Third Coast Percussion with Glenn Kotche

Grammy Award-winning, artist-run quartet Third Coast Percussion, with composer and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, will perform live Saturday, March 3, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The concert is presented by UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. The quartet’s curiosity and eclectic tastes have led to a series of unlikely collaborations that have produced exciting new work. In Birmingham, Third Coast Percussion will perform Kotche’s “The Beautiful Confusion,” a new work commissioned for this concert by the Alys Stephens Center. Birmingham’s own Iron Giant Percussion, a UAB alumni percussion ensemble, will join the band in performing the world premiere, along with UAB Associate Professor of Percussion Gene Fambrough.

For more than 10 years, Third Coast Percussion has forged a unique path in the musical landscape with virtuosic, energetic performances that celebrate the extraordinary depth and breadth of musical possibilities in the world of percussion. The ensemble has been praised by The New York Times for “commandingly elegant” performances, by Washington Post for the “rare power” of their recordings, and by the Minnesota Star-Tribune as “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity.”

 Iron Giant Percussion

On the program are Kotche’s “Wild Sound, Movement 4” and “The Beautiful Confusion,” Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood” and “Mallet Quartet,” “Chigwaya,” a traditional, and “Paddle to the Sea” from the group’s latest album.

Tickets are $25, $10 for students. All UAB students, faculty and staff may receive a 20 percent discount on single tickets. Call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org. This performance is made possible by Alabama State Council on the Arts, Art Works and South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

March 3 is the Alabama chapter of the Percussive Arts Society’s Day of Percussion. This educational event, hosted by UAB for the first time, is for percussion students of all ages, as well as professionals. Third Coast Percussion and Kotche will headline the event, which will be held at the Alys Stephens Center during the day. Professional percussionists Debi Loach and Richard Graber from the University of Alabama at Huntsville, Andrew Lynge from Jacksonville State University, and independent artist Shane Gwaltney will teach additional clinics throughout the day. The UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music and Iron Giant Percussion will each present a concert session. Admission for the Day of Percussion is $5 for PAS members and $10 for non-members.

Iron Giant Percussion is an emergent contemporary ensemble based in Birmingham, featuring Sam Herman, Brett Huffman, Seth Noble and Justin Wallace. Established in 2011 to perform a collaborative piece with Sanspointe Dance Company, they subsequently presented three ambitious concerts in Alys Stephens Center’s Sirote Theater, each featuring some of the most influential and challenging percussion music from the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to formal concerts, Iron Giant Percussion regularly participates in community and outreach programs through organizations such as Birmingham Art Music Alliance, Children’s Dance Foundation and Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Scrollworks.