You can catch the quintet's program live and in-person at the locations below. Be sure to check back for updates!
Thursday, July 22nd - 12:00 pm - Central United Methodist Church, Traverse City
Monday, July 26th - 7:00pm - Fishtown, Leland
Tuesday, July 27th - 5:00pm - Rove Estate Vineyard and Winery, Traverse City
Wednesday, July 28th - 6:00pm - Trattoria Stella, Traverse City (Reservation only)
Thursday, July 29th - 5:00pm - Lake Ann Brewing Company
Friday, July 30th - 8:00 p.m. - Bay View Association - Opening for The Accidentals - (tickets)
Saturday, July 31st - 7:00 pm - The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park
After his time at The New England Conservatory of Music, David Norville felt somewhat lost artistically. To him, classical music felt just like a performance, not something to connect people and bring them together.
So when offered the opportunity to subvert classical norms and break down barriers between audiences and performers with The Sound Garden Quintet, David was in.
“I’m quite excited,” he says. “The way that we've been thinking about making classical music more accessible has made me feel sort of like a mad scientist.”
Alongside David with his oboe, The Sound Garden Quintet also features Mei Stone on the flute, Khalil Gray on the bassoon, Hugh Zhu on the clarinet, and Jaimee Reynolds on the French horn. All five artists-in-residence are also Interlochen Arts Academy alumni.
The quintet assembled a program specially curated to be more accessible to people who aren’t familiar with the genre. They want the music to feel approachable, to make an environment where people aren’t afraid to even dance around a little.
“What will make it really hard for people not to move their bodies to the music?” David says.
The program begins with “Quintet for Winds No. 3” by David Maslanka. This piece embodies the early tendrils of the dream, “a feeling that leads to an actual vision of something,” David Norville says.
Then it shifts moods into the darker “Wind Quintet No. 1” by Kalevi Aho, representing the struggles and hurdles along the way. Here, the quintet hopes to dig into the negative emotions that can come along with dreams, like longing and self-doubt.
“And then while you're in the thick of it, there’s those few things that remind you of your reason for being. And so the third section is this moment of bliss where you remember why you're doing the thing.” David says. This section is brought to life with “Inspiration” by Gary Lanier.
And “Tzigane” by Valerie Coleman winds the program to a close, bringing with it the sense of finality and satisfaction that comes with the culmination of a dream.
Before the others arrived, Mei Stone spent the summer playing her flute around Northern Michigan with The Sound Garden to try and bring classical music into the real world. Mei enjoyed her time performing alone, but she’s excited to have the quintet here to bring more energy to performances.
“Having people along in the process is so much more exciting,” she says. “There’s just this energy that gets passed back and forth before it's finally released into the audience.”
More than just performing with other musicians though, Jaimee Reynolds explained how good it feels to be back in Interlochen performing with friends.
“It's been so nice to come back here after not seeing any of these people for like five or six years,” Jaimee says. “And then hearing how much everybody has improved and is blending super well together--it's just been a treat to be here.”