Ensemble

Sean Connors, Ensemble Member, Technical Director, and Education Director
Robert Dillon, Ensemble Member and Development Director
Peter Martin, Ensemble Member and Finance Director
David Skidmore, Ensemble Member and Executive Director

Third Coast Percussion (TCP) is Chicago’s GRAMMY® Award-winning percussion quartet and GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective that made history as the first percussion ensemble to win the revered music award in the classical genre. To date, TCP has garnered seven total GRAMMY® nominations, with the individual musicians receiving two additional nominations.

TCP’s 20th anniversary recording, Standard Stoppages (Cedille Records), was hailed as “not only highly listenable in itself, but also offers a new direction for an ensemble that has been around for 20 years and seems likely to be around for 20 more” (All Music) and received two nominations for the 2026 GRAMMY® Awards in the categories of Best Engineered Album, Classical and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.

Representing “one of the most enterprising and creative ensembles working today” (WFMT), the artists of Third Coast Percussion are in-demand collaborators who have worked closely with a range of artists including choreographers Twyla Tharp, Lil Buck, and Jon Boogz; composer/performers Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, and Jlin; and composers Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, and Danny Elfman, among many others. The ensemble has been praised for the “rare power” (Washington Post) of its 30+ recordings, and its “inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). Third Coast Percussion maintains a busy tour schedule, with past performances in 42 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus international tour dates across four continents and 17 countries, amassing more than 300,000 audience members over two decades.

Third Coast Percussion’s 2025-2026 season takes the ensemble from Chicago to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and beyond, with almost two dozen domestic engagements. International tour dates include first performances in Serbia, Montenegro, and Latvia, in addition to engagements in Paris. This season also brings a busy schedule at home in Chicago, with performances at Northwestern University (the ensemble’s alma mater), The Art Institute of Chicago, The University of Chicago, and more. The ensemble’s passion for teaching and engagement will be on display in residencies at Denison University in Ohio and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada, as well as masterclasses at dozens of domestic and international tour stops.

Third Coast Percussion continues to push the boundaries of contemporary percussion performance with its ambitious and highly anticipated 2025-2026 programming, which includes several new works alongside celebrated favorites from the ensemble’s two decades of repertoire. New programs include Strum, Strike, Bend, featuring composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery; the final masterwork of acclaimed composer and tabla superstar Zakir Hussain, Murmurs In Time, featuring tabla artist Salar Nader; and Time Pieces: The New Classical, Third Coast Percussion’s celebratory program featuring the ensemble’s 20th Anniversary commissions from Tigran Hamasyan, Jessie Montgomery, and more. Favorite programs returning this season include PLAY! with Clarice Assad, a powerhouse concerto in three movements for percussion quartet, vocalist, and orchestra; and Metamorphosis, featuring choreography by Movement Art Is (Lil Buck and Jon Boogz), as performed by Cameron Murphy and Trent Jeray.

A direct connection with the audience is at the core of Third Coast Percussion’s work, whether the musicians are speaking from the stage about a new piece of music, inviting the audience to play along in a concert or educational performance, or uniting fans around the world through platforms including their popular YouTube channel, a hub for their latest music, and a robust presence on Instagram and other social platforms. The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, dedicating time each season to educational residencies, music outreach performances and programs, and school partnerships to encourage active participation by students of all ages.

The quartet’s curiosity and eclectic taste have led to a series of unlikely collaborations yielding exciting new art. The artists’ omnivorous musical appetite, paired with approachable and flexible working methods, remove collaborative boundaries across cultures and disciplines. The ensemble has worked with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, dancers at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and musicians from traditions ranging from the mbira music of Zimbabwe’s Shona people, to indie rockers and footwork producers, to some of the world’s leading concert musicians. Third Coast Percussion served as ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center from 2013-2018, and currently serves as ensemble-in-residence at Denison University.

Starting with a commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012, Third Coast Percussion has embraced the principle 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, TCP has commissioned and premiered more than 125 new works from composers including Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli, Ivan Trevino, Tyondai Braxton, and leading early-career composers encountered through TCP’s annual Currents Creative Partnership. These commissioned works have become part of the ensemble’s core repertoire and seen hundreds of performances around the world. In 2023, Jlin’s Perspective, commissioned by TCP, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Third Coast Percussion’s recordings include 21 feature albums and appearances on 14 additional collaborative releases. TCP’s subsequent 20th Anniversary recording, Standard Stoppages (Cedille Records), has been nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards and was praised as “the best in musical co-operation…innovative, resourceful thinking and tremendous mastery of dynamics” by BBC Music Magazine.

Besides putting its stamp on iconic percussion works by John Cage and Steve Reich, the quartet has created first recordings of commissioned works by Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli, and more – in addition to recordings of original Third Coast compositions. In 2017, the ensemble won the GRAMMY® Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for its recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion. TCP has received six additional GRAMMY® nominations as performers, plus their first GRAMMY® nomination as composers in 2021 and as recording engineers in 2026. In the last decade, TCP has amassed over 5 million listeners and more than 10 million streams on Spotify.

Third Coast Percussion has always maintained strong ties to the vibrant artistic community in their hometown of Chicago, collaborating with local institutions including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Uniting Voices Chicago choir, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Adler Planetarium. TCP has performed at the grand opening of Maggie Daley Children’s Park; conducted residencies at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; created multi-year collaborative projects with Chicago-based composers Jessie Montgomery, Clarice and Sérgio Assad, Augusta Read Thomas, Glenn Kotche, and chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird; and taught tens-of-thousands of students through partnerships with Uniting Voices Chicago, The People’s Music School, the Chicago Park District, Rush Hour Concerts, Urban Gateways, Changing Worlds and others. The ensemble looks forward to a partnership with The Art Institute of Chicago in January 2026.

The four members of Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) met while studying percussion music at Northwestern University with Michael Burritt and James Ross, forming Third Coast Percussion in 2005. From their base in Chicago, the four friends carefully and thoughtfully built a thriving nonprofit organization – including full-time staff, office/studio space, and a board of directors – to support their vision and facilitate their efforts to bring new works to life. Members of Third Coast also hold degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Rutgers University, the New England Conservatory, and the Yale School of Music.

Stay up-to-date and go behind-the-scenes by following Third Coast on Instagram (@ThirdCoastPercussion), YouTube (@thirdcoastpercussion), TikTok (@thirdcoastpercussion), Facebook (@Third Coast Percussion) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/third-coast-percussion).

*Third Coast Percussion is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization

Rebekka Homburg is a Berlin-based sound engineer, combining practical expertise in recording with academic research in musical acoustics and music psychology. She completed her diploma studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with an Erasmus term at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Her recording experience includes collaborations and internships with renowned institutions such as msm-productions in Singapore, the Verbier Festival Academy and Teldex Studio Berlin, alongside numerous independent projects. With a background in violin and voice, she brings a holistic perspective to performance and production and is committed to fostering inclusive structures within the field. Her professional approach is defined by a pursuit of the highest sound quality, an empathetic working style, and the faithful capture of artistic intent.

In addition to her production work, she has engaged in research in music psychology and acoustics at the Technical University of Berlin, enriching her practice with a deeper understanding of listening and perception. Her diploma thesis explored the influence of room acoustics on the perception of music, integrating methods from both natural sciences and music psychology. As a scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, she was recognized for academic excellence and curiosity.

Paulin ROMAN, is a master student in Sound Engineering at the Paris Conservatoire since 2022. Mostly interested in acoustic music recording and spatial audio creation, he also pursues musicology studies in his goal to become an informed artistic director. He still practices the saxophone, his instrument, from classical training to Balkan traditional music, across all genres and aesthetics, as he is firmly attached to the act of musicing as a universal way of communicating.

Born in Chamonix Mt-Blanc, France; he keeps a physical attachment to outdoor sports, mountain landscapes, and nature, in which he thrives, as triathlon training is his main hobby outside of his music interests.

Before entering the Paris Conservatoire, he studied contemporary music composition and analysis through electroacoustic music, in Annecy – France - which initiated his dedication to spatial and sensorial composition as he founds it to be a deep source of inspiration and a still not fully explored way to convey music and creation to the audience.

Martyna Kacprowicz is a sound designer based in Warsaw, Poland. A graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, where she studied sound engineering, she works across film and television sound design, music recordings, and experimental approaches that explore the artistic potential of sound.

Alongside her post-production work, she has been active as a sound engineer at contemporary music festivals, gaining hands-on experience with live performance and diverse sonic environments. Her recent projects extend into multimedia installations and soundscapes, where she explores how sound can shape space, build narrative, and become an integral part of interaction and visual experience.

Approaching both artistic and technical challenges with creativity, she has also taken part in interdisciplinary initiatives, including a program initiated by the European Space Agency, where she contributed to the development of an augmented reality-based project. Her work has been presented at festivals such as New Horizons, Gdynia Film Festival, and Warsaw Autumn, reflecting her ongoing interest in sound as both a craft and a medium of artistic expression.

My name is Elie and I’m a sound engineer working in both music and the narrative sound industry. I currently find myself transitioning between recording classical music and producing rap. All these different industries that I find myself in allow me to deepen my artistic thoughts and ideas, as well as my technical abilities, helping me see things in a different way. This led me to pursue a master’s degree in Image et Son Brest (ISB), where I studied sound recording for music as well as post-production for narrative sound in cinema and audio drama.

I’ve always tried to create my own projects or contribute to other’s by offering my help and support. I was fortunate to have one of my sound fictions produced in immersive audio, which was selected and broadcast by Radio France. I also had the opportunity to be part of the sound recording team at the 2025 Verbier Festival in Switzerland. It was an experience I’m truly grateful for.

Immersive sound and binaural in particular are especially important to me. I want to give the same experience to each person, whether they’re listening on a high-quality sound system or, for example, with casual earphones. 

Brendan Wong (he/him) is a sound artist and engineer, constantly flowing between the roles of songwriter, producer, recordist, and musician.

Born and raised in Victoria, BC, Canada, Brendan’s personal flavour of art-folk blends together collective improvisation, live sound-design, and complex harmonies. At the root of it all is his delicate yet expressive lyricism and rather convoluted guitar parts.

His self-produced debut album, The Waking of the Birds, was released on November 15th, 2025: an introspection on transformation, devotion, and catharsis.

A big, big fan of collaboration, Brendan has worked as producer, recordist, mix engineer, and/or session musician for a variety of projects. Recent releases include Savannah Read’s EP Trampoline (Vancouver), Charis Tazumi’s debut album In Subtle Ways (Victoria), Henrik Hausmann’s debut album Echo Chamber (Norway), and Karsten Quix’s album If Not for the Weather (Belgium).

He can also be heard shredding bass guitar with Vancouver-based bands LöLä, Savannah Read, and Victoria’s own Millet.

Ben Senyk is a drummer, audio engineer, and electronic music producer based in Toronto, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta. Ben grew up in Calgary learning music, playing in both the Calgary Stampede Showband and the Calgary Youth Orchestra, playing percussion in both. During his post-secondary education, he turned to audio engineering, inspired by the electronic music artists Koan Sound and Mr. Bill. A recent graduate of Humber College in Toronto, Ben studied a combination of jazz drums, music production, and audio engineering. His final year was focused heavily on the Dolby Atmos audio format, where he explored developing new production and mixing techniques for the medium. As an audio engineer, Ben focuses on creating interesting sound design techniques for stereo and multichannel formats. Though currently working in music, Ben hopes to explore audio in other settings like film, live performance, or public installations.