Unison Collective brings free, interactive chamber music to southeastern Michigan; announces June 16 gala in Ann Arbor

Allison Cohen, founder and executive director of the Unison Chamber Music Collective, described a program that brings free, interactive chamber music into shelters, recovery centers and correctional facilities across southeastern Michigan and announced a public gala on June 16 at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor.

Cohen said Unison, founded in 2022, makes performances participatory by removing the stage and inviting audience members to choose the order of pieces, draw or write responses and ask questions. "We believe that everyone in the room should be able to identify as a creative contributor," she said.

Unison runs monthly visits to partner sites so relationships can deepen over time, Cohen said. The organization conducts more than 50 performances a year and, she said, reaches "thousands of individuals each year" through those engagements. The group has grown to a staff of three and operates four core programs, including a mentorship initiative with the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance.

Cohen described partnerships that bring musicians and community members together, including a recent collaboration with a prison choir that joined Unison for shared performances. She also outlined an emerging composers commissioning program that supports early‑career composers by performing and recording five new works each year.

Cohen framed the work as addressing access and equity in classical music. "Music is not just something that's additive in people's lives. It truly can give life meaning, connection, and purpose," she said, later adding that a shelter participant told her the music "made her want to live again." She said these individual stories motivate Unison's monthly, relationship‑based model.

Cohen invited the public to the group's first annual gala on June 16 at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, calling the event a rare chance for supporters to experience the work firsthand. For more information or to support the organization, Cohen directed listeners to unisonchambermusiccollective.org and the group's Instagram account.