Sean Connors is an ensemble member and Technical Director of Third Coast Percussion, the Chicago-based and internationally renowned percussion quartet. He is the newest member of the group, having joined in 2013. Since then, Third Coast has become the Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame and performed over 100 concerts in 11 states and 3 countries. Highlights for Sean as a member of Third Coast during this time include: performing with Hubbard St Dance Chicago; launching the New Music USA sponsored Emerging Composer Partnership; collaborating with composers such as Timo Andres, Glenn Kotche, David T. Little, and Augusta Read Thomas; presenting a Chicago Concert Season at venues including the Logan Center at the University of Chicago, Millennium Pak’s Pritzker Pavillion, Constellation Chicago, and the Chicago Cultural Center; working with the student H.C.I.H.M Marimba Ensemble in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago; and being guests at summer festivals including Bravo! Vail, Garth Newel Music Center, and the Chautauqua Institute.
Sean has a keen interest in promoting contemporary music and has performed with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, eighth blackbird, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Signal, Metropolis Ensemble, Present Music, Society for New Music, and ChamberFest Dubuque. In addition, he was the percussionist for 2 summers with the prestigious Aspen Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble.
Sean is also one half of the percussion group Amphion, an ensemble he co-founded with Greensboro Symphony principal timpanist Peter Zlotnick. Amphion has performed at venues and festivals across the nation, including the Aspen Music Festival, Detroit Institute of Art, and Constellation Chicago. Besides championing the music of George Crumb, Morton Feldman, Gyorgy Ligeti, and Steve Reich, Amphion has premiered and commissioned works from several composers including John Mayrose, Brendan Faegre, Tomasz Arnold, and Matthew Evans.
As an educator, Sean served for 2 years as Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, held positions on the faculty at Onondaga Community College and Roberts Wesleyan College, and taught elementary school and middle school music in the Chicago suburbs. He was also the percussion mentor for the New Horizons Program through the Eastman Community Music School in Rochester NY through which he worked with seniors interested in pursing music later in life.
Sean holds a Bachelor of Music degree and performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and a Masters of Music degree from Northwestern University. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Music at Eastman.
CLICK HERE FOR A LISTING OF SEAN'S EVENTS
Some of Sean's other projects:
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"SUN" by Baljinder Sekhon with Volta TrioI was lucky enough to recently record Baljinder Sekhon's new percussion trio with Chris Clarino and Erik Lutters of Volta Trio. Check out the end result and please purchase this fantastic new piece from Baljinder!
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"Lennon Scatters and Fleeces His Flock" by John Liberatore, with John Graham, violaOn November 22, 2010, virtuoso viola soloist John Graham and the Eastman Graduate Composers Sinfonietta premiered my friend (and talented composer) John Liberatore's LENNON SCATTERS AND FLEECES HIS FLOCK. The piece is based upon an experience that John had walking down the street and encountering a rather disheveled looking man wearing a sandwich board poster that read "Lennon Scatters and Fleeces His Flock" with no other explanation. He was intrigued enough to write a piece about it and the work now exists in two forms: as a chamber piece for viola and percussion and as an orchestral piece with a viola soloist. This is a recording of the world premiere performance of the viola and percussion duo version from Sunday April 17, 2011 at Memorial Gallery of Art, Rochester, NY.
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"No Parking Anytime" with Tim Briones of the Eastman Percussion EnsembleMany thanks to Prof. Michael Burritt of the Eastman School of Music for programming my marimba duo on an Eastman Percussion Ensemble concert and many many many thanks to my good friend Tim Briones for learning it. Notice that just like when Zlotnick and I play it, I gave Tim the hard part! Here's the performance from February 24, 2011 on the beautiful Eastman Theater Stage at Kodak Hall, Rochester, NY.
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"Marimba Spiritual" by Minoru Miki
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Eastman BroadBand in Mexico This past fall I traveled on my second tour with Eastman BroadBand to New York City's Miller Theatre, Festival Internacional Cervantino in the beautiful Mexican town of Guanajuato, and Mexico City's Conservatorio Nacional de Música. The ensemble, founded at the Eastman School by composers Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, seeks to perform the most stirring music of our time with uncompromising eloquence and warmth. This short film features music by Sanchez-Gutierrez, Zohn-Muldoon, BroadBand conductor Juan Trigos, Luciano Berio and Toru Takemitsu, and was shot and directed by Reed Nisson. Check out the BroadBand site for more info: http://www.carlossg.com/broadband.html
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"Inuksuit" by John Luther Adams
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