T.J. Troy

Grammy® Award-winning artist T.J. Troy combines an eclectic knowledge of percussion from around the world with his innate musicality to create a distinct and powerful voice in the world of contemporary percussion. T.J. has performed at prestigious festivals of traditional and contemporary music worldwide, including the Sounds of Arabia Festival (UAE 2012), the Arab Music Festival (Egypt 2007), Jerash Festival (Jordan 2007), Territoria Festival (Russia 2009), and the International Book Fair (Mexico 2009). His voice and bass marimba performance on ensemble Partch’s “Plectra and Percussion Dances” contributed to their 2014 Grammy® for Best Classical Compedium. He is Principal Percussionist for MESTO, an internationally recognized orchestra specializing in Arabic Classical Music; he has premiered operatic works from composers Anne LeBaron and Gavin Bryers, performed with Pete Townshend, Billy, Idol, Alfie Boa, Mamak Khadem, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Emil Richards, and Cirque du Soleil.

T.J.’s work with his ensemble Run Downhill combines worlds of music, graphic novel art and narrative, and live performance. His revolutionary multi-media album/comic book, SPURS #1, was selected for competition at the 2015 Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival (STIFF); his most recent work, SPURS #2.2/Midnight Road Trip, has been lauded as “…one of the best albums that you will come across in a very long time…” (Sheila Hopper, Band Blurb). Run Downhill was featured as part of the REDCAT Theater's Studio Series, presenting SPURS #2 - Chapters 7-9 across a two-night performance. Run Downhill has performed live at the Los Angeles Comic Con, and the band's music/comic book hybrid works have been featured at the Long Beach Comic Con, Rose City Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, and the Los Angeles Comic Con, all to great acclaim...Run Downhill's 2017 EP "The Lord, the Lady, and I" was a technological triumph: one of the first purely "Augmented Reality" albums, the music was released as a series of 4 postcards, each one scannable by an external smartphone app. Once scanned, the postcard would "come alive," playing the corresponding Run Downhill song. Listeners across North America were enthralled to see these postcards arrive in the mail and further entranced upon learning that each postcard played a new song.

As a composer, Mr. Troy's instrumental compositions have brought international recognition; he was awarded the Gaia Award from the Moondance International Film Festival for his score to Den and Nikka Serras’ Seven Swans in 2005. T.J. is one of the most prominent North American practitioners of the North Indian tabla, having studied for nearly 2 decades under Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, and is regular featured performer/lecturer at the Seattle World Rhythm Festival, in addition to being a featured clinician at the 2016 PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention); he regularly appears at university campuses as a guest lecturer of North Indian, Middle Eastern, and World Percussion traditions, in addition to accompanying artists such as Ustad Aashish Khan, Sahba Motallebi, Mamak Khadem, and Ken Zuckerman at festivals across the country.

WITH SAHBA MOTALLEBI

The music of Sahba Motallebi and T.J. Troy emerges from a collision of style, technique, and passion, exploding in a virtuosic display, setting the pair far apart from the norm. The duo has performed their unique approach to Persian Classical and Contemporary Classical Music across the United States, including the Montana Folk Festival, the National Folk Festival, and Los Angeles' Grand Performances. Currently, the pair is creating new repertoire for their upcoming premiere recording.