Akropolis Reed Quintet @ Libby Gardner Concert Hall 11.05.2026

Each member of the Akropolis Reed Quintet falls into rhythm with the others, breathing and swaying in unison, keeping the sound alive with the air from their lungs. Watching them, the audience can’t help but breathe along, letting out sympathetic sighs. Akropolis introduces listeners to instruments we think we know yet have likely never been properly serenaded by. By distilling orchestral works and reimagining piano pieces for five reeds, the quintet puts the bassoon, bass clarinet, clarinet, oboe and saxophone in the spotlight.

The Akropolis Reed Quintet is a Grammy Award-winning group founded at the University of Michigan. On Nov. 5, Utah Presents brought them to Libby Gardner Concert Hall at the University of Utah. The group is composed of Tim Gocklin (oboe), Kari Landry (clarinet), Matt Landry (saxophone), Andrew Koeppe (bass clarinet) and guest bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann.

They opened with Marc Mellits’ Splinter, playing five of its eight movements. We started in a dreamy and exploratory natural world and ended in a New York taxi, busy and exciting with an urgency underneath.

Florence Beatrice Price’s Piano Sonata in E Minor, arranged for the reed quintet, came next. The Andante was warm and homey, the bass clarinet, bassoon and saxophone building a cozy container for the oboe and clarinet. The Andante-Allegro was defiant, the way Pollyanna is defiant: an optimistic hero’s journey. 

Jennifer Higdon’s Rush Not the Reeds offered a dense harmonic structure that catered to seasoned classical enthusiasts while brilliantly displaying the ensemble’s technical mastery.

Derrick Skye’s A Soulful Nexus had the quintet stomping and clapping out the rhythm while the bass clarinet hummed long, sustained Persian trills. The oboe and clarinet traced mountains and valleys, a topography that felt as familiar to Utah as to Iran, before the oboe slipped in with something closer to a techno beat, a beautiful blend of East and West.

George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, arranged by Raaf Hekkema, was a joyful and nostalgic note to end on. Distilled into five reeds, the motifs and melodies you thought you knew came through clearly. The oboe skipped along while the saxophone and clarinet chirped. The bassoon and bass clarinet drew the skipping melody down into a pensive, contemplative rendition before the saxophone carried the hope back to the top line. Then came the famous blues theme. Here the soulful bassoon and bass clarinet left room for the clarinet and saxophone to trade that flirtation we love about this piece, each taking a turn with the same melody. The saxophone jazzed up a crescendo into a brash, Charleston-flavored stretch, and the bass clarinet answered with something defiant and sassy. Finally, the bassoon took it home, popping us back into that jaunty, hopeful melody with the feel of a true protagonist.

Their synchronicity felt almost instinctive, woven directly into the fabric of the performance, the musicians passing notes back and forth in a seamless musical dialogue. Ultimately, the performance offered a rare glimpse at voices frequently obscured within a full orchestra. The bassoon and bass clarinet, in particular, stepped forward into clear view, giving audiences an intimate appreciation for the unique timbres and expressive range of these remarkable reed instruments.

I highly recommend anyone who enjoys an orchestra, or any sort of wind instrument, to make the time to see Akropolis. You get to familiarize yourself with the instruments, their sounds, the way they are played and what they can do. Breathe, sway, stand up straight, breathe, sway. By the end of the night, the whole hall seemed to be breathing with the musicians and their instruments, and it was truly a delight to witness. —Elizabeth Leach

Read more reviews of concerts around Salt Lake City:
Love Spells Makes Love the Law @ Kilby Court 10.06.2026
Aldous Harding @ The Commonwealth Room 09.22.2026

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