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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.
TCP to visit Cleveland Museum of Art with original score to Paddle to the Sea
February 9, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
February 6, 2018 by Jarrett Hoffman Ensemble member Rob Dillon was recently interviewed by Cleveland Classical leading up to Third Coast's performance on February 11 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, one of the co-commissioners of our latest collaborative work, Paddle to the Sea. Read the interview below to learn more about TCP's collaborative composition process, how that manifested in Paddle to the Sea, and the personal and artistic significance this project holds for TCP. A Native Canadian boy in the Nipigon country of Ontario dreams of a journey he knows he can’t make. But a figure carved out of cedar, with a strip of lead to keep it upright in the water, and a message inscribed on the bottom to please return it to the water? That might just make it all the way through the Great Lakes, down Niagara Falls, past Quebec City, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and beyond — despite…
Album Review: Paddle to the Sea
February 8, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
February 6, 2018 by Richard Allen First came Holling C. Holling’s beloved 1941 children’s book, in which a young boy carved a Native American figure and set him on a journey to the sea, from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. 25 years later, a half-hour film was released; and now, 42 years after that, Third Coast Percussion reimagines the score. This is one of the highest-profile releases we’ve ever reviewed, as Third Coast Percussion has been positively reviewed by The New York Times and won a Grammy Award a year ago with a recording of music by Steve Reich. But make no mistake: this music may be accessible, but it’s far from the mainstream (pun intended). It’s as playful as a children’s book, but as mature as a mallet orchestra can be. If one appreciates instruments such as desk bells, wood blocks, marimba and mbira, then one will love this album, regardless of its backstory.…
“Madeira River” on NPR’s “Songs We Love”
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 2, 2018 by Brad Turner At first, there's just a drip: a gentle pulse from a marimba. Then a bewitching melody played on a set of tuned cowbells enters and the music comes into focus. The four musicians in the Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion let the piece unfold deliberately. They play as if they're a single, eight-armed organism. "Madeira River," named for an Amazon River tributary, is vintage Philip Glass — up to a point. The melody floats on a bed of relentless eighth notes. The rumble of an organ recalls the teeth-rattling opening to Glass' Koyaanisqatsi film score. But Third Coast Percussion's arrangement teems with odd overtones from metal pipes and Thai gongs. They lend the music a sense of frailty rarely heard in recordings of Glass' work. A sense of understatement gives this interpretation much of its potency. It's one of four short Aguas da Amazonia pieces by Glass the group arranged for the upcoming…
Album Review: Augusta Read Thomas’s Ritual Incantations
January 30, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
January 29, 2018 Stuart Sillitoe This release marks the seventh collection of music by Thomas from the Nimbus stable, though I must admit to it being the first I have heard; I first became aware of Augusta Read Thomas’ music through a disc of American music performed by the Ying Quartet (QTZ2005) which featured her piece Eagle at Sunrise, since when I have downloaded some selected works, but this is my first disc dedicated to her music, and the breadth of output here shows what I have been missing. ... The most recent work on the disc is Qì, composed in July 2017; it is written for four percussionists playing two marimbas. The booklet notes state that here Thomas is in “fun-and games mode” and the piece is certainly enjoyable and vibrant. Third Coast Percussion also seems to be enjoying the piece as they give a performance full of life and zest. ...…
Sound Spells: Augusta Read Thomas’s Ritual Incantations
January 26, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
We are always honored to collaborate with one of the most renowned composers of our time, our dear friend Augusta Read Thomas. Just before our premiere of her concerto Sonorous Earth last November, Augusta released her seventh album with Nimbus Records entitled Ritual Incantations, and we were thrilled to be included with our performance of Qí, her most recent percussion quartet for us. The album was just profiled in La Tempestad, a prominent Mexican magazine that covers contemporary visual arts, literature, performative arts, film, architecture, and design. Thank you, Gusty, for your work with us and for your amazing contributions to today's music! January 25, 2018 by Jeremy Glazier trans. Guillermo García Pérez Ten years ago Augusta Read Thomas’s Astral Canticle, a double concerto for flute and violin, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Over the decade that followed, her stature as a major American composer has only increased: she was appointed University Professor, a prestigious position,…
Ensemble Member Rob Dillon in conversation with Classical IPR
January 25, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
January 24, 2018 by Amanda Sewell Ensemble member Rob Dillon recently traveled to Interlochen, Michigan, to work with the percussion ensemble of the Interlochen Academy of the Arts, a fine arts boarding high school that trains young artists in music, theatre, visual arts, film, creative writing and dance. Between rehearsal sessions with these talented young people, he visited Interlochen Public Radio and chatted with Classical IPR's Amanda Sewell about some pieces of music that deeply influenced his own life and career. He also explained how a percussionist creates the sound of a lion roaring as well as which member of Third Coast Percussion got to keep the Grammy statuette. Click here to hear the entire conversation, complete with music! Both the Arts Academy Percussion Ensemble and Third Coast Percussion will perform in April as part of Interlochen Center for the Arts' Steve Reich Festival. Click here for more information about Third…
Sean Connors “Takes 5” with Cedille Records
, by Third Coast Percussion
January 10, 2018 by Dan Hickey Our first release of 2018 comes from "one of the country's finest new music ensembles" (Chicago Reader), Grammy-winning Third Coast Percussion! Paddle to the Sea, the group's second album on Cedille Records, is out February 9 and transports listeners into a realm of imaginative sounds and world-premiere recordings evoking the aquatic world. It's an eclectic collection of works including a new group composition from TCP titled Paddle to the Sea (conceived as a live soundtrack to the charming, Oscar-nominated 1966 film of the same name), Jacob Druckman’s Reflections on the Nature of Water, new arrangements of selections from 12 Pieces for Ballet by Philip Glass, and Chigwaya, a traditional Shona call to water spirits arranged by Zimbabwean composer Musekiwa Chingdoza. We interviewed ensemble member Sean Connors for our first Take 5! of the year. Enjoy! If you weren’t a musician, what would you be? Definitely a teacher. All four of us in TCP are passionate educators, and…
Third Coast Percussion Contributes to UChicago Presents: Gyorgy Ligeti Series
, by Third Coast Percussion
January 22, 2018 by Andrew Bauld Over the next several months, University of Chicago Presents will celebrate the life and works of celebrated 20th-century classical composer, György Ligeti, through a series of musical events and lectures. Amy Iwano, executive director of University of Chicago Presents, has long hoped to organize a performance around Ligeti, who is considered one of the most influential avant-garde composers of the last century. Her intent was to create a celebration both of his music and scholarship. “We are very lucky in Chicago to have fantastic artists and ensembles who create really interesting programming, and in these concerts, we see Ligeti’s legacy—his impact on a younger generation of artists and how his music is evolving in their hands,” Iwano said. Iwano worked closely with Music Department musicologists Seth Brodsky and Jennifer Iverson and composers Anthony Cheung and Sam Pluta, along with musical groups Third Coast Percussion…
Third Coast Percussion’s Kaleidoscopic Album The Book of Keyboards
January 19, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
January 18, 2018 by Stephanie Ann Boyd The CD case of Third Coast Percussion’s new album on New Focus Recordings of music by Philippe Manoury, The Book of Keyboards, is just as intricate and fascinating as the music itself inside. The thick paper cover opens up like a puzzle, with different fonts and graphic designs revealed with each unfolded layer. This is the work of Sonnenzimmer, a Chicago based art studio run by Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi, and is the first clue as to the care and attention Third Coast Percussion has taken in all aspects of this aural “book.” Both the six movement Le Livre des Claviers (The Book of Keyboards) and the final piece on the CD, Métal, take the listener on a journey into a world that is alternatingly chaotic—filled with kinesthetic energy and bursting with a kaleidoscope of metallic color—and meditative; melodically brooding around compositional concepts. Third Coast Percussion’s abilities as…
Rehearsal Magazine “In Conversation” with David Skidmore
March 6, 2018, by Third Coast Percussion
Rehearsal Magazine's Madi Chwasta caught up with ensemble member and Executive Director David Skidmore to talk collaborations, commissioning, and creating iPhone apps. Read part of this insightful interview below, or click here for the full piece. In a short period of time, Third Coast Percussion established themselves as one of the world’s leading percussion ensembles. What inspired the creation of the group and could you have predicted the ensemble's success from the beginning? We studied this music in school with an amazing teacher, Michael Burritt, who is now a professor of percussion at the Eastman School of Music. We loved the music so much that we decided to try to make a living doing it. I don't think we really knew when we got started exactly what it takes to build something like this from the ground up, so I definitely don't think we could have ever predicted where we would be…
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