Shriver Hall Concert Series Opens 22-23 Season With Baltimore Debuts of Flutist Emi Ferguson and Continuo Band Ruckus

Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) - Baltimore's premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists - opens its 2022-23 season with a concert featuring flutist Emi Ferguson and continuo band Ruckus, who make their Baltimore debuts at Shriver Hall on Sunday, October 2, 2022 at 5:30pm. A pre-concert talk takes place at 4:30pm and is open to all ticket holders.

Ferguson and Ruckus will join forces for a kaleidoscopic romp through a stunning collection of J.S. Bach's most joyous and transcendent works, including his three flute and continuo sonatas, BWV 1033, 1034, and 1035. These works and their accompanying preludes (arranged by Ferguson and Ruckus) each inhabit their own artistic world, and represent very distinct stages and aspects of Bach's life.

Bach's E-minor Sonata, BWV 1034 (1724) is musical architecture at its most grand. Likely written during his early Leipzig years, this sonata has the weight of his larger musical sermons, and its technical sophistication shows the hand of a seasoned craftsman. Written in 1741 is the E-major Sonata, BWV 1035, which is sensual, simple in form, and perfumed with luxurious harmony. There is a galant breeziness throughout, yet the harmonic twists and melodic interplay between flute and bass reveal Bach's love for thorny, contrapuntal music. Falling somewhere in between the poles of the two aforementioned sonatas is the slightly more anachronistic C-major Sonata, BWV 1033. Open-hearted, inviting, and full of grace and generosity, this sonata features an unusually simple continuo line that may have been composed by Bach's son, a young C.P.E. Bach, as part of his studies (around 1731) in response to an existing solo flute work by his father.

"These sonatas are often introduced to flute players at a young age and while they are beloved standards in the repertoire, they continue to challenge and inspire with their capacity for individual interpretation," Emi Ferguson and Clay Zeller-Townson write. "The way that we share them today is by no means the only way to play these pieces, and is our unique take on them, but we think our interpretation shows and augments all the characters and colors that these sonatas are naturally imbued with, turning them into true ensemble pieces.

Sprinkled throughout the program are Ferguson and Ruckus' arrangements of iconic and obscure keyboard works by Bach. These include movements from the Well-Tempered Clavier, the iconic Aria from Goldberg Variations, addenda from his French Suites, and early drafts of pieces found in the Anna Magdalena and Wilhelm Friedrich notebooks.

"Bach's love of family and friends is evident in his writing, and our arrangements of these keyboard works are our love letter and homage to the sense of community imbued in his writing and work," Ferguson and Zeller-Townson share.

The New York Times describes Ferguson as "a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination", while Ruckus - whose forces include theorbos, baroque guitars, baroque bassoon, cello, viola da gamba, harpsichord, organ, and bass - has earned widespread acclaim for its fresh, visceral approach. In baroque music, a continuo serves as the accompaniment that provides a baseline for the other parts and adds harmony. Says Ferguson and Zeller-Townson, "The use of continuo in a composition is an open-ended invitation from composers that allows ensembles the freedom to orchestrate, to shrink and grow from one person to large groups of a variety of bass instruments." The array of possibilities makes it achievable for Ruckus to explode Bach's bass line into a dazzling display of colors. Ruckus' 2019 debut album, Fly the Coop, was a collaboration with Ferguson that featured Bach sonatas and preludes.

For the 22-23 season, SHCS offers the Concert Streaming Option as an exclusive Subscription Benefit for mainstage concerts taking place at Shriver Hall.

SHCS' 22-23 season continues with performances including: cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Connie Shih on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 5:30pm; the Baltimore debuts of bass-baritone Davóne Tines and pianist Adam Nielsen on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 5:30pm; Grammy-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov on Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 5:30pm; the Dover Quartet and double-bassist Joseph Conyers, in his Baltimore debut, on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 5:30pm; the Baltimore debut of Grammy-nominated Tetzlaff-Tetzlaff-Vogt Trio - made up of violinist Christian Tetzlaff, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, and pianist Lars Vogt - on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 5:30pm; pianist Piotr Anderszewski on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 5:30pm; and Grammy-nominated quintet Imani Winds on Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 5:30pm.

Shriver's 22-23 free Discovery Series includes 2022 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition-winner tubist Jasmine Piggot on Saturday, January 28, 2023 at 3:00pm at the Baltimore Museum of Art; 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant and youngest ever winner of the National Sphinx Competition cellist Sterling Elliott, who makes his Baltimore debut, and pianist Elliot Wuu on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 3:00pm at UMBC's Linehan Concert Hall; and the Thalea String Quartet on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 3:00pm also at UMBC's Linehan Concert Hall.