We are happy to announce the concert of percussionist quartet Third Coast Percussion which will perform for the first time in Montenegro. The concert will take place at the Cultural Center of Podgorica – KIC “Budo Tomović” – on September 26, 2025. at 8 p.m. This is also their first appearance in the Balkan region.
Chicago-based quartet Third Coast Percussion consisting of Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and David Skidmore is the first percussion ensemble to win a GRAMMY® Award in the classical genre. Also nominated for a GRAMMY® as a composer collective, TCP recasts the classical musical experience with a brilliantly varied sonic palette, crafting music to “push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR). The ensemble celebrates this year its 20th anniversary, having blossomed from percussion students who met in 2005 at Northwestern University into an internationally-renowned performing arts organization. TCP’s 2023 album Between Breaths was nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in the 2024 GRAMMY® Awards.
During its 20th anniversary season in 2024-2025, the ensemble embarks on ambitious collaborative projects including national tours with tabla player Salar Nader performing a newly commissioned work by the late Zakir Hussain (Nader’s mentor), composer/violinist Jessie Montgomery, and Twyla Tharp Dance. Other highlights include performances of TCP’s acclaimed Metamorphosis program. TCP has also commissioned new works from composers Tigran Hamasyan and Jlin.
In Podgorica they will perform music of American composers Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Danny Clay, Clarice Assad, Jlin, Jessie Montgomery, as well as Armenian composer and pianist Tigran Hamasyan and David Mastikosa from Bosnia and Hercegovina, whose work Ancient Whisperer will be world premiered.
The day before, on September 25, at the KIC “Budo Tomović” venue at 1 p.m. TCP will present educational workshop for young audience Think Outside the Drum. During one hour, students will learn about the extraordinary range of percussion instruments that can be found in cultures around the world, as well as in their own kitchen cabinets, ways to play, learn and develop ear by melody, rhythm and timbre.
TCP has toured widely across the U.S. and four continents, exuding “rare power” (The Washington Post) and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). The ensemble’s recordings include 19 feature albums and appearances on 14 additional releases, including its GRAMMY®-winning recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion. It has commissioned and premiered new works from such artists as Augusta Read Thomas, Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, and Jlin – whose TCP commission Perspective was a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
TCP has also produced collaborative art alongside engineers, architects, and musicians of all genres, and connected with audiences through talks, play-alongs, educational programs, and mobile apps. They collaborate with numerous Chicago-based civic and cultural institutions, teach thousands of students through educational partnerships, and maintain multi-year collaborations with Chicago-based composers. The quartet also serves as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.
More about TCP on https://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com/