(Boston) Tonight, the Lincoln Center honored H+H Principal Flutist Emi Ferguson with a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Presented annually to up to five instrumentalists or ensembles, the prestigious award recognizes American musicians who have great potential for solo careers. The award includes $25,000 for professional advancement. Tonight’s announcement will be streamed live at 6:00 PM from WQRX’s youtube account.
“This is an incredibly well-deserved honor for Emi, who has been a star for H+H since her first concert with H+H in 2018. She gave her solo debut earlier this month and the audience loved it,” said David Snead, Philip and Marjorie Gerdine President and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society. “It is great to see others recognize what we already know, Emi is a world-class performer that excels at everything she tries and is always a delight to be around.”
As a native of Brookline, Massachusetts, Emi Ferguson grew up performing in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and listening to the Handel and Haydn Society. Named the H+H Principal Flutist in 2018, Emi performed her first solo with H+H earlier this month in Mozart + Mendelssohn. Emi stretches the boundaries of the modern-day musician as a flutist, singer, and composer, performing with groups including Ruckus, the American Modern Opera Company, New York New Music Ensemble, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and with period ensembles including Tafelmusik, Les Arts Florissants, the American Classical Orchestra, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and Juilliard415. She has spoken and performed at several TEDx events and has been featured as an ambassador for classical music on media outlets including The Discovery Channel, Vox’s “Netflix: Explained” series, Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and various TouchPress apps. Her debut album, Amour Cruel, described as “baroque pop” by the Washington Post, features Emi as a singer, flutist, composer, and arranger, and spent four weeks on the Classical, Classical Crossover, and World Music Billboard Charts.
About the Handel and Haydn Society
Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society is dedicated to performing Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. H+H has been captivating audiences for 208 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States). Today, H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 50,000 listeners annually with a nine-week subscription series at Boston Symphony Hall and other leading venues. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, H+H supports seven youth choirs of singers in grades 2-12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H+H’s numerous free community concerts include an annual commemoration of the original 1863 Emancipation Proclamation concert on December 31. H+H has released 16 CDs on the Coro label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H+H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.
