Third Coast Percussion embarks on an artistic journey, paying homage to legends and collaborating with remarkable talent. Encompassing a heartfelt tribute to tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, a groundbreaking fusion of percussion and dance with Movement Art Is, and an innovative blend of jazz and folk with Tigran Hamasyan, these events showcase the ensemble's dynamic range. The performances are set across prestigious venues, offering audiences a chance to experience the innovative spirit and cultural diversity that define Third Coast Percussion's creative endeavors.

Third Coast Percussion's Multifaceted Musical Odyssey: Honoring Legends and Innovating Art

Conductor Laureate Carlos Kalmar returns for Sibelius’s majestic Symphony No. 2, an emblem of Finnish nationalism written at a time of cultural and linguistic suppression. Christopher Theofanidis’s Drum Circle makes its Chicago premiere, featuring the virtuosic musicians of Third Coast Percussion.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Millennium Park

Named “the hottest pianist in jazz” by The Guardian, Tigran Hamasyan’s jazz mastery—steeped in the folk rhythms of his Armenian heritage—meets the “creative fearlessness” and “reverent precision” (BBC Music Magazine) of GRAMMY-winning Chicago ensemble, Third Coast Percussion. Known for their kinetic precision and daring collaborations, Third Coast brings a percussive fire to Hamasyan’s blend of jazz improvisation and folk-inspired melodies. Together, they craft a bold, rhythm-fueled experience that pushes sound and musical form to their limits.

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Tigran Hamasyan & Third Coast Percussion

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion and dancer-choreographers Lil Buck and Jon Boogz (together known as Movement Art Is) began this project remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown, a time that gave a special resonance to ideas of shared human experience. The result is a groundbreaking collaboration that weaves contemporary percussion music with distinct and powerful dance styles.

Third Coast Percussion

Harvard University

In a poignant tribute to the late tabla master and longtime Cal Performances friend Zakir Hussain, Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion continues a collaboration initiated with the music legend before his passing.

Third Coast Percussion & Salar Nader, tabla

Cal Performances

Grammy-winning percussion quartet Third Coast Percussion opens the evening with vibrant works by electronic composer Jlin, violinist Jessie Montgomery, and jazz composer Tigran Hamasyan. Praised by The New York Times for their “commandingly elegant” performances, the ensemble brings precision and imagination to every piece. Tabla virtuoso Salar Nader follows with a solo set and a moving video tribute to his mentor, the legendary Zakir Hussain—a longtime Washington Performing Arts artistic collaborator who recently passed away. The program culminates in Murmurs in Time, the regional premiere of Hussain’s only work composed for classical percussion ensemble, co-commissioned by Washington Performing Arts and recorded with Third Coast Percussion in 2024. The piece features Nader and Third Coast in a stirring collaboration that celebrates rhythmic innovation and deep artistic legacy. The New York Times described the work as “a brilliant and moving performance (in) tribute to Hussain and the humanistic values at the heart of his art.”

Third Coast Percussion, percussion quartet

The George Washington University

Tasting Notes concerts offer a relaxed concert format with a curated tasting of wine and cheese. The first Tasting Notes concert features Third Coast Percussion in a concert entitled, “Time Pieces: The New Classical.”

Tasting Notes at Wasserman Projects

Wasserman Projects

The Catherine Filene Shouse Chamber Music Institute, led by Philip Setzer, provides a platform for emerging professional ensembles. Artistic Encounters are public coachings for Shouse Institute fellows in a setting similar to a masterclass. You are invited to attend these Artistic Encounters to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a professional musician.

Artistic Encounter: Jennifer Frautschi with Third Coast Percussion

Bloomfield Township Public Library

Feel the rhythm of the Hudson River at Albany’s Historic Lock 1 – Jennings Landing with Chicago’s GRAMMY-award winning Third Coast Percussion quartet. Their mission is to inspire and educate through the creation of exciting and unexpected musical experiences. 

Third Coast Percussion Performance

Jennings Landing

The Grammy Award–winning Third Coast Percussion performs an entire concert of New York premieres by four singular composers. Featured among them is a work by tabla master and global icon Zakir Hussain, who performs alongside the group in a must-hear moment for percussion fans. The program also features new music by Jlin, a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist for her previous collaboration with Third Coast Percussion (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall); Armenian jazz pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan; and New York City’s own Jessie Montgomery, whose music is acclaimed as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post).

Carnegie Hall

Twyla Tharp celebrates her 60th anniversary with a Coast-to-Coast tour featuring her Olivier-nominated Diabelli Variations, set to Beethoven’s masterpiece of the same name. The first and only choreographer to take on the intensely demanding and demonically complex work, Tharp makes visible the elegant humor and depth of the composer’s layered genius.

Twyla Tharp Dance: Diamond Jubilee

Detroit Opera House

Dvořák’s gift to America in 1893 was nothing less than a symphonic sound we could call our own. Guest Conductor David Danzmayr makes his GTMF debut with the highly influential “New World” Symphony and a performance of co-commissioned work for Third Coast Percussion by Clarice Assad called “Play!” that is about “finding awe in the little things.”

Festival Orchestra: New World Symphony

Walk Festival Hall

Third Coast Percussion’s Think Outside the Drum program is a fun, interactive and educational presentation for all ages. Families will learn about the building blocks of music through active participation in a series of activities including clapping, singing and a listening game.

FamilyJam with Third Coast Percussion: Think Outside the Drum

Revel in the music of myth, magic, and marvel! Grammy-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion and Music Director Ken-David Masur take the stage for Tōru Takemitsu’s visually captivating From Me Flows What You Call Time, which calls for unusual bells suspended from the ceiling and played using long, colorful ribbons. Debussy’s Nocturnes evoke the hazy motions of clouds, the dancing rhythms of festivals, and the mysterious songs of the Sirens through a trio of tone poems. Bookending this captivating concert is music by Dukas, opening with the brass choir fanfare from his ballet about a mischievous mythological spirit, and ending with his enchanting and familiar frolic The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Takemitsu & The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Warner Grand Theater

Composer/performer Jessie Montgomery is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence and was recently named Musical America‘s 2023 Composer of the Year. TCP is thrilled to collaborate with Jessie in a dynamic program that equally showcases her excellence as visionary creator and virtuosic performer. Her first-ever work for percussion quartet draws a universe of sounds and characters out of a very compact percussion setup, and is paired with Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra–a tour de force that draws inspiration from the vibrant sounds of Javanese gamelan.

Jessie Montgomery + Third Coast Percussion at DePaul University

DePaul University Welcome Center

Grammy-winning quartet Third Coast Percussion brings their eclectic and genre-redefining musicality to The Nimoy. With a repertoire that includes commissioned and collaborative works by all-star composers such as Danny Elfman, Philip Glass and Jlin, among others across a wide variety of genres, Third Coast Percussion celebrates the extraordinary depth and breadth of possibilities in the world of percussion.

UCLA Nimoy Theater

FamilyJam builds on the success of KidsJam Workshops for Homeschool Families – interactive programs that connect kids and families with community teaching artists to learn about the people, cultures, and musical traditions from around the world as they make music, move, and enjoy other creative activities. FamilyJam will take KidsJam programs into the weekend, where kids and families will experience a short 25-30 minute concert in one of Landmark Center’s historic spaces, followed by instrument demos and other hands-on experiences with the musicians in the  Schubert Club Music Museum. In keeping with Schubert Club’s goal of offering free tickets to children and students, FamilyJam will be FREE for all participants, however advance registration will be required through Schubert Club’s website.

FamilyJam: Third Coast Percussion

Landmark Center

Grammy-winning sensation Third Coast Percussion joins acclaimed composer Clarice Assad for the world premiere of her new percussion concerto, PLAY! Then, Mahler’s symphonic poem takes the audience on an extraordinary artistic journey.

Santa Rosa Symphony

Grammy-winning sensation, Third Coast Percussion, joins acclaimed composer Clarice Assad for the world premiere of her new percussion concerto, PLAY! Mahler’s Titan, a monumental symphony that is both enlightening and cathartic. It is a deeply personal work that takes you on a journey filled with the full range of human emotions and lush and complex textures. A work of symphonic virtuosity!

Mahler's Titan

Green Music Center

Grammy Award winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion 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 members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers and currently serve as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.

Shalin Liu Performance Center

Third Coast Percussion joins forces with the groundbreaking choreography of Movement Art Is (Lil Buck and Jon Boogz), for an intimate, evening-length program that explores the duality of human nature. At once intensely personal and fiercely virtuosic, two disparate styles of street dance blend seamlessly with new music by Jlin and Tyondai Braxton, as well as Third Coast Percussion’s critically-acclaimed arrangements of Philip Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia.

Metamorphosis

Harris Theater

The award-winning percussion ensemble and the Pulitzer Prize finalist composer and electronic musician come together in a performance that explores the evolution of their decade-long partnership.

Jlin + Third Coast Percussion

Milton Court Concert Hall

Grammy Award-winning percussion ensemble Third Coast Percussion (TCP) and Pulitzer Prize-finalist composer/performer/electronic musician Jlin join forces in a program that explores the evolution of their decade-long partnership. In a collaboration that could only have originated in Chicago, this event delivers a fresh sound to the world’s concert halls as TCP’s contemporary classical training meets Jlin’s visceral, innovative electronic music practice.

Third Coast Percussion

Oct 31, 2026

Jlin + Third Coast Percussion

Apr 2, 2027

Jlin + Third Coast Percussion: Vernacular

Jul 8, 2026

Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Mar 13, 2026

Tigran Hamasyan & Third Coast Percussion

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