ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
THIRD COAST PERCUSSION
presents Chicago premiere of the first percussion composition by
2024® GRAMMY Award winner and CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence,
JESSIE MONTGOMERY
a powerful collaboration between two Chicago GRAMMY® winners
Third Coast Percussion, photo by Saverio Truglia.
TCP with Jessie Montgomery, photo by Colin D Campbell.
Jessie Montgomery, photo by Jiyang Chen.
Third Coast Percussion (TCP), the Chicago-based GRAMMY® Award-winning quartet of classically trained percussionists, is a top favorite of ours here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows. Their live shows are truly a treat. If you're a fan of percussion, classical music, and/or breathtaking live shows, don't miss this!
TCP is back in Chicago this May with a new collaborative concert Jessie Montgomery + Third Coast Percussion with the acclaimed composer and violinist, featuring the Chicago premiere of the 2024 GRAMMY® winning composer’s first-ever work for percussion ensemble. The concert takes place at the Holtschneider Performance Center of DePaul University, 2330 N. Halsted St. on Friday May 3, 7:30 p.m. Tickets, priced at $50 premium (includes premium seating and post-show reception with artists), $25 general, and $10 student, are now on sale at thirdcoastpercussion.com.
Acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence and a 2024 GRAMMY® Award winner for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Rounds for solo piano and string orchestra). TCP is thrilled to collaborate with Montgomery in a dynamic program that equally showcases her excellence as visionary creator and virtuosic performer. Study No. 1, her first-ever work for percussion ensemble, draws a vast universe of sounds out of a compact set of instruments. In addition to composing, Montgomery joins the ensemble and percussionist She-e Wu on stage to perform Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra–a tour de force that draws inspiration from the vibrant sounds of Javanese gamelan. The program also features captivating works by Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan, contemporary icon Philip Glass, and flute + electronics duo Flutronix.
David Skidmore, TCP ensemble member and executive director, shares the genesis of the collaboration, what it means for the ensemble, and unique aspects of the performance: “Jessie Montgomery is one of the most exciting and in-demand composers working today, and when she moved to Chicago we immediately wanted to try to cook something up with her. Fortunately for us, she was just beginning a series of percussion-focused compositions so the timing worked out. Her Study No. 1 is entrancing and focused, contrasting between bright and dark, while the ensemble experiments with unique setups such as pitch bending tom-toms, resonant metals, and bowls of water. Also on the program, Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion is majestic and mysterious with grandiose, visually compelling drums and gongs, complemented by intense virtuosic violin playing. That we get to share the stage with Jessie for the Concerto feels like a once-in-a-lifetime bonus.”
Jessie Montgomery shares the concept for her first composition for percussion ensembles: “Study No. 1 for percussion quartet explores a wide range of timbres within a somewhat confined instrumentation. Each player’s setup has at most four individual instruments using various implements to create a spectrum of sound from rounded and chorale-like to metallic, bright, and playful. There are three main sections, the heart of which is inspired by marching band cadences, bookended by sections that are inspired by the West African ‘talking drum’ in which various types of pitch bending and speech-like rhythmic patterns are explored. Aside from composing, I am especially thrilled to take the stage with TCP for Harrison’s Concerto, which articulates our collaborative spirit. The entire concert program is a perfect representation of the Venn diagram of our collective practices, in various roles as performers, composers, interpreters, and arrangers.”
The eclectic concert program is as follows:
Tigran Hamasyan (arr. by Peter Martin): Etude no. 1
Philip Glass (arr. by Third Coast Percussion): Aguas da Amazonia
– Purus River
– Negro River
– Madeira River
Flutronix / Third Coast Percussion: Rubix
– Play
– Go
(Intermission)
Jessie Montgomery (arr. by Sean Connors): Suite from In Color
– Red
– The Poet
– Purple
Jessie Montgomery: Study No. 1 *Chicago premiere*
Lou Harrison: Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra
—Jessie Montgomery, violin soloist
—She-e Wu and Third Coast Percussion, percussion
About Jessie Montgomery
Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, educator, and a 2024 GRAMMY® Award winner for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. She is the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation, the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Chicago Sinfonietta. In May 2021, she began her three-year appointment as the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st century American sound and experience. Her profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post). A founding member of PUBLIQuartet and former member of the Catalyst Quartet, she continues to maintain an active performance career as a violinist appearing regularly with her own ensembles, as well as with the Silkroad Ensemble and Sphinx Virtuosi.
About Third Coast Percussion
Third Coast Percussion (comprised of Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, David Skidmore) is a GRAMMY® Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet and GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective. For nearly two decades, the ensemble has created exciting and unexpected performances that constantly redefine the classical music experience. The ensemble has been praised around the country for “commandingly elegant” (New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (Washington Post) of its recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). A commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012 led to the realization that commissioning new musical works can be—and should be—as collaborative as any other artistic partnership. Through extensive workshopping and close contact with composers, Third Coast Percussion has commissioned and premiered new works by Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Clarice Assad, Gemma Peacocke, Flutronix, Jlin, Tyondai Braxton, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Georg Friedrich Haas, Donnacha Dennehy, Glenn Kotche, Christopher Cerrone, and David T. Little, among others, in addition to many of today’s leading up-and-coming composers through its Currents Creative Partnership program. Third Coast Percussion currently serves as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University. More information on Third Coast Percussion HERE.
