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From concert and album reviews to feature articles, Third Coast Percussion is in the news.
We are fortunate to have garnered critical acclaim and recognition for so many of our performances and projects. See for yourself what the buzz is all about by reading what the press has to say! Browse reviews, articles, and much more below.
An Array of Percussion
June 27, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
"...[an] acutely sensitive approach to sound..." June 25, 2018 by Pwyll ap Siôn Gone are the days when percussion players would spend their time counting empty bars at the back of the orchestra. The percussion section now plays an integral part in any symphony orchestra's sonic armoury. Yet the most exciting work continues to take place away from the conductor's podium through percussion groups and ensembles. These highly flexible and adaptable mini-multi-orchestras form a natural tributary for today's many stylistic cross-currents. Western, non-Western, classical, folk, jazz, avant-garde or pop -- such diverse influences converge and connect in these more flexible contexts, resulting in inventive cross-fertilisations and creative collaborations. Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion epitomise this new dynamic new breed. Following on from their award-winning disc of music by Steve Reich (Cedille, 6/16), Paddle to the Sea showcases the percussion quartet's talents as composers and performers. The central work is the group's evocative…
Philip Glass, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon on tap for 2018-19 Liquid Music Series
, by Third Coast Percussion
June 26, 2018 by Christy DeSmith Glass will write a piece for Chicago's Third Coast Percussion, while Gordon will perform a "very intimate" work at the American Swedish Institute. Known for bridging the worlds of indie rock, jazz and classical, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series has grown in breadth and ambition over six years. With its 2018-19 season, announced Tuesday, Liquid Music offers more cross-genre pollinating with added star power, a lot more dance and a personal best of six world premieres. The season’s biggest booking involves composer Philip Glass, celebrated for his minimalist operas, symphonies and film scores. Liquid Music partnered with a handful of arts groups and individuals to commission a new Glass piece for Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion. “It’s Philip’s first work for percussion ensemble,” noted Liquid Music curator Kate Nordstrum. Third Coast also will play fresh music by Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange,…
Eight hands make light work for Third Coast Percussion
May 9, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
May 9, 2018 by Peter Margasak "[Third Coast Percussion's] collaborative spirit has already made them one of the best percussion ensembles in the country—and their upcoming projects could make them the biggest." "Third Coast Percussion are outstanding players, and an incredibly tight unit." "...unendingly buoyant personality—rigorous but friendly, never dumbing anything down.” Many thanks to Peter Margasak of the Chicago Reader for this wonderful artist profile, concert preview, and in-depth look at many years of Third Coast's creative and collaborative works. Read an excerpt below, or click here to read the full feature. Last year Chicago quartet Third Coast Percussion won their first Grammy: Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, for a 2016 album of music by minimalist icon Steve Reich. Reich’s distinctively pulsing music has been part of Third Coast’s repertoire since the ensemble’s founding in 2005, and recently they’ve been invited to perform his work by prestigious institutions such as Columbia University…
Voyage Chicago: Interview with David Skidmore
May 15, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
May 15, 2018 by Roger Brown Roger Brown from Voyage Chicago recently sat down with David to talk about Third Coast's history and current work. Read the full interview below. Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours? After winning their first Grammy in 2017 for an album of music by iconic modern composer Steve Reich, Third Coast Percussion has expanded the scope of their classically-trained quartet to include original work by the ensemble. With the release of their latest album, Paddle to the Sea, Third Coast’s compositions feature prominently, along with the ensemble’s take on music by composers Philip Glass and Jacob Druckman. Traditional Shona music from Zimbabwe on the mbira (a hand-held thumb piano with an incredibly rich sound) rounds out the album. Please tell us about your art. Third Coast Percussion’s newest show (and album) Paddle to the Sea is a multimedia…
Concert Preview: Chicago Premiere of Paddle to the Sea on Sunday Evening
May 9, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
May 8, 2018 by Louis Harris Chicago’s Grammy Award winning Third Coast Percussion will be offering a water-themed program that includes the Chicago premiere of their new piece, Paddle to the Sea at Thalia Hall on May 13, 7:30 pm. The four members worked together to compose the piece to be a live soundtrack of the 1966 film of the same name, which was adapted from a children’s book. To perform the piece, the ensemble will be making noise from a large and interesting array of objects. These include traditional percussive instruments, such as drums, bells, synthesizer, and a marimba, as well as unusual objects, such ceramic floor tiles and a bowl filled with water and a submerged microphone. Other water themed works on the program include Jacob Druckman’s Reflections on the Nature of Water for solo marimba. Third Coast Percussion will also be performing its own arrangement of Philip Glass’s 12 Pieces for Ballet, which was…
Album review: Paddle to the Sea
May 2, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
May 1, 2018 "As usual, the performance is perfection personified." As a child growing up in Michigan, I remember reading Paddle to the Sea in fourth grade. It is a children’s book written in 1941 by Holling C. Holling, and it tells the story of a toy canoe and its passenger that travels through the Great Lakes. Third Coast Percussion has assembled a collection of water-inspired music composed by themselves and by Philip Glass (movements from Aguas de Amazonia) and Jacob Druckman (Reflections on the Nature of Water). A traditional song, “Chigwaya,” was arranged by Third Coast’s mentor, Musekiwa Chingodza. This album is my favorite of Third Coast’s so far. Paddle to the Sea was composed by Third Coast as a film score to be performed with the 1966 film adaptation of the book. The music uses ceramic tiles, pitched desk bells, marimba, and other instruments to create a nostalgic…
Radiant Pulses: Third Coast Percussion and beyond
April 26, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
April 20, 2018 During our visit to Vancouver, David sat down with Vancouver New Music's Giorgio Magnanensi to talk about the genesis of Augusta Read Thomas's Resounding Earth, collaborating with Augusta and with other composers, and more. Click here to listen to the interview and to a fantastic playlist of percussion music curated by VNM's Heather McDermid.
From ethereal to frenzied, Eugene Symphony and Third Coast Percussion deliver wonderful kaleidoscope of sound
April 25, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
April 22, 2018 by Terry McQuilkin “...stunningly virtuosic...” “...a kaleidoscope of orchestral tone color...” Concertgoers with sharp memories recall that the Eugene Symphony’s current subscription season opened in September with a short, colorful work by American composer Augusta Read Thomas. The composer returned to Eugene last week for a second residency that culminated Thursday with the West Coast premiere of a full-length work co-commissioned by the Eugene Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic. Thomas’ Sonorous Earth is a 32-minute concerto, not for one instrument, but for 300. Three hundred bells, that is, precisely arrayed on racks, tables and the floor, played by Third Coast Percussion, a stunningly virtuosic quartet based in the Chicago area. Employing Chinese gongs, Burma spinning bells and dozens more, Sonorous Earth, the composer’s website suggests, can be “imagined as a United-Nations-of-Resonances.” The soloists began each movement by introducing the musical motives and bell sounds central to that…
Third Coast Percussion wields mountains of metal for Vancouver New Music
, by Third Coast Percussion
April 18, 2018 by Alexander Varty Alexander Varty of Vancouver's The Georgia Straight interviewed our own Sean Connors before TCP's Vancouver debut earlier this month. Read the interview below to learn about our friendship and work with Augusta Read Thomas, where Resounding Earth got its start, and more! Press material for Third Coast Percussion’s Vancouver debut indicates that its performance of Augusta Read Thomas’s Resounding Earth will involve the use of 125 bells from around the globe, but that’s old news. According to band member and technical director Sean Connors, the Chicago-based quartet’s musical arsenal has grown since the work premiered in 2012, and it might yet grow some more. “There’s actually over 300 pieces of resonant metal on-stage,” Connors says in a telephone interview from Third Coast’s Windy City studio. “There’s gongs and cymbals and things that people would identify as instruments right away, but then there are also found objects—things that people…
Magia de la percusión | Percussion magic
April 18, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
04 de abril de 2018 por Jesús Vega La agrupación Third Coast Percussion, ganadora del premio Grammy por su interpretación de la música de Steve Reich, regresa victoriosa nuevamente con este registro de estreno mundial, inspirado en la banda sonora de Paddle to the Sea, cortometraje que nominado al Oscar en 1966, y que a su vez se basa en el libro infantil homónimo escrito e ilustrado por Holling C. Holling en 1941. El cuarteto interpreta la nueva versión con instrumentos tradicionales e inusuales, desde bloques de madera a sintetizador, marimba y mbira(instrumento idiófono africano para tocar con los dedos), entre otros. Completan la entrega otras obras con tema acuático que inspiraron el proyecto, creadas por Philip Glass y Jacob Druckman, y una canción típica Shona zimbabuense. Realmente mágico. The ensemble Third Coast Percussion, winner of the Grammy Award for their interpretation of the music of Steve Reich, returns victorious again with this world premiere…
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