Caramoor: Emi Ferguson & Ruckus (on-demand until 4/27/2021)
$15-$45 / Caramoor members free
Emi Ferguson, baroque flute
Clay Zeller-Townson, baroque bassoon
Coleman Itzkoff, baroque cello
Doug Balliett, baroque double bass
Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitar & banjo
Adam Cockerham, theorbo
Elliot Figg, harpsichord, organ
Flutist Emi Ferguson (“wonderful,” The New York Times; “irresistibly vital,” Portland Press Herald) is joined by the continuo band Ruckus in a wild technicolor romp through some of J.S. Bach’s most playful and transcendent works reimagined and realized for 21st-century fans of 18th-century performance practice. Having earned widespread critical acclaim for its fresh, visceral approach to early music, Ruckus’ core members form the baroque equivalent of a rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon, and bass. The ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of “rough-edged intensity” (The New Yorker).
Immediately following the concert, there will be a Q&A with members of Ruckus and Emi Ferguson, with an opportunity for the audience at home to ask questions; moderated by Caramoor’s Artistic Director, Kathy Schuman.
The broadcast will take place at 3pm Eastern / 12pm Pacific. Available to view for 48 hours.
Caramoor spring livestreams have suggested prices of $15, $30 or $45. These “choose your own” options are based on $15 as the ordinary price of a livestream ticket, adjusted to account for multiple viewers or generosity; for comparison, $45 would be the average price for an in-person live event. Caramoor Members can choose any option and your discount will be applied at the end of checkout.
Link to donate: https://www.caramoor.org/support/
About Ruckus
Doug Balliett, double bass |
Adam Cockerham, theorbo |
Elliot Figg, harpsichord & organ |
Coleman Itzkoff, cello |
Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitar |
Clay Zeller-Townson, founder & baroque bassoon |
Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. The ensemble debuted in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo in a production directed by Christopher Alden featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ambur Braid and Davóne Tines at National Sawdust. The band’s playing earned widespread critical acclaim: "achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next" (The New York Times); "superb" (Opera News).
Ruckus’s core is a continuo group, the baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon and bass. Other members include soloists of the violin, flute and oboe. The ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of "rough-edged intensity" (The New Yorker). Its members are assembled from among the most creative and virtuosic performers in North American early music, and is based in New York City.
Ruckus' debut album, 'Fly the Coop', a collaboration with flutist Emi Ferguson, was Billboard’s #2 Classical album upon its release. Live performances of Fly the Coop in Cambridge, MA was described as "a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination" (The New York Times).
"Ruckus brought continuo playing to not simply a new level, but a revelatory new dimen-sion of dynamism altogether… an eruption of pure, pulsing hoedown joy … Wit, panache, and the jubilant, virtuosic verve of a bebop-Baroque jam session electrified and illuminated previously candle-lit edifices as Ruckus and friends raised the roof, and my mind’s eye will never see those structures in quite the same light again." (Boston Musical Intelligencer)
With 'Holy Manna', a program including arrangements of early American hymns from the shape-note tradition, Ruckus has begun a multi-project exploration of histories of American music. Other upcoming projects include a co-commission of a large-scale work by pioneering artist and NEA Jazz Master Roscoe Mitchell as part of a Bach / Bird Festival (with The Metropolis Ensemble and the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet).
https://www.ruckusearlymusic.org/