madrid explores the artistic environment in Madrid in the late 18th century, drawing connections between Boccherini and contemporary artists of his, such as Goya and Tiepolo, two of the most important painters active in Madrid at the time. Indeed, there are examples where Boccherini and Goya used the same subject-matter as the inspiration for their respective artistic output. Slides of paintings
by Goya, Tiepolo and Mengs are projected during the performance of music by Boccherini in order to highlight that connection.

The presentation is framed by readings from contemporary accounts of life in Madrid during the late 18th century. These readings serve to provide the listener with a picture of life in Madrid during the period described and help to connect the artists portrayed in Boccherini in Madrid to the social environment and it's influences on them.

Vienna's Coffee House at the Fin-de-Siecle
Vienna’s coffee-houses were not only famous for its desserts and delicious coffee but also as a place were artists of all stripes gathered and busily exchanged ideas. Painters, composers, musicians, writers and scultpors all converged on the coffee-house as a place for stimulation, peer-review and to keep abreast on the latest artistic developments.

Our presentation aims to recreate this unique environment of a
by-gone era by presenting music by some of the foremost Viennese composers of the day, interspersed by readings from correspondence by Gustav Klimt, Alma Mahler, Schoenberg, Egon Schiele and Alexander Zemlinsky, among others. The presentation is framed by a slide-projection of paintings by Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka and other prominent painters of the period.

This program can be followed (or preceeded) by a serving of coffee and Viennese pastries. The conclusion of this presentation can be a dancing of Viennese Waltzes to live performances of music by the Strauß family by the Walden Chamber Players.

"To have musicians
of this caliber in our
'little' music room,
at arm's length,
has proven invaluable."

— Middle school teacher

"“The Walden Chamber Players outreach is fabulous. It’s such
a good experience for the students to hear these things
from professionals. It hits home. The students learn that all instrumentalists, whether they
are professional or not, have to have the proper techniques to perform well."

— Michelle Hiscavich
Music Program Director
Danbury, Connecticut School District