UPDATE (11/5/12)

What a fantastic time we had last night at the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings "On the Horizon" concert and gala. We premiered the 3rd and 4th movements of David Heetderks' "Pitchblende" to a warm and enthusiastic audience, then capped off the evening with "CircusMuziek" at the gala/dinner. With "Pitchblende" and "CircusMuziek" on our debut album, it was a perfect way to introduce the metro Detroit area to our unique sounds, exciting commissions, and the great music that a Kickstarter pledge would help support.

Thanks again to DCWS and all in attendance for an unforgettable evening!

*Photos and video coming soon!

What is Akropolis?

Akropolis happened because of the extremely generous support we received after our founding in 2009. Before giving you the rundown on this Kickstarter project, we want to thank you in advance for expanding our support network, including the professors under which we have studied, our musical mentors and inspirations (many of whom have met us personally to give help and advice), our friends who have encouraged us, the venues who have booked us, the community who has believed in us, and our families for loving us.  

If you can't afford to pledge toward our CD, simply check out our Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as our Youtube videos. Likes and views are another great support mechanism to uplift the new classical music cause we believe in.

Akropolis is a unique and nationally acclaimed classical music ensemble made up of oboist Tim Gocklin, clarinetist Kari Dion, saxophonist Matt Landry, bass clarinetist Andrew Koeppe, and bassoonist Ryan Reynolds. We are dedicated to new and dynamic classical music, music which today’s evolving audience can enjoy. We’ve even published many of these original manuscripts for purchase in our own online catalog called Akropolis Collection. In 2011-2012 we introduced our music to the national stage by winning prizes in five national chamber music competitions, and today we bring traditional precision to the performance of contemporary music. In the last two years alone we’ve commissioned fifteen new reed quintet works, and as the Young Artist in Residence with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, we continue to blaze a trail for new music and innovative ensembles. 

Why the Kickstarter? 

We have completed the studio recording our first album, called High Speed Reed, which consists of six exciting and original reed quintet compositions (including three which we commissioned ourselves). Unfortunately, our pockets are only so deep. We used competition awards, gig $, and our personal savings to fund much of the project, but a high quality, professional album is more expensive than we can afford. 

What am I funding? 

1. Album artwork. You’ve probably already seen some of it. We’ve commissioned our good friend and fabulous artist, Emily Breeding, but like any professional artist, she doesn't work for free! Check out her fantastic work here. 

2. Distribution: printing and duplicating CDs, booklets and cases; shipping CDs; getting artwork onto the CD case and booklet. We're using Mixonic for this service. 

3. Mastering: without the services of an experienced mastering engineer, our CD won’t survive on the market. We're shopping around to several mastering engineers right now, including some in Ann Arbor and some far away. We're looking for someone who has mastered classical albums before, but who can work fast and for a reasonable price.

4. Publicity: Facebook and Google ads, posters, etc. Our clarinetist, Kari, is very experienced in online advertising and will bring lots of publicity to the CD.

5. Royalties to composers and publishers.

Why should I support this?

Akropolis is doing something completely original, and we’re doing it by staying true to real, legitimate classical music. We play complex and dynamic classical music which always manages to please our audiences. The composers we’ve commissioned and premiered include the nationally renowned David Biedenbender and Paul Dooley, the acclaimed Garrett Schumann, the seasoned Babur Tongur, the diverse Los Angeles based composer Jason Turbin, and several others all blazing trails of classical music in popular new settings. Akropolis performs this music with the same care and passion as we perform Dvorak, Mozart, and Gershwin. By supporting this album, you are supporting the future of classical music, its composers, its performers, and everyone who wants it to live on with the same verve it began. 

What’s on the album, and can I hear a sample? 

Here’s a sample of some of the tracks on our SoundCloud. These tracks contain a rough mix, and part of the money we’re hoping to raise will fund a mastering engineer to take our sound in this album to the next level. 

What was that music in the video?

It was Techno Fun track #10 on the album!

Here are the tracks we’ve recorded, in CD order: 

1. "High Speed Reed"  Composer: Garrett Schumann. Commissioned by: Akropolis.  Premiered: March, 2012.  Manuscript is available for purchase at garrettschumann.com! 

 2. "Pitchblende"  Composer: David Heetderks. Commissioned by: Akropolis.  Premiered: December, 2011. Manuscript available by Akropolis Collection at akropolisquintet.com! 

3. "The Woman Who Hatches Eggs" Composer: Chiel Meijering. Commissioned by: Calefax. Manuscript available by Donemus publishing company (Netherlands).

 4. "Nuclear Child Games"  Composer: Babur Tongur. Commissioned by: the wonderful Calefax Reed Quintet. Premiered: 1994. Manuscript available by Akropolis Collection at akropolisquintet.com! 

 5. "Fun Fun Fun Fun"  Composer: Asaf Peres. Commissioned by: Akropolis.  Premiered: January, 2012. Manuscript available by Akropolis Collection at akropolisquintet.com! 

 6. "CircusMuziek"  Composer: Ton ter Doest. Commissioned by: Calefax.  Premiered: 1995. Manuscript available at Calefax.com.

What if the goal has already been reached?

And we hope it has been by the time you find us! However, here's where any additional support would be delegated:

• Our next CD! Every cost associated with the debut album will also exist for album number two. The second album, believe it or not, is already underway. It will consist of works from out current composers' project called UNRAVELED, including works by many fabulous up-and-coming composers written expressly for Akropolis.
• Ordering additional CDs, including printing the artwork into booklets, binding the CD cases, printing and duplicating the CD itself, and shipping and handling.
• Online advertising, including Facebook ads, as well as spots on digital media outlets such as iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, and more.
• Fees associated with publishing our CD through online stores like those listed above.
• Transportation. Since all five members do not live in a central location, playing concerts is actually expensive for us, especially considering plane and train ticket costs.
• Website. In addition to a yearly domain fee, we are looking to outsource design components such as a logo and photography.

That's all! 

Thank you for your support, and we are looking forward to making our music available to all.

Musically yours,

Tim, Kari, Matt, Ryan, Andrew