Jazz, reggae and Latin music fills the halls of Northwestern Michigan College's Fine Arts Building this week.
Young musicians from all over the United States are taking part in The Archipelago Project's annual Musical Innovation and Leadership Academy in Traverse City.
A glance into a rehearsal room suggests that this Academy isn't a typical classical music experience.
There's no conductor standing on the podium leading the rehearsal, and a lot of the students don't have music stands or scores in front of them.
Instead, the adults observe from the back or play along as the students choose the music, call out the next soloist and share feedback.
This is the kind of musical ownership Daniel Trahey says he hoped to foster when he founded The Archipelago Project along with Garrett Mendez.
Trahey spends most of his time teaching at an El Sistema-inspired program he founded in Baltimore.
He says he and Mendez struggled to reconcile traditional classical music approaches with their own values, such as advocacy in support of issues like social justice and racial and gender equity.
When he and Mendez were studying to become musicians, Trahey says, the focus was on music that was predominantly white, Western European and male music.
"But we found there were different things we wanted to talk about," Trahey says.
In their experiences, though, Trahey and Mendez found that particular music didn't always speak to their real lives or to the real lives of their students.
"When Freddie Gray was murdered in Baltimore, Beethoven 9 was not going to contextualize the feelings my students had," Trahey says. "So we had to write our own music."
Trahey and Mendez founded The Archipelago Project to give students a more comprehensive, inclusive music education that speaks to the issues they face in the present day.
Their ensembles include all kinds of instruments: sousaphone, bassoon, strings, horn and more.
Unlike a lot of youth orchestras and wind ensembles, though, the students read from lead sheets they've written out for their own arrangements.
They're playing tunes by artists like Thelonius Monk, Luiz Bonfá and Herbie Hancock.
Trahey is from Northern Michigan, and he and Mendez were campers together at Interlochen in the 1990s.
They chose to hold their annual Academy in Traverse City partly because of the region's natural beauty.
When they aren't rehearsing, the students spend time outside enjoying Northern Michigan's beaches and learning about its environment.
They'll also have several performances that are free and open to the public.
Wednesday, July 13 - Downtown Traverse City pop-up performances
Thursday, July 14 - 6 p.m. at The Filling Station Microbrewery
Friday, July 15 - 6 p.m. at Stormcloud Brewing Company
Saturday, July 16 - 7 p.m. at Fresh Coast Brewery
Sunday, July 17 - 2 p.m. at Right Brain Brewery
Monday, July 18 - 12 p.m. live broadcast on WNMC
Another goal the Archipelago Project has is to build flexible, creative arts leaders, not just orchestra-bound virtuosos.
“Instead of just training performers, we want to teach people to be pedagogues, interpreters, creators and advocates," Trahey explains. "And that’s a lot to ask of a musician, but we’ve seen that when we ask for it, people do it."
At the Musical Innovation & Leadership Academy, students explore areas such as composition, leadership and community engagement.
They also learn about the non-musical skills they'll need for effective performances and community collaborations with public speaking, writing, media and PR specialists on the Academy's faculty.
The students range in age from fifth to twelfth grade, and many alumni have returned to help, too.
That's what eighth-grader and euphonium player Martin Shirley says he likes about the experience.
"In Pontiac, where I'm from, I'm with kids my age, and here, there are older kids that set an example for me so I can be better in life and as a musician," he says.
The students enjoy each other's company in between rehearsals as well, dancing along as they play and chatting through the halls.
"I was very nervous at first because I'm not usually cool with meeting new people, but these people are like another addition to family. We've been coming here late at night and practicing," seventh-grader Viahn Green says.
It's Green's first year at the Academy, and while he says he's not sure he wants to pursue a career in music, he loves playing in these high-energy groups.
"Everything you're doing isn't just about you; it's about you and other people because it's an ensemble. And that's pretty cool because I don't have to feel alone anymore."
