Our mission is to inspire and educate through the creation of exciting and unexpected musical experiences.
For twenty years, the ensemble has forged a unique path in the musical landscape with virtuosic, energetic performances that celebrate the extraordinary depth and breadth of musical possibilities in the world of percussion. The ensemble has been praised for “commandingly elegant” (New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (Washington Post) of their recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, and currently serve as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.
Click an Ensemble Member to see their bio
David Skidmore is an Ensemble Member and Executive Director of Third Coast Percussion.
David Skidmore is an Ensemble Member and Executive Director of Third Coast Percussion.
As a chamber musician, David has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center Festival, Kimmel Center, EMPAC, June in Buffalo, Klangspuren Schwaz, the Ojai Music Festival, the Bang On a Can Marathon and three Percussive Arts Society International Conventions. David was a member of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble from 2007-2011 and Ensemble ACJW from 2008-2010. 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 Eighth Blackbird and Ensemble Signal. David has performed as a soloist in Europe, Asia, and the United States. David has also performed as a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Pacific Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
David is also a composer, and his works are performed regularly in concert halls and universities across the country.
David taught for four years on the percussion faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. His teachers were Michael Hernandez, Shawn Schietroma, Michael Burritt, James Ross, and Robert Van Sice.
Robert Dillon is an Ensemble Member and Development Director of Third Coast Percussion
Robert Dillon is an Ensemble Member and Development Director of Third Coast Percussion. He has also performed as a substitute with the Chicago, Boston, and San Diego Symphony Orchestras, and served as principal percussionist in the Madison Symphony Orchestra from 2007-2008. A passionate educator, he previously served as chair of percussion studies at Merit School of Music and a percussion instructor at Loyola University Chicago.
Robert has appeared numerous times on the Chicago Symphony’s contemporary music series, MusicNow, as well as the University of Chicago’s Contempo series, and was a member of the unique, international 12-percussionist Ensemble XII, which grew out of Pierre Boulez’s Lucerne Festival Academy (Switzerland). Robert was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and participated in programs at the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, National Repertory Orchestra, and Pacific Music Festival (Sapporo, Japan).
In addition to Third Coast recordings, Robert can be heard as a soloist on Innova Records (Christopher Adler—Ecstatic Volutions in a Neon Haze), and a performer on Naxos Records (American Music for Percussion, Volume 1) and Parlour Tapes+ (Katherine Young – Diligence is to Magic as Progress is to Flight). He has performed as a soloist in America, Switzerland, and Jordan.
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.
Peter Martin is an Ensemble Member and Finance Director of Third Coast Percussion.
Peter Martin is an Ensemble Member and Finance Director of Third Coast Percussion.
As a chamber musician, Peter has performed with many leading new music ensembles including the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Eighth Blackbird, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble, Opera Moda, Tomorrow Music Orchestra, and Ensemble Signal. In addition to his work with Third Coast Percussion, Peter is a member of the award-winning contemporary music group Ensemble Dal Niente. His recorded work can be heard on the New Focus, New Amsterdam, Mode, Ears & Eyes, Harmonia Mundi, and Narooma labels.
As an educator, Peter was an Assistant Professor and Director of Percussion Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA from 2009-2013. He held previous teaching positions at Northwestern University and Trinity International University.
Peter holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music Degrees degrees from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and a Bachelor of Music Degree from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While a student, Peter was awarded first prize at the Percussive Arts Society International Solo Marimba Competition. His teachers include Michael Burritt, She-e Wu, Leigh Howard Stevens.
Sean Connors is an ensemble member, technical director, and the education director of Third Coast Percussion
Sean Connors is an Ensemble Member and Technical Director of Third Coast Percussion. He has performed with Amphion Percussion, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, eighth blackbird, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Signal, and Metropolis Ensemble, and he was the percussionist for 2 summers with the prestigious Aspen Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble.
As an educator, Sean served for 2 years as assistant professor of percussion at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, and taught elementary school and middle school music in the Chicago suburbs.
Sean holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.
MORE ABOUT
THE ENSEMBLE
Third Coast Percussion (TCP) is a GRAMMY® Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet and GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective that made history as the first percussion ensemble to win the revered music award in the classical genre. To date they have gathered seven total nominations. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, TCP is renowned worldwide for its exciting and unexpected performances that constantly redefine the classical music experience and “push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR), with a brilliantly varied sonic palette and “dazzling rhythmic workouts” (Pitchfork).
The ensemble has been praised for the “rare power” (Washington Post) of its more than 30 recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). Third Coast Percussion maintains a busy tour schedule, with past performances in 41 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus international tour dates across four continents and 13 countries, amassing more than 300,000 audience members over two decades.
During its momentous 20th anniversary season in 2024-2025, the ensemble embarks on the most ambitious collaborative projects in its history with leading musicians, choreographers, and composers from around the world. The season includes national tours with tabla player Zakir Hussain, including a newly commissioned work and a performance at Carnegie Hall, and with Twyla Tharp Dance in a newly created piece by the famed choreographer set to Philip Glass’s iconic score Aguas da Amazonia. Other highlights include TCP performances of Pulitzer Prize-finalist and GRAMMY®-nominated works in their Metamorphosis program, choreographed by Lil Buck and Jon Boogz; and a national tour with composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery featuring a brand new work for percussion quartet commissioned by TCP paired with Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra, with Montgomery performing the violin solo. In addition, TCP has commissioned new works this season from composers Tigran Hamasyan and Jlin.
A direct connection with the audience is at the core of all of Third Coast Percussion’s work, whether the musicians are speaking from the stage about a new piece of music, inviting the audience to play along in a concert or educational performance, or uniting fans around the world via one of their free mobile apps. The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, and make active participation by all students the cornerstone of all their educational offerings, including thoughtfully curated K-12 workshops and family programming.
The quartet’s curiosity and eclectic taste have led to a series of unlikely collaborations that have produced exciting new art. Their omnivorous musical appetite, paired with approachable and flexible working methods, remove collaborative boundaries across cultures and disciplines. The ensemble has worked with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, dancers at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and musicians from traditions ranging from the mbira music of Zimbabwe’s Shona people, to indie rockers and footwork producers, to some of the world’s leading concert musicians. Third Coast Percussion served as ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center from 2013-2018, and currently serves as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.
A commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012 led to the realization that commissioning new musical works can be – and should be – as collaborative as any other artistic partnership. Through extensive workshopping and close contact with composers, Third Coast Percussion has commissioned and premiered 119 new works by Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli, Ivan Trevino, Tyondai Braxton, and leading early career composers through their annual Currents Creative Partnership. TCP’s commissioned works have become part of the ensemble’s core repertoire and seen hundreds of performances around the world. In 2023, Jlin’s Perspective, commissioned by TCP, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Third Coast Percussion’s recordings include 21 feature albums and appearances on 14 additional collaborative releases. Besides putting its stamp on iconic percussion works by John Cage and Steve Reich, the quartet has created first recordings of commissioned works by Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli, and more – in addition to recordings of original Third Coast compositions. In 2017, the ensemble won the GRAMMY® Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for their recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion. TCP has received five additional GRAMMY® nominations as performers, and in 2021 they received their first GRAMMY® nomination as composers. In their latest GRAMMY® nomination, TCP’s 2023 album Between Breaths was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in the 2024 GRAMMY® Awards. In just the last 10 years, TCP has amassed over 5 million listeners and more than 10 million streams on Spotify.
Third Coast Percussion has always maintained strong ties to the vibrant artistic community in their hometown of Chicago. They have collaborated with Chicago institutions including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Uniting Voices Chicago choir, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Adler Planetarium. TCP performed at the grand opening of Maggie Daley Children’s Park; conducted residencies at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; created multi-year collaborative projects with Chicago-based composers Jessie Montgomery, Clarice and Sérgio Assad, Augusta Read Thomas, Glenn Kotche and chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird; and taught tens-of-thousands of students through partnerships with Uniting Voices Chicago, The People’s Music School, the Chicago Park District, Rush Hour Concerts, Urban Gateways, Changing Worlds and others.
The four members of Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) met while studying percussion music at Northwestern University with Michael Burritt and James Ross, and formed the ensemble in 2005. Settling in Chicago, the four friends have carefully and thoughtfully built a thriving nonprofit organization – including full-time staff, office/studio space, and a board of directors – to support their vision and facilitate their efforts to bring new works to life. 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.
Stay up-to-date and go behind-the-scenes by following Third Coast on Instagram (@ThirdCoastPercussion), YouTube (@thirdcoastpercussion), TikTok (@thirdcoastpercussion), X (@ThirdCoastPerc), Facebook (@Third Coast Percussion) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/third-coast-percussion).
*Third Coast Percussion is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
Click this link to access TCP’s most current biography in various lengths.
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Saturday, January
11
Northwestern University
50 Arts Circle DriveEvanston, IL United States
Northwestern University
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Thursday, January
16
Messiah University
Mechanicsburg, PASaturday, January
18