Rubix, Third Coast Percussion’s collaboration with Flutronix, eschews the typical model of classical music, where an individual, specialized composer writes music for a group of performers. Instead, for this work, all six performers worked together to co-compose three movements of different characters. Prompted by concepts for musical games or directed improvisation, each musician brought semi-composed textures, sketches, or performance instructions that the ensemble sculpted together through improvisation, conversation, and collaboration into their final, through-composed form. While Flutronix regularly compose together as a duo, and TCP has collaboratively composed a few works as a quartet, this is the first time that either ensemble has co-composed with musicians outside of their ensembles.

Rubix was commissioned by The Third Coast Percussion New Works Fund, the Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation, Jana French and Peter Gotsch, and the Robert and Isabelle Bass Foundation.

Rubix and Jlin’s Perspective are featured on Third Coast Percussion’s album Perspectives on Cedille Records, which was released in May 2022, and nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Duration: 14 minutes