Third Coast Percussion takes the stage at 4:15 p.m. today in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall, bringing with it a “massive tour de force of virtuosic percussion music,” as ensemble member and technical director Sean Connors described it.
Founded in 2005 among a group of students and friends at Northwestern University, the ensemble is based on mutual respect; the formation was an easy decision, Connors said, since “I’d prefer to play with them as opposed to anyone else.” Since forming, Third Coast has won the 2017 Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, and they’ve received five additional Grammy nominations as performers. In 2021, they got their first nod as composers.
This afternoon, Third Coast will be performing the third movement from Machado Mijiga’s Situations Suite, titled “Mastery”; the world premiere of Tigran Hamasyan’s Sonata for Percussion; Gemma Peacocke’s “Death Wish”; and Michael Burritt’s “Since Time Began.”
Connors is most looking forward to the world premiere of pianist Hamasyan’s Sonata for Percussion, which has three movements. Hamasyan has such a unique voice, Connors said, especially with how he organizes his music in complex rhythmic combinations. One of the movements has a 23/8 time signature — the more typical signature being 4/4.
“We’re in love with the piece, and we’re working furiously on it to be able to give a dynamite premiere at Chautauqua,” Connors said.
Burritt’s “Since Time Began” is just as special — the composer is a longtime faculty member at Chautauqua’s School of Music, and a mentor at Northwestern to the musicians of Third Coast.
“We’re really thrilled to have him in attendance and play his music at his summer home,” Connors said.
“Since Time Began” was composed for Third Coast Percussion in celebration of the 400th anniversary of one of the music world’s oldest and most iconic brands, Zildjian. The piece has four movements: “Alchemy,” “Campana,” “Homage” and “Revolutions.”
“The whole (program) is an emotional rollercoaster,” Connors said. The first short opening piece by Mijiga is flashy, exciting and full of energy with an extraverted flair, Connors said; “it’s a cool introduction into what percussion can do.”
Peacocke’s “Death Wish” is “more of a dark character, but it’s hopeful,” Connors said. Peacocke was inspired to write the piece after watching a video of sexual assault survivors, who described experiencing a downward emotional spiral resulting from their assault.
As the four performing members of Third Coast identify as white, cisgender men, Connors said, they prioritize a diverse repertoire of viewpoints other than their own — 50% non-male and 40% African, Latinx, Arab, Asian or Native American — in their programming.
“As classical musicians, we’re constantly wearing different hats, and we’re allowed to channel someone else who might have a very different lived experience than us; we just feel incredibly lucky to be able to do that,” Connors said. “A U.S.-based group proudly situated in Chicago, we want to do the best we can to represent all the people that live here and all the creative voices that we possibly could have access to.”
Third Coast publishes records of their programs over the years, so listeners can track the ensemble’s commitment in terms of programming, recordings and commissions.
“Check your blind spots, because if you don’t measure it, you won’t actually know for sure,” Connors said. “It’s easy to make an assumption, and sometimes it’s wrong — unless you actually do the work and crunch the numbers.”
The ensemble’s five main artistic pillars are performance, commission, collaboration, recordings and education; one of the first things Third Coast embarked upon almost 20 years ago was a series of educational shows around Chicago for students of all ages, Connors said. Now, their flagship education and engagement show, Think Outside the Drum, is performed for elementary-aged students and young families.
“Music education offers a way for individuals in the community to be creative, have an artistic voice and interact with something that is innately human,” Connors said. “It scratches that itch in all of us; musical communication and intelligence has been identified as its own unique aspect by psychologists and other educators — it’s a vital part of life.”
