David Skidmore
David Skidmore is active as both a performer and composer of music for percussion. David is a member of the Carnegie Hall Academy, Third Coast Percussion, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Ensemble XII, and Signal.
As a chamber musician, David maintains a busy schedule both at home and abroad including performances at June in Buffalo, Klangspuren Schwaz, the Ojai Music Festival, the Bang On a Can Marathon and three Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. David has performed and collaborated with many of the world's finest musicians including conductors Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, David Robertson, and Michael Tilson Thomas, composers Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, Matthias Pintscher, and Peter Eötvos, and chamber ensembles So Percussion and eighth blackbird. David has performed as a soloist in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
David's compositions are performed regularly in concert halls and universities across the country. In May of 2007 his piece, "Unknown Kind", was premiered at Carnegie Hall.
David holds degrees from the Yale School of Music and Northwestern University. His teachers have included Robert Van Sice, Michael Burritt, James Ross, Paul Wertico, and Michael Hernandez.
Peter Martin
Peter Martin is a member of the critically acclaimed ensemble Third Coast Percussion and is the principal percussionist with the contemporary music group Ensemble Dal Niente. He has been a featured artist at the Jeju Summer Music Festival of Korea, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, the Round Top Festival, the Soundfield Festival, the Rush Hour Concert Series, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Peter has performed with such diverse ensembles as the Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Opera Moda, the Greeley Philharmonic, New Philharmonic and Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestras, and the Thodos Dance Company. He has enjoyed competition success as the first prize winner at the 2003 Percussive Arts Society Solo Marimba Competition.
Currently an Associate Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Peter has served as an instructor at Northwestern University, Trinity International University, and the National High School Music Institute. A passionate educator at all levels, he has worked with the Urban Gateways organization, the University of Chicago's CONNECT program, and the Young Audiences organization in presenting outreach performances to public schools across the U.S.
Peter is a Doctoral Candidate and holds a Masters of Music degree from Northwestern University. He received his B.M. degree from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Peter is an artist/endorser for Vic Firth and Pearl/Adams Musical Instruments.
Robert Dillon
Robert Dillon is a founding member of Third Coast Percussion, a dedicated teacher, and an active performer of contemporary and orchestral music in the Chicago area. He has also performed as a substitute with the Chicago, Boston and San Diego Symphony Orchestras, and has appeared numerous times on the Chicago Symphony's contemporary music series, MusicNOW, as well as the University of Chicago's Contempo series alongside eighth blackbird and the Pacifica Quartet.
For the 2007-8 season, Robert served as principal percussionist in the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and has previously held positions in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the unique, international 12-percussionist Ensemble XII (formerly the Lucerne Festival Percussion Group), and has participated in Pierre Boulez's Lucerne Festival Academy (Switzerland), Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, National Repertory Orchestra and Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo, Japan).
In April of 2007, Robert gave the American premiere of the solo version of Christopher Adler's "Signals Intelligence," which he later recorded for a CD of Adler's works released by Innova Records.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory, where he received the John Cage Award for Outstanding Contribution to Contemporary Music Performance. His teachers include Michael Burritt, James Ross and Will Hudgins.
Owen Clayton Condon
Owen Clayton Condon made his solo debut in 1996 with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra after winning the orchestra's Young Artist Competition. In 2000 he won the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and performed with the Conservatory's Symphony Orchestra in Jordan Hall. Owen performs with the Millennium Chamber Players, and has performed with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the University of Chicago's Contempo series, and as a guest artist with eighth blackbird.
Recently, he performed on behalf of Northwestern University at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Frank Epstein and Will Hudgins. Owen is completing his Doctorate of Music at Northwestern, where he studied with Michael Burritt and James Ross. He is currently the Director of Percussion Studies at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.