Third Coast Percussion Announces 2026-2027 Season, First Single from New Album Vernacular with Jlin Out Today!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406  

Sonia Kanigel | Primo Artists | Public Relations Manager
sonia@primoartists.com | 646.470.3812

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 Third Coast Percussion Announces 2026-2027 Season

Touring New Program Vernacular with Electronic Music Artist Jlin 
Throughout the U.S. and Europe 

U.S. Schedule Includes Carnegie Hall and the Ensemble’s Philadelphia Debut
Plus Performances in Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Richmond, and More

European Tours Span London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hamburg, and Rome 

Vernacular Album out October 23, 2026 on Rockwell Records

Stream the First Single from the Album, Premonition, Out Today!

View the Album Trailer

Touring Program Ripples in the Water: Philip Glass at 90
Celebrates American Icon and Longtime TCP Collaborator 

Returns of Acclaimed Programs Time Pieces and Murmurs in Time 

“Virtuosity and deft, precisely timed wit” – The Washington Post  

www.thirdcoastpercussion.com

 

Chicago, IL (August 13, 2026) – Called “immensely enjoyable” and “prodigiously gifted” (Gramophone), the GRAMMY® Award-winning Chicago-based percussion quartet and GRAMMY®-nominated composer collective Third Coast Percussion (TCP) announces its Chicago and touring schedules for the 2026-2027 season. As the first percussion ensemble ever to win a GRAMMY® in the classical genre, Third Coast is celebrated both as a quartet of stellar performers and as a composer collective, earning seven GRAMMY® nominations overall – including their 2017 win under Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. 

During the 2026-2027 season, TCP will tour a new original program, Vernacular, in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-finalist electronic music artist Jlin – along with an album of the same name, due for release Friday, October 23, 2026 on Rockwell Records. Premiered in February 2026 at UC Santa Barbara, the Vernacular program explores the evolution of TCP’s long partnership with Jlin. Third Coast Percussion and Jlin will perform live on stage together in brand new arrangements of some of Jlin's most exciting works reimagined for live electronics and acoustic percussion quartet, as well as new works composed specifically for the occasion for all five performers. Vernacular will receive its Chicago Premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Art, co-organized with the Chicago Humanities Festival on Thursday, October 15, 2026, before touring more than a dozen venues in the United States and Europe, including New York’s Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, London’s Barbican Centre, and the Philharmonie de Paris. In addition, TCP embarks on an early 2027 U.S. tour of Ripples in the Water: Philip Glass at 90, a celebration of Glass’s impact on contemporary music, and of TCP’s long collaboration with the iconic American composer. The season also brings performances of acclaimed TCP programs including Time Pieces: The New Classical; Murmurs in Time: Third Coast Percussion & Salar Nader, tabla; and The Drum Also Sings; as well as Clarice Assad’s PLAY! (concerto with orchestra). 

In a first look at the forthcoming Vernacular album with Jlin, TCP today releases the album’s first single, Premonition. While Jlin has composed a number of previous works for TCP, this newest collaborative track features all five artists performing together for the first time. Premonition is one of two new pieces commissioned for TCP and Jlin by The 92nd Street Y, New York. The single is available to stream on all platforms. View the trailer to learn more about the album. 

Curated around favorite works by Jlin—reimagined for a combination of acoustic and electronic sounds—the Vernacular album also features an original arrangement of Philip Glass’s Mishima, as well as a five-part work by David Longstreth, frontman for the Dirty Projectors, entitled Butterfly Dancing Over a Barrel—a musical journey of symphonic proportions. The upcoming release marks the 25th feature album for Third Coast Percussion, which can also be heard as a contributor on 17 additional recordings. In just over 20 years, the prolific quartet has earned a total of seven GRAMMY® nominations as a performing ensemble, plus an additional nomination as a composing collective and two separate nominations for individual members—winning a 2017 GRAMMY® Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for its recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion.

TCP begins its 2026-2027 performance schedule with a performance of its 20th anniversary program, Time Pieces: The New Classical, on Sunday, September 20, 2026 in a concert to open the 70th Anniversary season of Friends of Chamber Music in Stockton, CA. A showcase of TCP commissions curated to celebrate the ensemble’s two-decade mark, Time Pieces reflects on the passage of time through themes of heritage, history, and memory, featuring works by Jlin, Jessie Montgomery, and Tigran Hamasyan. TCP goes on to perform an abridged version of the program with Coast Live Music in Portola Valley, CA on Saturday, September 26, 2026 and with Tertulia Chamber Music in San Francisco, CA on Sunday, September 27, 2026. The complete Time Pieces program will be reprised in performances at Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District in Elkhart, WI on Friday, November 20, 2026, and at the Elgin Community College Arts Center in Elgin, IL on Saturday, May 8, 2027.

Tabla artist Salar Nader joins TCP on Thursday, October 1, 2026 at Rudder Theatre, Texas A&M University in College Station, TX for the season’s only scheduled performance of Murmurs in Time, the program created and recorded in 2024 with the late tabla master Zakir Hussain. Now featuring tabla virtuoso Salar Nader, a disciple of Hussain’s, the touring program spotlights Hussain’s final composition alongside works by Jessie Montgomery, Jlin, and Tigran Hamasyan. Also titled Murmurs in Time, Hussain’s work for tabla and percussion quartet combines the beauty and complexity of Hindustani classical music with the singular sound world of Third Coast Percussion. The program also features Jessie Montgomery’s piece Lady Justice/Black Justice, The Song, Jlin’s composition Please Be Still, and Tigran Hamasyan’s three-movement work Sonata for Percussion – all commissioned for TCP’s 20th anniversary.

TCP performs with Jlin in the Chicago Premiere of Vernacular at the Museum of Contemporary Art, co-organized with the Chicago Humanities Festival, on Thursday, October 15, 2026. In this program steeped in their shared Chicago roots, TCP and Jlin combine for a fresh sound blending TCP’s contemporary classical training with Jlin’s signature electronic technique, at once technically innovative and emotionally visceral. Jlin and Third Coast Percussion will perform live on stage together in brand-new arrangements of some of Jlin's most exciting works reimagined for live electronics and acoustic percussion quartet, as well as new works composed specifically for the occasion for all five performers. 

In one of the season’s key standalone engagements, TCP will perform with Jlin for its annual Fall Benefit fundraiser at Walden Chicago on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Jlin then joins TCP for a seven-city European tour of Vernacular, beginning at the Barbican Centre in London on Saturday, October 31, 2026. They go on to perform the program on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at the Philharmonie de Paris; Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at Le Lieu Unique in Nantes; Thursday, November 5, 2026 at Bozar (Centre for Fine Arts of Brussels) in Brussels; Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam; Thursday, November 12, 2026 at Parkstad Limburg in Heerlen, The Netherlands; and Saturday, November 14, 2026 at the Romaeuropa Festival in Rome.

TCP remains in Rome on Sunday, November 15, 2026 for a performance of Aguas da Amazonia, TCP’s bespoke arrangement of Philip Glass’s iconic work, also at Romaeuropa. 

Vernacular returns to U.S. stages for a spring 2027 tour, beginning Friday, March 5, 2027 at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, followed by a performance on Saturday, March 6, 2027 at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The tour continues at the University of Colorado Boulder on Friday, April 2, 2027; Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR on Tuesday, April 6, 2027; OSU-Cascades at the Tower Theatre in Bend, OR on Wednesday, April 7, 2027; and the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA on Thursday, April 8, 2027.

In an appearance at West Texas A&M in Canyon, TX on Friday, January 22, 2027—just days before the composer’s milestone birthday—TCP takes the stage for the season’s first performance of Ripples in The Water: Philip Glass at 90. A celebration of Glass’s cultural impact writ large, the program also channels the composer’s long and fruitful relationship with TCP, which commissioned his first-ever work for percussion ensemble—Perpetulum—in 2018. Along with this landmark commission, Ripples in the Water comprises portions of TCP’s celebrated arrangements of Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia and Metamorphosis One—plus works by Jlin, pop polymath Devonté Hynes, TCP’s own David Skidmore, and minimalism master Steve Reich, a contemporary of Glass. Together, the selected works highlight Glass’s stunning harmonic vocabulary while showcasing TCP on an array of traditional and unexpected percussion instruments. 

The program will subsequently be performed at Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, MT on Sunday, January 24, 2027; Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, NM on Wednesday, January 27, 2027; Goshen College in Goshen, IN on Friday, January 29, 2027; the Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA as part of the ensemble’s Mason Artist-in-Residence programming on Saturday, February 6, 2027; Penn Live Arts in Philadelphia, PA on Sunday, February 7, 2027; Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA on Friday, February 13, 2027; the Modlin Center in Richmond, VA on Thursday, February 18, 2027; and the Arts Empowering Life Performing Arts Center in Brewster, MA on Sunday, February 21, 2027. The Penn Live Arts performance on Sunday, February 7—TCP’s Philadelphia debut—will include a special appearance by acclaimed drummer and composer Glenn Kotche of Wilco.

TCP brings Ripples in the Water to its first overseas performance on Monday, April 12, 2027 at NDR Chamber Orchestra Concerts in Hamburg, Germany. The ensemble will then remain in the city for a performance of works by Missy Mazzoli at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on Friday, April 16, 2027. 

The season concludes with Currents—a program of new works—at Constellation Chicago on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11, 2027.

Third Coast Percussion 2026/2027 Season

Thursday, August 20–Sunday, August 23, 2026
Chamber Music America
MCA Chicago | Chicago, IL
Link: cmachicago.vfairs.com/en/#agenda

Sunday, September 20, 2026
Friends of Chamber Music
Faye Spanos Concert Hall | Stockton, CA
Link: www.chambermusicfriends.org/2026-2027-season

Saturday, September 26, 2026
Coast Live
Portola Valley Town Center | Portola Valley, CA
Link: coastlivemusic.com/event/third-coast-percussion/

Sunday, September 27, 2026
Tertulia
Southern Pacific Brewing Company | San Francisco, CA
Link: www.tertulianyc.org/events/thirdcoastpercussion

Thursday, October 1, 2026
Texas A&M University
Rudder Theatre | College Station, TX
Link: calendar.tamu.edu/academyarts/event/385867-third-coast-percussion-murmurs-in-time

Thursday, October 15, 2026
MCA Presents, co-organized with the Chicago Humanities Festival
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago | Chicago, IL
Link: mcachicago.org/whats-on/events/jlin-third-coast-percussion-vernacular/

Thursday, October 22, 2026
TCP Fall Benefit
Walden | Chicago, IL
Link: thirdcoastpercussion.com/event/tcp-fall-benefit-with-jlin/

Saturday, October 31, 2026
Milton Court Concert Hall
Barbican Centre | London, England
Link: www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/jlin-third-coast-percussion-vernacular

Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Philharmonie de Paris
Philharmonie de Paris | Paris, France
Link: philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/activite/29386

Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Le Lieu Unique
Le Lieu Unique | Nantes, France
Link: www.lelieuunique.com/en/event/jlin-and-third-coast-percussion-concert-nantes

Thursday, November 5, 2026
Bozar
Bozar Centre for Fine Arts | Brussels, Belgium
Link: www.bozar.be/en/calendar/jlin-third-coast-percussion

Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ
Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ | Amsterdam, Netherlands
Link: www.muziekgebouw.nl/en/agenda/vernacular-zr5t

Thursday, November 12, 2026
Parkstad Limburg
Theater Heerlen | Heerlen, Netherlands
Link: www.plt.nl/programma/jlin-third-coast-percussion-vs-vernacular/12-11-2026-20-30

Saturday, November 14, 2026
Romaeuropa
Auditorium Parco della Musica | Rome, Italy
Link: romaeuropa.net/festival-2026/vernacular/

Sunday, November 15, 2026
Romaeuropa
Auditorium Parco della Musica | Rome, Italy
Link: romaeuropa.net/festival-2026/philip-glass-aguas-da-amazonia/

Friday, November 20, 2026
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District
TBD | Elkhart Lake, WI
Ticket information TBA

Monday, November 30–Sunday, December 6, 2026
Denison University Ensemble-In-Residence
Denison University | Granville, OH

Saturday, December 12 & Sunday, December 13, 2026
ProMusica Chamber Orchestra
Southern Theatre | Columbus, OH
Link: promusicacolumbus.org/event/play-schuberts-third-2026/

Wednesday, December 16, 2026
The Midwest Clinic International Band & Orchestra Conference
McCormick Place | Chicago, IL
Link: www.midwestclinic.org/performers/midwest-clinic-performing-organization?gid=15041&pyear=2026

Friday, January 22, 2027
West Texas A&M
TBD | Canyon, TX
Ticket information TBA

Sunday, January 24, 2027
Warren Miller Performing Arts Center
Warren Miller Performing Arts Center | Big Sky, MT
Ticket information TBA

Wednesday, January 27, 2027
Lensic
Lensic Performing Arts Center | Santa Fe, NM
Link: lensic.org/events/third-coast/

Friday, January 29, 2027
Goshen College
Goshen College Music Center | Goshen, IN
Link: www.purplepass.com/events/381644-third-coast-percussion-jan-29th-2027

Saturday, February 6, 2027
George Mason University
Center for the Arts | Fairfax, VA
Link: cfa.calendar.gmu.edu/third-coast-percussion

Sunday, February 7, 2027
Joined by Wilco’s Glenn Kotche
Penn Live Arts
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts | Philadelphia, PA
Link: pennlivearts.org/event/ThirdCoastKotche

Saturday, February 13, 2027
Kennesaw State University
Morgan Concert Hall at the Bailey Performance Center | Kennesaw, GA
Link: artspurchase.kennesaw.edu/EventAvailability?EventId=2401

Thursday, February 18, 2027
Modlin Center
Modlin Center for the Arts | Richmond, VA
Link: calendar.richmond.edu/page.html?eventid=25258

Sunday, February 21, 2027
Arts Empowering Life Performing Arts Center
Arts Empowering Life Performing Arts Center | Brewster, MA
Ticket information TBA

Friday, March 5, 2027
Hamilton College
TBD | Clinton, NY
Link: www.hamilton.edu/campuslife/arts-at-hamilton/performingarts

Saturday, March 6, 2027 at 7:30pm
Carnegie Hall
Zankel Hall | New York, NY
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2027/03/06/Jlin-and-Third-Coast-Percussion-0730PM

Friday, April 2, 2027
CU Presents
Macky Auditorium | Boulder, CO
Link: cupresents.org/show-details/jlin-third-coast-percussion

Tuesday, April 6, 2027
Oregon State University
Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) | Corvallis, OR
Link: prax.oregonstate.edu/events/third-coast-percussion-and-jlin

Wednesday, April 7, 2027
OSU-Cascades
Tower Theatre | Bend, OR
Link: osucascades.edu/event/prax-and-osu-cascades-present-third-coast-percussion-x-jlin

Thursday, April 8, 2027
Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
Mondavi Center | Davis, CA
Link: www.mondaviarts.org/whats-on/jlin-third-coast-percussion

Monday, April 12, 2027
NDR Chamber
TBD | Hamburg, Germany
Ticket information TBA

Friday, April 16, 2027
NDR Philharmonie Concert
TBD | Hamburg, Germany
Link: www.ndr.de/orchester_chor/elbphilharmonieorchester/konzerte/ndr-elbphilharmonie-orchester-ndr-vokalensemble-missy-mazzoli-apocalyptic-triptych,stockhammer-106.html 

Saturday, April 24, 2027
NDR Vokal Ensemble Vocal Exchange
TBD | Hamburg, Germany
Ticket information TBA

Saturday, May 8, 2027
Elgin Community College Arts Center
Blizzard Theatre | Elgin, IL
Link: eccartscenter.org/tickets/eventdetails.aspx#event-27CSTC

Thursday, June 10–Friday, June 11, 2027
Constellation
Constellation | Chicago, IL
Ticket information TBA

More About Third Coast Percussion
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.

Now in its third decade, TCP carries on its tradition of groundbreaking artistry with exciting and unexpected performances worldwide that constantly redefine the classical music experience and “push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR).

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).

Among the highlights of its 2026-2027 season, the ensemble appears at Carnegie Hall on a tour of its new Vernacular program with electronic music composer and artist Jlin, combining live electronic performances by Jlin herself with acoustic renditions of Jlin’s works by TCP, plus a new work performed by all five artists. The Vernacular program will be captured in an album due out October 23, 2026 on Rockwell Records. TCP also embarks on a tour of its new program Ripples in the Water: Philip Glass at 90, which includes the ensemble’s Philadelphia debut. The season’s domestic tours also bring them to New York, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Richmond, and beyond, for a total of more than two dozen U.S. engagements. International tour dates include performances in London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Rome. This season also features a full slate of hometown performances in Chicago. The artists will hold residencies at the University of Richmond and George Mason University, and lead educational workshops at multiple tour stops.

Known for its devoted audience engagement, TCP has performed live in 43 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus international tour dates across four continents and 18 countries, amassing more than 300,000 total audience members. Its artists are also accomplished teachers who have developed a wealth of K-12 workshops, family programming, and educational partnerships benefiting thousands of Chicago students.

TCP has commissioned and premiered new works from Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, Philip Glass, Clarice Assad, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli, Ivan Trevino, and Tyondai Braxton, and developed fresh perspectives on percussion composition through their annual Currents Creative Partnership. Commissions from many of these artists feature in TCP’s extensive discography. Jlin’s Perspective, a TCP commission, was a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The ensemble has also produced exciting new art through unlikely collaborations with engineers, architects, and dancers. With strong ties throughout Chicago, Third Coast has collaborated with many of the city’s cultural and civic institutions. 

TCP’s recordings include 25 feature albums and appearances on 17 additional collaborative releases. Besides putting its stamp on iconic percussion works by John Cage and Steve Reich – including its GRAMMY®-winning album of Steve Reich’s works for percussion – the quartet has created recordings of numerous TCP-commissioned works and original compositions. Their 20th anniversary album, Standard Stoppages (Cedille Records), was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY®. 

The four members of Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) met while studying percussion at Northwestern University and formed the ensemble in 2005. 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.

Follow 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.

*Photo Credit: Saverio Truglia

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