Thanks for visiting my personal fundraising page for Walden School's first-ever Compose-a-Thon, the brainchild of my colleague and friend, Esther Landau. I'm very excited about participating as I've not been an active composer since college. Below, I will describe my goals and plans for the next 3 weeks (April 11-May 1), and with your help and encouragement, through participation and donations and comments, I should surely be able to reach my goals.
My plan
I will spend a minimum of 30 minutes each day for the next 21 days composing, or a total of 630 minutes.
My project
I plan to write a set (3+) of short pieces for solo violin and/or violin and piano in honor of my niece's 10th birthday. Olivia, my niece, lives in London and has been playing the violin for a few years now. She enjoys school, theater, dance and music, and unfortunately, I do not get to see her enough because we live far apart. I want the set of pieces to be something that she can play, but that are moderately challenging (and fun!) for her to learn.
My fundraising goal
I intend to raise at least $380 for The Walden School in honor of the School's 38th season. As many of you know, I attended this school for 6 summers while in middle school and high school, and without a doubt, the place changed my life in countless positive ways. The School offered my parents financial aid so that they could afford to send me. Now as Director, I'm privileged to work with an outstanding faculty, amazing staff, a dedicated and supportive board of directors, and so many talented, capable and inspiring program participants, I can hardly believe my fortune. The School does amazing work, promoting community, creativity and collaboration through music, and leaves an indelible mark on all who are part of its programs.
How you can help
1. You can send me notes of good luck and support.
2. You can join in the fun and participate yourself, composing or doing imaginative musicianship drills provided to you by Walden. If you're interested in this, you can learn more about participating in the Compose-a-thon here.
3. You can support my efforts with a donation, either through FirstGiving's secure online option or mailing a check to The Walden School, 31 A 29th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110. If you choose to make a donation, you could do so in one of several ways:
-You can make a "per minute" contribution to my minimum 630 minutes. For example:
$.05 / minute = $31.50
$.10 / minute = $63
$.25 / minute = $157.50
-Or you can make a donation of any amount to support my efforts. You might consider amounts such as:
$5
$15
$38 (in honor of Walden's 38th season)
$75
$500
$10,000
or whatever amount you like!
A Special Challenge
And if you need additional incentive to help me, one of Walden's most loyal donors has given the School a challenge. For every $1 more than $100 that each participant raises, the donor will match the amount dollar for dollar, up to $10,000. So if I meet my goal, I will have raised $380 + $280 (amount more than $100 that I will have raised that is matched) = $660.
Thanks for reading and for considering helping my cause. If you'd like to learn more about Walden School, please visit the School's website.
And if you have any questions about the Compose-a-thon, don't hesitate to ask me - you can reach me at sbrenzel@waldenschool.org or on facebook. I'll provide occasional updates on my progress here, on this page, if you're curious.
Take care.
Best,
Seth