by Stephanie Manning
Reposted with the permission of Oberlin Conservatory
“Strum,” “Strike,” and “Bend” are all evocative references to the physicality of string and percussion instruments. And one is especially significant.
Put all three together, and you get the title of Third Coast Percussion’s (TCP) upcoming program with violinist/composer Jessie Montgomery. “ I think the ‘Bend’ part is maybe the most interesting,” says ensemble member Robert Dillon. “Something we really have enjoyed about Jessie’s percussion writing is this twisting, warping, or bending of sounds.”
Whether that’s blowing through a tube into a tom-tom or hitting a crotale before dipping it into water, these manipulations are ubiquitous in Montgomery’s music. And her recent piece for TCP is no exception.
Few composers in the classical tradition have successfully transformed stories for children into engrossing all-ages artworks. In a concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art last week, Third Coast Percussion — the Chicago-based quartet of Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore — made a strong case for their new work, 
Third Coast Percussion went bold with their latest project, a sprawling marine ecosystem of an album titled 
A Native Canadian boy in the Nipigon country of Ontario dreams of a journey he knows he can’t make. But a figure carved out of cedar, with a strip of lead to keep it upright in the water, and a message inscribed on the bottom to please return it to the water? That might just make it all the way through the Great Lakes, down Niagara Falls, past Quebec City, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and beyond — despite encounters with a snake, a forest fire, passing ships, pollution, and people along the way.
With their latest album, 
In February, Chicago’s all-star Third Coast Percussion released an album of Steve Reich’s music on the Cedille label creatively titled “Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich.” It’s quite a good recording. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Classical CD Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, Steve Reich himself, and many other noteworthy voices have all effusively praised the album. 