Emi Ferguson

Composer, singer, and visual artist, Cécile McLorin Salvant, is passionate about storytelling and exploring connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions, theater, jazz, and baroque music. An eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, power dynamics, twists, and humor once described as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings” by the late, great Jessye Norman. She won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010 and received Grammy Awards for three consecutive albums: “The Window,” “Dreams and Daggers,” and “For One To Love.” In 2020, she received the MacArthur fellowship and Doris Duke Artist Award. Her debut and follow up Nonesuch Records projects, “Ghost Song” (2022) and “Mélusine” (2023), each received two Grammy nominations. Salvant’s latest work, “Ogresse”, arranged by Darcy James Argue, is a musical fable in the form of a cantata that blends several styles of composition resulting in an expansive sonic landscape.

Emi Ferguson is on a mission to shake up classical music. Whether playing modern or historical flutes, singing, composing, or speaking about music, she brings centuries of music to life with an adventurous spirit and a fresh perspective. Her performances—ranging from Renaissance masterpieces to brand-new commissions—are anything but predictable, blending historical performance with a fearless, modern edge.