Akropolis Reed Quintet: Club Paradise Virtual Soirée
$15/household
Join Akropolis and composer Jeff Scott for an intimate, interactive online concert experience.
Our Virtual Soirée features live performances from Akropolis members, a live interview with composer Jeff Scott, a historical review of Detroit's Paradise Valley neighborhood and musical legacy from "primordial Detroiter" Marsha Music, and the exclusive web premiere debut of Homage to Paradise Valley, Jeff Scott's new 25-minute masterwork for reed quintet.
The livestream will take place at 2pm Eastern / 11am Pacific.
Following your purchase, you will be provided with a custom Zoom link to attend Akropolis’ Club Paradise Virtual Soirée.
A $15 ticket provides one device/household access to a soirée. A whole household is welcome to tune in on one device together. We are limiting each soirée to 20 devices total, excluding Akropolis and our team members, to keep the experience intimate and comfortable.
Are you a K-12 student? You and your family are welcome to attend for FREE! Just email us at info@akropolisquintet.org with a photo of your student ID and we'll send you an access code to order your free ticket.
At The Event
"Club Paradise" references the iconic Paradise Theater in Detroit's Paradise Valley Neighborhood, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Detroit, which, along with the adjacent Black Bottom neighborhood, was razed by freeway projects and other urban renewal in the 1960s. We invite you to this Club Paradise Virtual Soirée so that through music we can share this part of Detroit's history and educate each other about its wide-ranging consequences. The Paradise Theatre, located at 3711 Woodward Ave., was arguably the most important venue during the 1940s for Black musical entertainment in Detroit. It hosted renowned jazz musicians, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Currently the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has a rich history in musical tradition.
What's a "Virtual Soirée?"
July 15-19 we're hosting 6 of these intimate, interactive, 60-minute, viewing parties through Zoom video conferencing. All of Akropolis and composer Jeff Scott, with assistance by the extensive research and cataloging of the Detroit Historical Society, will host approximately 20 guests for the event which includes introductions and a chance to meet your fellow worldwide soirée participants; live performances by Akropolis members; a history of the razed Paradise Valley and Black Bottom neighborhoods; a Q&A with the composer; all intertwined with the exclusive web premiere debut performance of Jeff Scott's 25-minute master work for reed quintet, Homage to Paradise Valley. This web premiere was recorded in the fall of 2019 at Central Michigan University.
We encourage you to make an event of it! Invite friends to the same soirée, dress up, enjoy a homemade refreshment, and log in a few minutes early on the biggest computer screen you have!
We highly encourage you to tune in with headphones or an external speaker connected to your computer, as the event will feature pre-recorded music recorded at high quality, and live performances. This will sound as good as the speakers you are using!
About Akropolis Reed Quintet
Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the Akropolis Reed Quintet was founded in 2009 at the University of Michigan and is the first-ever ensemble of its makeup to win seven national prizes, including a Fischoff Gold Medal (2014) and Fischoff Educators Award (2015). Hailed by Fanfare Magazine for its “imagination, infallible musicality, and huge vitality,” Akropolis has performed from Juneau to Abu Dhabi and delivers more than 120 annual performances and workshops annually. A maverick of new wind music, Akropolis has commissioned over 70 reed quintet works and recorded three albums, including its 2017 release, The Space Between Us, which the San Francisco Chronicle calls, “pure gold.” Akropolis has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Chamber Music America for their adventurous artistry and compelling community programming in Detroit, MI.
Support Akropolis Reed Quintet: https://akropolisquintet.org/give/