Welcome our new Teaching Artists for our Detroit High School Residency Program
Please join us in welcoming Mattie Levy and Kurton Harrison III to the Akropolis team as teaching Artists for our Detroit High School Residency
Mattie Levy, Teaching Artist
Mattie Levy (composer, writer, educator, and performer) holds master’s degrees in music composition and oboe performance from the University of Michigan. Her recent works include "Floating on the Wings of Our Planet," an immersive media piece addressing climate change, and her Presser award-winning musical-theatre opera crossover show, "Concert Black," which follows three Black classical musicians and their journeys through life. Mattie's essay: “If my Imposter Syndrome had a Voice and the Reality of the Situation” was published in the online journal: Currents in Music Research. She is also a 2027 DeGaetano Institute fellow earning a commission from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and she is premiering a fully produced opera in 2026 at HERE Arts Center as part of the Experiments in Opera writer’s room in New York City. Mattie is a vocalist and oboist for (dead) daisies, a new alt pop band, and oboist for synTAX new music, a new contemporary performer/composer collective. In addition, she is the community engagement coordinator for Prison Creative Arts Project, working to provide arts opportunities for people impacted by the justice system. Outside of the arts, Mattie loves baking desserts, and owns too many plants.
Connect with Mattie on instagram @mattie_tvc15.
Kurton Harrison III, Teaching Artist
Kurton Harrison III gained recognition as a versatile Composer in 2023 after graduating from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A Detroit musician and composer influenced by Jazz and Classical Music, he shares stories from an Autistic Perspective. Kurton has worked with other musicians and mentors during his time in school, who helped him make his own voice in the music industry and community. Scott Gwinnell, Rayse Biggs, Dr. Eddie Henderson, and the Akropolis Quintet themselves. Kurton’s goal is to impact students and people with the way of writing music and telling a story that can be moving and striking.
Kurton is also a proud alumni of Akropolis Detroit High School Composition Program, composing two works for Akropolis while he was a student at Detroit School of Arts. Watch these compositions below.
