Two musicians, who met and played together for the first time in seventh-grade at Interlochen Arts Camp, are still playing together.
All-State alumni Dan Trahey and Garrett Mendez started the Archipelago Project in 2000 with the goal of “inspiring a new generation of listeners.” Trahey explained that he and Mendez saw a need to combine performance and education in order to increase interest in the arts, so the Archipelago Project was born.
The 11-member group of professional musicians travels around the country and internationally giving concerts and doing educational programs for about 16 weeks each year. They also host an annual summer music festival in Traverse City and serve as advocates for music education.
Archipelago Project concerts feature a variety of musical styles and are often complemented by an instrument petting zoo, musical twister and more.
“I think we are so successful because kids can see that they can playany kind of music - jazz, classical, pop, rock - everything you can imagine,” Trahey said.
In addition to community and school concerts, the group also does residencies, giving young musicians the chance to interact with professional musicians and receive valuable advice.
“We have really had an incredible response because of the attention we give the kids,” Trahey said. “We spend all day with them. It’s like having 11 band directors all day for a week.”
Trahey estimates that the group, based in Traverse City, Baltimore, and Innsbruck, Austria, plays for around 25,000 people a year in the U.S. and Europe. A new addition to the Archipelago Project is a cultural exchange collaboration with celebrated music education program El Sistema in Venezuela.
For more information, visit their website.