Emi Ferguson

About Emi Ferguson

Emi is a creative artist bridging musical genres and artistic disciplines, always looking for new ways for people to embrace classical music. This concept is core to her work as founder and artistic director of the ensemble, Exquisite Corpse, a collective dedicated to music and art that resists easy categorization.

She has spoken and performed at several TEDX events and has been featured on media outlets including The Discovery Channel, Netflix’s Explained (Vox), Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and New York’s radio station, WQXR talking about how music relates to our world today. As a radio host and programmer, Emi hosts WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and Once Upon A Composer, a series created for the youngest of radio listeners, and was the creator of the podcast series This Composer Is SICK! that explored the impact of Syphilis on classical composers. Her book Iconic Composers introduces music lovers of all ages to 50 incredible Western Classical composers from the past 1000 years. 

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. 

Emi’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 17th-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 #1 on the iTunes classical charts and #2 on the Billboard classical charts, and was called “blindingly impressive … a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by The New York Times. 

A 2023 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Emi enjoys performing as both a soloist and a collaborator, appearing at major festivals and concert halls around the world.  She collaborates regularly with AMOC*, Ruckus, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society, the Manhattan Chamber Players, and as the music director of Camerata Pacifica Baroque. 

As an educator, Emi has taught on the faculties of The Juilliard School, the Bach Virtuosi Festival, and the University at Buffalo in addition to being sought after for masterclasses at universities around the country. Emi became the first student to earn Undergraduate and Graduate degrees with Scholastic Distinction (for her simultaneous studies in Epidemiology) in flute performance at The Juilliard School. She later earned a second Graduate degree in Historical Performance as the only flutist accepted into Juilliard’s inaugural Historical Performance class as a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, she now resides in New York.