For Immediate Release
July 13, 2022

CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS CONCERT BY CONTINUO BAND RUCKUS WITH FLUTIST EMI FERGUSON AND VIOLINIST KEIR GOGWILT

Williamstown, Massachusetts— On Sunday, July 17 at 3 pm, flutist Emi Ferguson and violinist Keir GoGwilt join the continuo band Ruckus in Fly the Coop! Bach / Sonatas and Preludes, an outdoor concert at the Clark Art Institute. The performance is best characterized as a wild technicolor romp through some of Bach’s most playful and transcendent works, reimagined and realized for twenty- first-century fans of eighteenth-century performance practice.

Having earned widespread critical acclaim for its fresh, visceral approach to early music, Ruckus’s 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 and vital sound. 

Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals with groups including the Handel and Haydn Society, American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), the New York New Music Ensemble, and the Manhattan Chamber Players. Ferguson’s recordings celebrate her fascination with reinvigorating music and instruments of the past for the present. Her debut album, Amour Cruel, an indie-pop song cycle inspired by the music of the seventeenth-century French court, was released by Arezzo Music in September 2017, spending four weeks on the Classical, Classical Crossover, and World Music Billboard Charts. Her 2019 album, Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes—a collaboration with continuo band Ruckus, debuted at number one on the iTunes classical charts and number two on the Billboard classical charts, and was called “blindingly impressive...a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by the New York Times. In addition to her solo recordings, Ferguson has also been featured on recordings for New Focus Records, Old Focus Records, Canteloupe Music, National Sawdust Tracks, Brontosaurus Records, Coro, and MSR Classics.  

Keir GoGwilt is a violinist known as a "formidable performer" (New York Times) with an "evocative sound" (London Jazz News) and "finger-busting virtuosity" (San Diego Union Tribune). He has soloed with groups including the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Chinese National Symphony, Orquesta Filarmonica de Santiago, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. As a founding member of the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), GoGwilt has performed original, collaboratively-devised music, dance, and theater works at the Clark, the 92nd Street Y, Luminato Festival, PS 122 COIL, Stanford Live, the American Repertory Theater, Carolina Performing Arts, the Momentary, and the Ojai Music Festival. His recompositions of renaissance and medieval music with violinist Johnny Chang have been released on Another Timbre; his improvising duo with bassist Kyle Motl has released their music on 577 Records, and acclaimed for their "rhapsodic gestures" (The New Yorker) and "keen musical intellects" (The Wire). 

The concert is free; no registration is required. Bring a picnic and your own seating. In the event of rain, the event moves to the Clark’s auditorium, with seating provided on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.

ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 285,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Advance tickets are strongly recommended. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303. 

Use of facemasks is optional for all visitors. For details on health and safety protocols, visit clarkart.edu/health.

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