Isabelle Sully practices across art-making, curating, editing and writing. Working to context and with feminist histories in mind, she takes the mechanisms and materiality of administration as a main focus, developing conceptual projects that span (experimental) writing, sculpture, performance, exhibition-making and publishing. Originally from Melbourne/Naarm, she now lives in Rotterdam where she is the founding editor of Unbidden Tongues, co-curator of Playbill, Amsterdam, and artistic director of A Tale of A Tub, Rotterdam.

Tantoo Cardinal is an award-winning actress of Indigenous descent. A trail blazing Actress who has appeared in over 130 film and television projects over the course of her 50-year career. A multi award winning performer, including the Earle Grey Award (a lifetime achievement award by the Canadian Screen Awards), is a Member of the Order of Canada, a CBC/Playback Hall of Fame inductee, recipient of the Governor General's Artistic Lifetime Achievement Award, has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame along with Honorary Doctorates from 5 Universities.

Film work includes work alongside Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s award winning feature, Killers of the Flower Moon. Film credits include: Legends of the Fall, Dances with Wolves, Black Robe, Falls Around Her, Wind River, The Grizzlies, Where The Rivers Flow North, Maina, Chasing Shakespeare and Eden.

TV series work includes playing Sue Lynn Blackbird in the ABC Television Network series Stumptown. Or opposite Alfred Molina in the series 3 Pines on Amazon (produced by the same producers of The Crown), the Marvel series, Echo, on Disney + and Hulu and she just wrapped the final season of Avatar: Last of the Air Benders.

Television credits include: SEE, Westworld, Longmire, Mohawk Girls, Frontier, Blackstone, Lonesome Dove, Nobody’s Girls, Godless and Penny Dreadful among others. Theatre work includes playing "Gertrude in Hamlet," Regan in the production of "King Lear" and the role of Pelajia in a production of "The Rez Sisters”. She was Awarded the Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work on “The Inheritance” at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles

Marina Alefosio is an Aotearoa-born Samoan spoken word poet, storyteller, and arts practitioner whose work bridges creative expression and community empowerment. She hails from the villages of Mulifanua, Leauva’a, Faleasiu and Falefa in Samoa and works across the Pacific at the intersection of arts, culture, and wellbeing.

Marina's practice spans spoken word poetry, hip-hop, theatre, songwriting, and mentoring, centring Pasifika and Indigenous voices while exploring themes of identity, justice, and collective healing. Her creative journey began on local and international stages, including the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York (2012) and TEDx Auckland (2013). She has since performed at significant cultural moments such as the Dawn Raids Apology Ceremony in Auckland (2021) and the Toronto Writers Festival (2021).

Marina’s contributions have been recognised through numerous poetry anthologies, residencies and fellowships, including the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019 and 2024), the Tautai Arts Trust Fale-ship Residency (2021), the Rhodes Poetry Retreat (2023), and the Creative New Zealand Creative Fellowship (2024), which supported the publication of her debut book, 'to siva inside a circle'. Drawing on these experiences, she co-designed a spoken word residency in Mulifanua, Samoa with her father and tulafale, Savaiinaea Palenapa Alefosio, creating space for Oceania writers across disciplines.

She has co-written theatre works with Black Friars Theatre Company (2018–2021) and continues to mentor emerging artists. In 2023, Marina became an Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, completing a Master’s in Social Change Leadership at the University of Melbourne researching the connection and power of spoken word poetry to oral cultures. Her proudest roles are being a mother and an aunty.

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.