Akropolis Quintet Inc

We aim to make world class contemporary chamber music at the highest level, and to make that music accessible to a variety of diverse populations throughout the United States. We aim to create new works of art by diverse composers, and to perform and record those works to as to build more legitimacy for our genre, the reed quintet. Then, we aim to create programs that disseminate these new musical works of art, in person and digitally, to diverse populations. These programs include our Together We Sound festival in Detroit, MI; our annual yearlong residency at 3 Detroit high schools, our nationwide touring programs and K-12 workshops; our collegiate workshops and Mastermind entrepreneurship boot c and our virtual presentations including our Web Premiere series, sheet music catalog, and full length albums.

Our strategies center upon sustainable programming leading to a sustainable organization. Sustainable programming means that the program is positioned to create excellent art that fulfills the Akropolis musicians, fueling satisfaction and legitimacy. This must be at the center of all programming. Then, we innovate programming that accomplishes this while bringing the artistic creation directly to the population we are impacting, such as with our workplace concert series. We ensure that the new musical works we perform reflect society today in meaningful ways, such as a new work we commissioned in 2019 that commented on mobility and the environment in Detroit by collaborating with a Detroit scrap metal artist and a well-known national composer to create a new piece of music for Akropolis an a rideable percussion bicycle. We performed the piece on Detroit's bike paths, and it has been adapted into a touring program. Because artistic excellence is at the center of these projects, they can fuel additional projects, which impact more people and create more financial sustainability for our organization.

Akropolis is a world class performing ensemble. We have won 7 national chamber music prizes including a Fischoff Gold Medal and Fischoff Educator Award. We have received 3 consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, released 3 CDs to national acclaim, and we have toured extensively, including major venues and series. We have significant cash reserves and 100% employee retention for the past 11 years. We partner extensively with nonprofits and for-profits in Detroit to ensure our programming reaches as many people as possible in a way most accessible to them. Our budget has grown 500% since we incorporated as a nonprofit in 2015. We are the state of Michigan's leading nonprofit music ensemble, and we have an extremely nimble organizational structure: the 5 quintet members comprise our staff, along with two volunteer interns, and we have very little overhead.

Over our first 5 years as a nonprofit (relative to our founding in 2009), we have made significant progress toward creating world-class contemporary chamber music and delivering accessible programming for diverse adults and youth nationwide.

First, we have increased our capacity significantly, growing our budget 500% over the past 5 years, fully employing two quintet members as full-time staff, and adding significant partnerships in the areas of funding and programming. We have increased our individual giving base each year, and each year we have added new sponsors and granters.

Artistically, we are just completing (May 2021 our largest performing season yet with 50 full-length concerts and over 75 K-12 presentations. We have performed on leading series like the Oneppo Series at Yale University, the Flagler Series in Palm Beach, Chamber Music Northwest, and many more.

We have collaborated with leading artists including Shara Nova, Juan Martinez, BodyVox Dance, and more.

We have premiered more than 70 new musical works, including 20 from Detroit students, and we have reached more than 6,000 Detroiters through our Together We Sound festival.

What's next: We are currently launching the first year of Akropolis Mastermind, an online, weeklong workshop for emerging contemporary artists. We are approaching the 3rd year of our residency at 3 Detroit high schools. During the 20-21 season we will conduct a 2-week residency with BodyVox Dance and this fall will be releasing our 4th album, containing music by 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Michael Gilbertson. We will release significant digital content because of the COVID-19 outbreak, including a web premiere evening and soiree event featuring Jeff Scott's "Homage to Paradise Valley," and a music video release of "Portraits" by Grammy-nominated Pascal Le Boeuf.