FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kari Landry, Marketing and Development Manager
kari@akropolisquintet.org | 616.450.1164
Detroit, MI (September 26, 2023) – Celebrating their 15th anniversary season, the Southeast Michigan-based, Billboard charting, 7-time national prize winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine). Remaining the same 5 members since their founding in 2009 at the University of Michigan, Akropolis is comprised of oboist Tim Gocklin, clarinetist Kari Landry, saxophonist Matt Landry, bass clarinetist Andrew Koeppe, and bassoonist Ryan Reynolds.
The untamed band of 5 reed players and entrepreneurs perform “works that brilliantly exploit their unique instrumentation” (Gramophone), having premiered and commissioned over 150 works for this new genre – the reed quintet.
Akropolis’ 23-24 anniversary season features 50+ concerts and educational events in 11 states and 3 countries, where they will proudly become the first reed quintet to appear on luminary series including the University Musical Society (UMS) Chamber Series, UChicago Presents, Bravo! Vail, Tuesday Musical, Trinity by the Cove, and more. This includes educational and collegiate residencies at Stetson University, University of Michigan, Ball State University, Columbus State University, Strings Music Festival, and Akropolis’ 8th year in residence at 3 Detroit Public High Schools.
A recipient of the 23/24 USArtists International (USAI) touring award, Akropolis was selected as one of 28 American ensembles and soloists to perform at 35 festivals around the globe. Thanks to USAI, Akropolis will be performing on the PAN Festival in the Royal Concertgebouw Concert Hall in Amsterdam on January 6, 2024, alongside their mentors, the Calefax Reed Quintet. This engagement is supported in part by Mid Atlantic Arts through USArtists International, a program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
An awardee of The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Grant, Akropolis will release their 6th album, Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? (AWDTSD), on the Bright Shiny Things label in April 2024. AWDTSD is a 60-minute, multi-movement work of the same name composed by Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, performed by a septet of Akropolis, Le Boeuf (piano), and Christian Euman (drum set). AWDTSD has pushed these 7 artists to redefine the concept of “American” contemporary music, commenting on American strands of influence while combining classical virtuosity and jazz improvisation to create a totally new genre in and of itself. As a touring program, AWDTSD will be performed on the prestigious University Musical Society (UMS) series in Ann Arbor, MI on November 12, 2023 and has been performed at Chamber Music Tulsa in March, 2023.
An engine perpetually generating new sounds and ideas, Akropolis’ will be giving world premiere performances of new reed quintet works by composers including Stephanie Ann Boyd (“a racing, brassy score”, The New York Times) and Oswald Huỳnh, Creator-in-Residence with the Louisville Orchestra. The largest commission and premiere of Akropolis’ 23/24 season is a new reed quintet by LA-based composer Derrick Skye funded by Akropolis’ 2nd Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning grant. Lauded for being “enormous fun to listen to” (The Times, London), Derrick Skye’s works have recently been performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, and his new Electro-Acoustic Opera “Song of the Ambassadors” recently premiered at Lincoln Center. His first reed quintet work, A Soulful Nexus, is a transcultural classical work that blends elements of Persian classical music with ornamental vocal techniques found in solo Balkan vocal melodies, and the groove-based polyrhythms characteristic of electronic dance music.
Akropolis also collaborates with youth in their Detroit community. Winner of the 2015 Fischoff Educator Award and a nonprofit organization which has received 7 consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Akropolis runs a summer festival in Detroit called Together We Sound and an annual composition program with three Detroit High Schools. For the last 8 years, Akropolis has been in residence at Cass Tech, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Detroit School of Arts high schools in Detroit where between 20-30 students work collaboratively with Akropolis each year to compose new works. You can watch Akropolis perform dozens of these creations online here.
Each summer Akropolis also delivers two collegiate/early career artist development programs. Their 10-day Chamber Music Institute takes place in Petoskey, MI and joins 12 instrumentalists with Akropolis to premiere new works by 4 emerging composers. Founded in 2019, their 1-week online Mastermind program is a business incubator, helping soloists and ensembles grow their career by building a business able to support their artistic pursuits. Both of these programs will be back in the summer of 2024 featuring new guest artists and national media partnerships.
Through these performances, commissions, educational experiences, international travels, and album releases, Akropolis’ 15th anniversary season sees this reed ensemble reaching new heights, performing in iconic venues, and building connections with new audiences around the globe with their “sheer musical imagination” (Gramophone).