John Corkill

founder/co-artistic director/percussion

Percussionist, John Corkill, is a passionate advocate for the development, process, and creation of new artistic works that provide accessibility to the public at large.  He is currently serving as the percussionist for the University of Chicago’s Grossman Ensemble, an ensemble-in-residence at the University’s Center for Contemporary Composition.  Recently, John has joined Clocks in Motion, a percussion quartet dedicated to building upon the body of percussion repertoire through commissioning and workshopping new chamber percussion works.

In similar capacities, he has collaborated with groups such as Third Coast Percussion, Eighth Blackbird, and Ensemble Dal Niente.  He has also appeared on the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW Series as well as the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Yellow Barn Festivals.  Recently, John finished his tenure as the curator for Fulcrum Point New Project’s Discoveries and Aux In concert series that promote meaningful conversations and inquiry between composers, performers, and listeners.

Originally trained in the realm of orchestral percussion, John has performed with ensembles such as the Milwaukee Symphony, Elgin Symphony, and NOVUS Orchestra.  He has also had the privilege of working with many of today’s leading musicians including conductors Marin Alsop, Peter Oundjian, Matthias Pintscher, and Reinbert de Leeuw; composers, Krzysztof Penderecki, Oliver Knussen, David Lang, Augusta Read Thomas, Aaron Jay Kernis, Sam Pluta, Christopher Cerrone, Samuel Adams, and Seung-Won Oh. 

John currently serves as the Lecturer of Percussion at the University of Chicago as well as the Percussion Ensemble Director at Loyola University.  John received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University where he graduated cum laude and Master of Music Degree from the Yale University School of Music. His teachers include Robert van Sice, Michael Burritt, and James Ross. 

Adam Rosenblatt

co-artistic director/percussion

Chicago-based percussionist and performer Adam Rosenblatt has a penchant for finding interesting and uncommon ways to present and perform contemporary music. He has a keen interest in growing an interdisciplinary performance practice, believing that a mix of media and art forms can speak directly and powerfully to our current context.

Adam’s variegated skillset has brought him to perform in venues and festivals throughout the US and Europe, from Bang On a Can’s “LOUD Weekend” at MassMoCA with experimental rock group Horse Lords, to a solo performance at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, to the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria, to the Big Bang festival for children at the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, Greece.

Adam earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Peabody Conservatory and a Master of Music Degree from the Yale School of Music, both under the tutelage of Robert van Sice. Through grants from the Flemish Government, the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund, and the Belgian American Education Foundation, Adam performed and studied contemporary chamber music with the Ictus and Spectra Ensembles in Belgium as part of their Advanced Masters academy program.