Akropolis Chamber Music Institute
The Akropolis Chamber Music Institute (ACMI) is a week long summer festival in partnership with the Grammy-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet.
ACMI invites creative composers, innovative performers, and rising ensembles to apply for a rigorous week of chamber music, world premieres, and professional development. The program is geared toward individuals studying at the collegiate or post-collegiate level who are pursuing an active career in music performance. The goal of ACMI is to launch your career as a 21st century artist through the highest level of performance, dedicated 1-on-1 mentorship, direct collaboration with the Akropolis Reed Quintet, including performing side by side with members and lasting relationships.
For one week, the artists selected will work intensely with Akropolis: living, working, performing, and forming a community as an artistic collective. A true artist’s retreat, the program will be hosted on Interlochen's beautiful campus, nestled between two pristine lakes and surrounded by quiet pines in northwest Michigan.
How to Apply:
The application deadline is February 1, 2026. Pre-requisites and application requirements can be found on the Akropolis Reed Quintet's website.
Working with Akropolis
Akropolois Reed Quintet is a Grammy award-winning ensemble, described as "sonically daring" with a "wonderfully fresh sound" by BBC Music Magazine. The quintet has won several national competitions and appeared on the Billboard Charts three times — all within an ensemble format that has virtually no precedent in classical music. Over the past 17 years, Akropolis has reached thousands of individuals striving to succeed in classical and contemporary music and has given more than 300 master classes, coachings, and entrepreneurship workshops at colleges and universities of all kinds.
Dates
June 6 - 14, 2026
Application Fee
$35
Tuition
$1,800
Tuition includes housing and meals during the program.
The Interlochen environment mirrors life as a professional independent artist and is modeled after how Akropolis has worked and grown together for the last decade. Each day offers a balance of coaching, rehearsal, composing, practice, creative brainstorming and actualization, and personal free time. Akropolis values individual free time as much as rehearsal time, and places an emphasis on participants having ample time to socialize, rest, recover, and be present.
As an example, a typical day would be:
- Breakfast
- Two morning rehearsal blocks
- Lunch
- Two afternoon rehearsal blocks
- Dinner
- Evening career development, master class, or performance event
Additional actives built into the schedule include:
- Composer and Instrumental showcase presentations
- Guest Artist sessions
- One-on-one lessons with Akropolis
- Lake time and recreation
No refunds are given after May 1. No refunds are made for participants arriving late, leaving early, or canceling. The application fee is non-refundable for applicants who are not accepted. For accepted applicants the application fee is applied to your tuition payment.
To make the Akropolis Chamber Music Institute accessible to applicants with financial need, scholarships are available upon application. You may indicate if you wish to receive this scholarship application by checking the box within the full ACMI application. After your ACMI application is submitted, you will receive the scholarship application via email, and we request that you submit it by February 5, 2026.
Scholarships will be determined after receiving all applications and reviewing the need of all applicants accepted to the festival. Participants will be accepted without regard to their financial need. Then, among the accepted applicants, any scholarship applications will be reviewed.
For pre-formed ensembles, each individual will be considered for a scholarship separately, on their own, and any members of a pre-formed ensemble interested in a scholarship should apply individually for a scholarship. The person completing the ACMI application on behalf of the ensemble can indicate in the application if any members of the ensemble would like to apply for a scholarship.
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