Fly the Coop – Emi Ferguson & Ruckus

Emi Ferguson is on a mission to shake up classical music.Whether playing modern or historical flutes, singing, composing, or speaking about music, she brings centuries of music to life with an adventurous spirit and a fresh perspective. Her performances—ranging from Renaissance masterpieces to brand-new commissions—are anything but predictable, blending historical performance with a fearless, modern edge.

A 2023 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Emi thrives as both a soloist and a collaborator, appearing at major festivals and concert halls around the world. She performs regularly with AMOC*, Ruckus, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society (where she is principal flute), and the Manhattan Chamber Players. As music director of Camerata Pacifica Baroque, she curates bold, genre-defying programs that highlight the Baroque for Southern California audiences.

Chamber music and it’s spirit of collaboration has been at the heart of Emi’s artistic journey. Her experiences at festivals like Marlboro, Lucerne, Ojai, Bach Virtuosi, and June in Buffalo have deepened her ability to listen, respond, and create dialogue in front of and within an ensemble. The spirit of collaboration, exploration, and intimate musical exchange informs all of her performances—whether she’s reimagining Baroque sonatas, weaving historical performance with contemporary techniques, or bringing new compositions to life.

Emi’s ability to connect through music has resonated in some of the world’s most meaningful moments. Her performance of Amazing Grace at the 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony of 9/11 at Ground Zero— alongside Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Simon, and James Taylor—was broadcast globally and is now part of the permanent collection at the 9/11 Museum.

Her recordings reflect her curiosity and willingness to push boundaries. Her debut album, Amour Cruel, an indie-pop song cycle inspired by 17th-century French music, spent four weeks on the Classical, Classical Crossover, and World Music Billboard charts. Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, her 2019 collaboration with Ruckus, debuted at #1 on the iTunes classical charts and #2 on the Billboard classical charts, earning praise from The New York Times as “blindingly impressive… a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination.”Up next: a new album with Ruckus, By George! exploring the unexpected connections between Ligeti and Telemann. Emi’s discography also includes releases on New Focus Records, Old Focus Records, Orchid Classics, Canteloupe Music, National Sawdust Tracks, Brontosaurus Records, Coro, and MSR Classics.

Beyond the stage, Emi is passionate about making classical music more accessible and relevant. She has spoken and performed at TEDx eventsand been featured on The Discovery Channel, Netflix’s Explained (Vox), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel talking about how music relates to our world today. As a radio host and programmer, she developed This Composer Is Sick, a WQXR podcast, with Max Fine that explores how syphilis shaped the lives of composers like Franz Schubert, Bedřich Smetana, and Scott Joplin. She is now a host of WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and is creating new programming for younger listeners, introducing them to music through storytelling in the radio series Once Upon A Composer, based on her book Iconic Composers, co-written with Nicholas Csicskoand illustrated by David Lee Csicsko that offers a fun, engaging look at 50 remarkable composers from the past 1,000 years.

As a historical flutist, Emi regularly performs with ensembles like Tafelmusik, Voices of Music, the American Classical Orchestra, and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. She was the only flutist accepted into Juilliard’s inaugural Historical Performance class and became the first student to earn Undergraduate and Graduate degrees with Scholastic Distinction (for her simultaneous studies in Epidemiology) in flute performance. She later earned a second Graduate degree in Historical Performance as a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.

Emi can often be found dreaming up programs that collide various musical disciplines, composers, and that feature her as a flute player, singer, arranger, and composer. Upcoming projects include By George!, the music of Telemann and Ligeti, with Ruckus, The Enchanted Dawn, with harpist Ashley Jackson, and Pastures of Plenty, a program developed for Frankly Music that features the music of Franz Schubert, Woody Guthrie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Harry T. Burleigh, and Thomas A. Dorsey. She was also a resident artist at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in 2023-2024. Recent collaborations have been Roscoe Mitchell’s Metropolis Trilogy with the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet, Ruckus, Metropolis Ensemble, and DACAMERA, and the Art of Invention with Dan Tepfer.

As an educator, Emi has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, and the University at Buffalo. Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, she now resides in New York.