Emi Ferguson, flute, & RUCKUS

Sunday, November 17, 2019, 4 p.m.
Corpus Christi Church

Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes

Fresh off their recording collaboration for Fly the Coop, acclaimed virtuoso flutist Emi Ferguson and RUCKUS, the six-member continuo band, offer a lively and wild romp through some of Bach’s most playful and transcendent works.These idiosyncratic performers reimagine Bach for 21st-century fans of 18th-century performance practice. According to Emi, this is Bach “infused with equal parts tradition, funk, whimsy, and fun.”

Post-concert Q and A

“Emi Ferguson led on Baroque flute … with a Romantic, even operatic, emotiveness. Every bit as expressive, the five-piece “Baroque band” RUCKUS brought continuo playing to not simply a new level, but a revelatory new dimension of dynamism altogether.” —The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Estimated run time: 70 minutes, no intermission.

Artist Bios and Program

English-American performer and composer Emi Ferguson’s unique approach to the flute can be heard in performances that alternate between the silver flute, historical flutes, and auxiliary flutes. She plays repertory that stretches from the Renaissance to today.

Emi can be heard live in concerts and festivals around the world as a soloist, and with groups including AMOC, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society, and the Manhattan Chamber Players. She has spoken and performed at several TEDX events and has been featured on media outlets including The Discovery Channel, Vox’s Explained series on Netflix, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Juilliard Digital’s TouchPress apps—talking about how music relates to our world of today. Her debut album, Amour Cruel, an indie-pop song cycle inspired by the music of the 17th-century French court, was released by Arezzo Music in September 2017, spending four weeks on the Classical, Classical Crossover, and World Music Billboard Charts. Emi’s collaboration with RUCKUS, Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Classical Charts and #2 on the Billboard Classical Charts and features the program you are hearing today.

Emi was a featured performer alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Simon, and James Taylor at the 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony of 9/11 at Ground Zero, where her performance of Amazing Grace was televised worldwide. Her performance that day is now part of the permanent collection at the 9/11 Museum.

Emi is passionate about developing new music and has premiered works by many of today’s leading composers. As a baroque flutist, in addition to her appointment as principal flute of the Handel and Haydn Society, Emi is a frequent guest artist with period ensembles including Tafelmusik, the American Classical Orchestra, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and Juilliard415. She was the only flutist accepted to Juilliard’s inaugural Historical Performance class where she studied with Sandra Miller and worked with conductors including William Christie and Les Arts Florrisants, Christophe Hammer, Massaki Suzuki, Christopher Hogwood, and Nicholas McGegan.

Emi is currently on the faculty of the Juilliard School teaching Ear Training, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, and has taught on the faculty of the University of Buffalo. Emi was the first person to have graduated from Juilliard with Undergraduate and Graduate degrees with Scholastic Distinction in flute performance, as well as a second Graduate degree in Historical Performance as a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, Emi now resides in New York City.

www.emiferguson.com

Tickets

Individual Tickets
Preferred Center: $55
Center: $45
Premium Balcony and Sides: $40
Balcony: $30
Partial View: $15
Balcony Blocked View: $10

Season Subscriptions
Regular Subscription: $180-330
Designer Subscription: $192-352
Mini-Designer Subscription: $100-185

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