Third Coast Percussion has exerted considerable influence over the presentation of modern percussion repertoire across the United States. The ensemble has solicited new scores from prominent composers both at home and abroad while forming partnerships with an extensive array of fellow performers.
Anthony Calabrese, Robert Dillon, Jacob Nissly, and David Skidmore—all participants in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and enrolled at Northwestern University—first appeared together at schools and colleges throughout the Chicago region in 2004. Without a formal title at the outset, the musicians later selected the name Third Coast Percussion once bookings extended past academic settings, reflecting the informal local reference to Chicago’s cultural milieu. Peter Martin succeeded Nissly in 2005; Calabrese was then replaced by Owen Clayton Condon, who subsequently departed and was followed by Sean Connors, leaving the remaining personnel unchanged.
Initial engagements occurred in bars and comparable intimate spaces until a 2006 appearance at Chicago’s Neo-Futurarium experimental theater drew the notice of marketing specialist Ethelbert Williams, who has continued to serve on the group’s board of directors. The encounter produced a steadier performance calendar and a sustained residency at Notre Dame University that began in 2013. As of 2021 the ensemble maintained an analogous affiliation with Denison University in Ohio.
Collaborations have encompassed dance and music organizations such as Chicago’s Hubbard Street Dance, the contemporary music sextet Eighth Blackbird, and the Garth Newel Piano Quartet, together with numerous individual artists. Commissions have been awarded to distinguished figures including Augusta Read Thomas, Christopher Cerrone, and Donnacha Dennehy.
Roughly a dozen recordings issued on the New Focus, Cedille Records, New Amsterdam Recordings, and Mode labels constitute the ensemble’s chief public profile. The 2016 album Third Coast Percussion and Steve Reich received a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. In 2021 the group united with guitarists Clarice Assad and Sergio Assad on the Cedille release Archetypes.
