Location
1226 Murfin Ave
Ann Arbor, 48109
United States
Date & Time
8:00pm EST - 9:30pm EST
About This Event
Free ticket with reservation.
As the first ensemble to be given the Paul Boylan Award by the SMTD Alumni Board, Akropolis Reed Quintet will perform a recital at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Stamps Auditorium. The program will include the world premiere of a new work by SMTD student composer and soprano, Mikeila McQueston, who will also perform with Akropolis on her new composition. Additional works programmed will include Derrick Skye’s A Soulful Nexus, commissioned by Akropolis with support of the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Fund, and a feature on the quintet’s forthcoming 7th album, and additional works reflecting the ensemble’s roots at the University of Michigan and its ongoing commitment to shaping the future of the reed quintet.
About Akropolis
Founded in 2009, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine). Now in its 16th year, Akropolis is composed of the same five musicians who formed the ensemble at the University of Michigan and has become a leading voice in contemporary chamber music, commissioning and premiering hundreds of new works while redefining the reed quintet for the 21st century.
On March 10, Akropolis returns to the University of Michigan for a special performance celebrating its receipt of the Paul M. Boylan Alumni Award, the first ensemble ever to receive this distinction. This homecoming concert honors the ensemble’s artistic journey and its enduring connection to the university where it all began.
About This Event
Free ticket with reservation.
As the first ensemble to be given the Paul Boylan Award by the SMTD Alumni Board, Akropolis Reed Quintet will perform a recital at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Stamps Auditorium. The program will include the world premiere of a new work by SMTD student composer and soprano, Mikeila McQueston, who will also perform with Akropolis on her new composition. Additional works programmed will include Derrick Skye’s A Soulful Nexus, commissioned by Akropolis with support of the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Fund, and a feature on the quintet’s forthcoming 7th album, and additional works reflecting the ensemble’s roots at the University of Michigan and its ongoing commitment to shaping the future of the reed quintet.
About Akropolis
Founded in 2009, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine). Now in its 16th year, Akropolis is composed of the same five musicians who formed the ensemble at the University of Michigan and has become a leading voice in contemporary chamber music, commissioning and premiering hundreds of new works while redefining the reed quintet for the 21st century.
On March 10, Akropolis returns to the University of Michigan for a special performance celebrating its receipt of the Paul M. Boylan Alumni Award, the first ensemble ever to receive this distinction. This homecoming concert honors the ensemble’s artistic journey and its enduring connection to the university where it all began.
Founded in 2009, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet is “a sonically daring ensemble who specializes in performing new works with charisma and integrity” (BBC Music Magazine). Comprising five reed players and entrepreneurs unbounded by limits or categorization, Akropolis has graced the Classical Billboard Charts with each of their last three albums, including #2 in April, 2024, and has won seven national chamber music prizes including the 2014 Fischoff Gold Medal. Having premiered and commissioned more than 200 works by living artists and composers, they are pioneers and champions of a new genre of classical music—the reed quintet.
Composed of the same five members that brought about its founding over 15 years ago at the University of Michigan, they are the first ensemble to receive the University's Paul M. Boylan Alumni Award. Akropolis delivers 120 concerts and educational events worldwide each year at luminary series including Tanglewood, Bravo! Vail, University Musical Society, Chamber Music Northwest, and more. Akropolis became the first ever GRAMMY® winning reed quintet with their 2024 album, Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?, in collaboration with Pascal Le Boeuf and drummer Christian Euman, taking home Best Instrumental Composition for the track “Strands” at the 67th Grammy Awards held in February, 2025.
Utilizing their “sheer musical imagination” (Gramophone), the quintet is also known for powerful collaborations with youth and others within its Southeast Michigan community. Certified as a 510(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Akropolis runs a Detroit-based summer festival called Together We Sound, holds an annual, school year-long music composition residencies at Cass Tech, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Detroit School of Arts high schools, and produces a 10-day Chamber Music Institute focused on artist training and mentorship at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Described as “pure gold” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Akropolis Reed Quintet performs worldwide and is represented exclusively by Ariel Artists.
Getting There
Stamps Auditorium, Walgreen Drama Center
1226 Murfin Ave
Ann Arbor, 48109
United States
Location
1226 Murfin Ave
Ann Arbor, 48109
United States
Date & Time
8:00pm EST - 9:30pm EST