Blacktop Percussion aspires to transcend the traditional boundaries of chamber percussion music, and connect with accessible genres to create dynamic and innovative performances that captivate audiences and redefine the possibilities of what we know as "contemporary".
Blacktop was founded in Austin, Texas in the winter of 2022, where the original membership underwent chamber study with their professors Thomas Burritt and Ivan Trevino at the University of Texas at Austin, and first performed together as a quartet on their fall UT Percussion Ensemble concert. After the members decided to continue making music together, the group was officially created, and the name "Blacktop" was chosen as an homage to its inception in the urban environment of downtown Austin.
Blacktop earned critical acclaim during the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, where they won Second Prize in the Senior Mixed-Instrumental category performing movements of “Seven Pillars” alongside the music of Viet Cuong. Blacktop was the only percussion group to advance to semifinals in the competition, and was honored to perform in finals alongside the Kodachrome saxophone quartet, the Kodak string quartet, and the Uni string quintet.
Blacktop's final performance with its original membership was a full performance of Andy Akiho's "Seven Pillars:" an evening-length quartet featuring eleven movements of genre-bending music. This was a passion project for the group, and was a landmark achievement for its members.
Blacktop has now relocated to Rochester, New York, where its current members undergo study at the Eastman School of Music with distinguished professor Michael Burritt.
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