The Sound Garden Project
The Sound Garden Project’s mission is to plant classical music in unexpected places as we reimagine a 21st-century performance experience. In these ensembles ambitious hands, a concert becomes an event, and an audience becomes a community of inspiration, understanding and hope.
2025 Ensembles
FIVEMIND REEDS: Fivemind’s interests lie in bridging the gap between classical and contemporary music, and promoting diversity and equity in the arts through community engagement, expansion of the reed quintet’s repertoire, and revitalization of the age-old traditions of chamber music.
KODAK QUARTET: This dynamic, award-winning string quartet is setting the world on fire with their passionate and energetic playing. They are highly regarded for their work with contemporary composers on new compositions and for presenting traditional works with a contemporary flavor.
CERUS QUARTET: Founded in 2020, the Cerus Quartet focuses on showcasing the dynamic, versatile sound worlds of the saxophone quartet, programming everything from contemporary compositions to transcriptions of traditional repertoire.
Concerts
All concerts are free and open to the public — no tickets required unless otherwise noted.
Our 2025 concert schedule is currently under construction. Check back soon for more event and venue details!
- June 10-20: Kodak Quartet at Manitou Music Festival, Glen Arbor, MI
- Jue 13, 9:30 p.m. Kodak Quartet at Empire Beach, Empire, MI
- June 26, 7 p.m.: Cerus Quartet at Oliver Art Center, Frankfort, MI
- July 14-20: Fiveminds Reeds in Cheboygan, MI
- July 16, 7 p.m. Fivemind Reeds at Washington Park, Cheboygan, MI
- July 19, 7 pm. Fivemind Reeds at the Opera House, Cheboygan, MI
This project is funded in part by Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council
Special thanks to our generous sponsors Golden-Fowler Home Furnishings and Traverse City Tourism.
2023 Ensembles
PULSE: An award-winning saxophone quartet delivering a diverse range of repertoire, seeking to break down barriers between themselves and their audience. (2023, 2024)
Fivemind Reeds: A dynamic, 21st-century reed quintet based in LA and committed to promoting diversity and equity in the arts through community engagement. (2023, 2024)
Blue Quartet: A saxophone quartet seeking to distill music of the highest quality into the everyday lives of people - and to inspire those inclined to do the same. (2023)
Gallery
Kodak Quartet at Black Star Farms
Members of the Fivemind Reed Quintet play oboe and saxophone at Tom's.
The Blue Saxophone Quartet poses with their saxophones outside Dollar General.
(Photo: Susan Tusa — IG: @__sutu__)
Learn more
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Matthew SchlomerThis week, Mei Stone goes to places where people are faced with choices, like a skate shop and a brewery, and asks them to turn those opinions onto classic music. -
Michigan's Cerus Quartet wins honorable mention at the 2025 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. -
The Kodak Quartet from New York is part of IPR’s Sound Garden Project, which plants music in unexpected places. -
Edgar Donati, Martin Noh, Daniel Spink and Blake Kitayama of the Kodak Quartet are in residence as part of IPR's Sound Garden Project. -
Darren Liou, Matthew Rasmussen, Alex Lee, Thacher Schreiber and Kristine Llanderal of Fivemind Reeds are in residence in Glen Arbor, part of IPR's Sound Garden Project. -
Saxophonists Samuel Hartt, Lauren Troutman, Jonah Kulick and Joshua Elwood have been planting music in unexpected places with IPR's Sound Garden Project. -
Thacher Schreiber, Darren Liou, Alex Lee, Matthew Rasmussen and Jacob Freiman are planting music in unexpected places this summer through IPR's Sound Garden Project. -
Saxophonists Zachary Costello, Luke Haight, Owen Robinson and Michael Ethier won first prize in the prestigious NOLA Chamber Fest's Performing Artists division. -
As PULSE, Zachary Costello, Luke Haight, Owen Robinson and Michael Ethier deliver a wide-ranging repertoire that engages and inspires with a fresh approach to classical music. -
The Glen Arbor Arts Center welcomes its first-ever musicians-in-residence for a month of interactive performances in playgrounds, parking lots and parks in Glen Arbor.
