In between the East Coast and West Coast lies the Third Coast - the Great Lakes - where a band of percussionists marches to the beat of lots of different drums. From the shores of Lake Michigan comes Third Coast Percussion, a quartet of Northwestern University alums, teachers and percussionists on a mission to 'inspire and educate through the creation of exciting and unexpected musical experiences.” That involves using lots of bells and whistles, from drums traditionally found in bands and symphonies to conch shells and other traditional instruments used in cultures around the world. The Grammy-winning group has whipped up a Valentine's treat for all ages with a pair of Hancher online events this weekend. First up is 'Think Outside the Drum,” an interactive concert prerecorded in the ensemble's Chicago studio, followed by a live Q&A with the musicians on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday's afternoon, they're hosting Hancher's Youth & Family…

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The Cedille Records' release of Fields in 2019 was a watershed moment that melded Grammy winner Third Coast Percussion with R&B/Alternative artist Devonté Hynes (aka "Blood Orange") in a blend of classical and minimalist music. Hynes' composition, recorded in collaboration with the members of Third Coast Percussion, resulted in a recording that has been called "a collage of metric perfection." The album was nominated for a 2020 Grammy in two categories: Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble and Best Classical Engineered Recording. Stay Thirsty Magazine has written about the genius of Third Coast Percussion in the past and this collaboration with the multi-talented Hynes, known for his work as an instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist, produces lush, powerful, and intricate structures that embody its breakthrough concepts. We enthusiastically draw your attention to this unique combination of genres that has a fascinating magnetism. Third Coast Percussion was previously nominated for two Grammy's and won one (2016).…

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When R&B visionary Blood Orange announced a classical album, what would result was anybody’s guess. Devonté Hynes traces his musical interest back to composers like Claude Debussy, so in many ways these compositions are a full circle moment for him. He wrote and conceptualized Fields on a digital interface, and left the rest to the Grammy-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion. The players’ interpretation and performance of Hynes’ material is breathtaking enough, but the songwriter’s personality and attention to aesthetic shines through on Fields to an engrossing effect. The first 11 tracks are united under the banner of “For All Its Fury.” Just by listening to the first two tracks, it’s hard to think of any fury disturbing this calm. “Reach” and “Blur” deliver their respective soundscapes of angelic chimes and submerged marimbas. The album’s impressionistic minimalism links back to the immersive ambience of Blood Orange’s 2018 album, Black Swan. His knack for quiet grandiosity was surely evident on the digital files…

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Metamorphosis, Saturday’s electric online performance by Third Coast Percussion and movement artists Myles Yachts and Quentin Robinson at the La Jolla Music Society’s Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, opened an exciting new chapter in that august organization’s story. The four virtuoso percussionists who comprise Third Coast Percussion—Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore,—offered a bracing program of music by Philip Glass and others that transcended the minimal of musical minimalism to conjure complex, densely textured waves of music. In works such as Glass’s “Metamorphosis” and Jlin's “Paradigm” that employed marimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel, the ringing intensity of these malleted instruments proved nothing short of orchestral in scope. In “Dissonance” from Jlin’s Perspective, the percussion quartet created equally complex textures using only drums of various sizes, creating a contrasting tapestry of dry, discrete sounds that displayed a spectrum of bright, arresting attacks without the halo of resonance the malleted instruments created.…

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On October 16, 2020, the Chicago-based performing group Third Coast Percussion presented an evening of music as part of Bowling Green State University’s 41st annual New Music Festival. While most of the festival was live-streamed via BGSU’s YouTube channel, Third Coast Percussion commandeered the live-stream on their own YouTube channel for the special concert, which included a world premiere by the Festival’s guest composer, Augusta Read Thomas. While watching live music is sorely missed, the virtual nature of this concert allowed for a bonus: each piece was flanked by pre-recorded talks by composers on the program or the musicians themselves. Movement 3 from Philip Glass’ Perpetulum served as a short and polite fanfare to open the concert. Commissioned by Third Coast Percussion in 2018, the piece was clearly familiar to the musicians, who played the largely diatonic and major music on pitched percussion instruments with an almost casual ease, despite the shifting meter. The next piece…

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