Carnegie Hall

Third Coast Percussion (TCP) recasts the classical musical experience with a brilliantly varied sonic palette, crafting music to “push percussion in new directions, blurring musical boundaries and beguiling new listeners” (NPR). With nearly two decades of exciting and unexpected performances to its credit, the Chicago-based percussion quartet is the first percussion ensemble to win a Grammy Award in the classical genre. In its latest of seven total Grammy nominations, TCP’s 2023 album Between Breaths was nominated for Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary season in 2024–2025, the ensemble embarks on its most ambitious projects yet, collaborating with leading musicians, choreographers, and composers. The season includes two collaborative national tours: In a program with tabla player Salar Nader, the artists premiere a new work commissioned by TCP from the late Zakir Hussain (Nader’s mentor) before the artist’s passing in December 2024. The ensemble also tours with Twyla Tharp Dance in a newly created piece by the famed choreographer set to Philip Glass’s iconic Aguas da Amazonia. Other highlights include TCP performances of its acclaimed Metamorphosis program; and a national tour with composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery that features a new work commissioned by TCP. The quartet is also marking its anniversary season with commissioned works by Tigran Hamasyan and Jlin.

Passionate about connecting with its audience, TCP has been praised for “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star Tribune). The ensemble has toured widely across the US and four continents. Its members are also accomplished teachers who have developed a wealth of K–12 workshops and family programming, plus educational partnerships that benefit thousands of Chicago students.

TCP has produced exciting new art through unlikely collaborations with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, dancers at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and musicians of all genres. In addition to being ensemble-in-residence at Denison University, the quartet previously held the same distinction at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (2013–2018).

TCP has commissioned and premiered new works by 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 through its annual Currents Creative Partnership. Jlin’s Perspective, a TCP commission, was a 2023 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Besides putting its stamp on works by John Cage and Steve Reich, TCP has created first recordings of commissioned works by Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Danny Elfman, Jlin, Tyondai Braxton, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, and more, in addition to original TCP compositions. The ensemble won a Grammy (Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance) for its recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion. They have received five additional nominations as performers, plus a 2021 nomination as composers.

With strong ties throughout Chicago, TCP has collaborated with such institutions as the Uniting Voices Chicago choir, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, Adler Planetarium, and University of Chicago.

The four members of TCP met while studying percussion at Northwestern University and formed the ensemble in 2005. They also hold degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Rutgers University, New England Conservatory, and Yale School of Music.

For more information, visit thirdcoastpercussion.com.

A standout artist of his generation, tabla virtuoso Salar Nader is recognized as a global ambassador who weaves South Asian arts into the musical traditions of his Afghan heritage. A percussionist, composer, and producer, Nader studied under Ustad Zakir Hussain from the age of seven. He has toured widely with Stanley Clarke, Kronos Quartet, Wu Man, Miles From India, Homayoun Sakhi, Abbos Kosimov, and legendary Indian classical musicians Zakir Hussain, Amjad Ali Khan, Selva Ganesh, Alam Khan, Rahul Sharma, and many others. He has performed and recorded with contemporary and electronic artists, including Cheb i Sabbah, Niyaz, and Grand Tapestry.

Based in Los Angeles, Nader is committed to bringing the tabla to a wide audience. He collaborated on the Farah Yasmeen Shaikh and Noorani Dance production The Forgotten Empress, has appeared on the soundtrack for the 2012 film The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and scored the original stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel The Kite Runner, which had a groundbreaking run on Broadway in 2022—culminating in the distinction of being the first Afghan artist to donate his instruments to the Museum of Broadway in New York City.

In 2019, he founded the Salar Nader Tabla Foundation, globally preserving Afghan cultural traditions through instruments and mentor scholarships, supported by Rhea Designs, Inc. In March 2022, he curated Nezam-e-Shams at the Getty Museum, a collaboration between the Sounds of L.A. series and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Since 2023, he has worked with the Leela Dance Collective, which is dedicated to kathak, a classical dance from North India.

Nader’s discography includes Live in San Francisco, Vol. 1; The Forgotten Empress; In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals; and collaborations with Grand Tapestry.

Nader continues his dedication to community engagement, workshops, and cross-cultural understanding.

For more information, visit salarnader.com.