Mental health and wellness are extremely important yet frequently overlooked and stigmatized. In a 90-minute panel discussion moderated by Stephanie Wagner, a trainer and program specialist at Healthy Minds Innovations (affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison), we will open the dialogue to normalize conversations about mental health for those in the orchestra field and beyond. The session will feature strategies backed by science to support and nurture mental and emotional well-being during this challenging time as well as audience Q&A with the panel.
Moderator: Stephanie Wagner, Trainer & Program Specialist at Healthy Minds Innovations Panelists: Julia Adolphe, Composer; Lauren Aycock Anderson, Therapist/Owner, Counseling for Creatives, LLC; Aiden Feltkamp, Emerging Composers and Diversity Director, American Composers Orchestra; and Sidney Hopson, Musician | Arts Strategist
Who Should Attend?
Orchestra administrators, trustees, musicians, volunteers, and anyone seeking insight and resources on mental health issues.
Cost
Free for Members
$35 for Non-Memebers
About the Speakers
Stephanie Wagner Trainer & Program Specialist, Healthy Minds Innovations
Stephanie Wagner’s passion for holistic well-being started with an interest in meditation, after years of work in corporate professional development, which led her to study with some of the world’s most renowned teachers like Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Sharon Salzberg, and Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche. Stephanie is inspired to bring mindfulness practice to as many people as possible and does this through her work as a trainer with Healthy Minds Innovations and as a facilitator with a global meditation community.
Julia Adolphe Composer
Julia Adolphe’s music is described as “alive with invention” (The New Yorker), “colorful, mercurial, deftly orchestrated” (The New York Times) and displaying a “remarkable gift for sustaining a compelling musical narrative” (Musical America). Her works are performed across the U.S. and abroad by renowned orchestras, ensembles, and artists such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Verona Quartet, soprano Hila Plitmann, and pianist Gloria Cheng, among others. Current commissions include an orchestral work for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a violin concerto for Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic featuring concertmaster Martin Chalifour. Julia’s comic opera for all ages, A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears, based on the novel by Jules Feiffer with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, received initial workshops directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer at National Sawdust and Boston Court Pasadena in 2019. Her 2017 orchestral work, White Stone, premiered by the NY Philharmonic, follows on the heels of the NY Philharmonic’s 2016 premiere of Unearth, Release, Julia’s viola concerto composed for Cynthia Phelps, and Dark Sand, Sifting Light, featured during the 2014 NY Phil Biennial. Julia’s awards include a 2017 ASCAP Young Composer Award, a 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, a 2016 OPERA America Discovery Grant, and a 2015 Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters. A native New Yorker living in Los Angeles, she holds a Masters of Music degree in music composition from the USC Thornton School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.
Lauren Aycock Anderson Therapist/Owner, Counseling for Creatives, LLC
Lauren Aycock Anderson wants you to be kind and gentle with yourself ALL THE TIME. Lauren is a licensed therapist and consultant, and a classically trained pianist and vocalist who, when not in a pandemic, performs regularly with three different rock/punk bands. With an awareness of childhood trauma, toxic culture, and oppressive systems, Lauren collaborates with creatives and their partners to uncover and rewrite the stories that are keeping them stuck in patterns of thinking and behavior that no longer serve them.
Aiden Feltkamp Emerging Composers and Diversity Director, American Composers Orchestra
Aiden K. Feltkamp (they/he) began their musical life at the age of five playing a quarter-size cello and now they’re “upending preconceptions about voice and gender” (New York Times) as a trans nonbinary writer and specialist in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). They’re currently the Director of Emerging Composers and Diversity with American Composers Orchestra in New York City.
Their writing output spans opera, poetry, science fiction, and educational nonfiction. Their operas have been performed in New York City, Chicago, Fort Collins, and Los Angeles. Most recently, their work has been published in Crêpe & Penn, Bait/Switch, AADOREE, and New Music Box. Their work explores topics of grief, gender euphoria, and mental health.
As an educator, they frequently consult for performing arts groups, arts funders, universities, and businesses on matters of inclusion. They also speak on panels about gender and inclusion in classical music. Most recently, they’ve worked with the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, and the LA Philharmonic.
Aiden holds degrees from Hofstra University and Bard College Conservatory of Music, and a certification in DEI from Cornell University. They live in Jersey City with their partner, cat, two parrots, and robot dog.
Sidney Hopson Musician | Arts Strategist
Currently a member of WildUp, Sidney Hopson has performed with the Southeast Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Master Chorale, LA Opera, Jacaranda Chamber Ensemble, Opera Santa Barbara, Juneau Symphony, Ensemble FIRE, the Echo Society, and musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra. An alum of the Lincoln Center Festival, American Music Awards, and Spoleto Festival USA, Sidney has made music for and with an eclectic range of artists, including Burt Bacharach, Lamont Dozier, Danny Elfman, Peter Eötvös, Philip Glass, MC Jin, Ricky Martin, Rickey Minor, Ellen Reid, Rhianna, Mr. Craig Robinson, Kaija Saariaho, Jermaine Stegall, Joseph Trapanese, Dionne Warwick, John Williams, and Stevie Wonder. He can be heard on over 100 film, TV, and video games soundtracks, including the upcoming release Coming 2 America.
Sidney advises artists, cultural institutions, and government agencies on arts-centric content development, best practices, strategic communications, and legislative actions to advance social justice and cultural equity, promote economic growth and stability, prevent local crime and terrorism, stem climate change, and support international development.
