Third Coast Percussion

With nearly two decades of exciting and unexpected performances to its name, Chicago-based percussion quartet Third Coast Percussion (TCP) is the first percussion ensemble to win a GRAMMY® Award. Also nominated for a GRAMMY® as a composer collective, Third Coast recasts the classical musical experience with a brilliantly varied sonic palette, crafting music to “push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR). The ensemble celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025. In its latest GRAMMY® nomination, TCP’s 2023 album Between Breaths has been nominated under Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in the 2024 GRAMMY® Awards.

Passionate about connecting with its audience, Third Coast has been praised for the “rare power” (The Washington Post) of more than 30 recordings and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). Bringing their compelling programs worldwide, TCP has toured widely across the U.S. and four continents. Its four members are also accomplished teachers who have collectively developed a wealth of K-12 workshops and family programming.

Third Coast has produced exciting new art through unlikely collaborations with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, dancers at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and musicians from classical, rock and traditional genres. The quartet has served as ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (2013-2018) and Denison University (current).

Highly collaborative in its commissioning process, TCP has commissioned and premiered new works from Augusta Read Thomas, Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Jlin, Clarice Assad, Gemma Peacocke, Flutronix, Danny Elfman, Tyondai Braxton, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Georg Friedrich Haas, Donnacha Dennehy, Glenn Kotche, Christopher Cerrone, and David T. Little, plus numerous up-and-coming composers through their Currents Creative Partnership program. Jlin’s Perspective, a TCP commission, was a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Besides putting its stamp on iconic percussion works by John Cage and Steve Reich, the quartet has created first recordings of commissioned works by Philip Glass, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Danny Elfman, Gavin Bryars, Donnacha Dennehy, David T. Little and Ted Hearne –in addition to original Third Coast compositions. The ensemble won its GRAMMY® (Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance) for their recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion. They have received four additional GRAMMY® nominations as performers, plus a 2021 nomination as composers.

The four members of Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) met while studying percussion music at Northwestern University and formed the ensemble in 2005. They have since built a thriving nonprofit organization to support their vision. Members of Third Coast also hold degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Rutgers University, the New England Conservatory and the Yale School of Music.