Handel, Sancho, Oram & Billings: a joyful dialogue with the rustic pastoral traditions of 18th century New England and London. 

The concert features Trio Sonatas by George Frideric Handel, country dances from Ignatius Sancho, instrumental hymns from William Billings and Daniel Read, and a new work from Celeste Oram.

Ruckus is a shapeshifting early music band. From its core team of continuo masters, it expands into varied configurations with a roster of some of North America's leading soloists of Baroque repertoire.

Flutist, vocalist, and composer Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals as a soloist and member of the Handel and Haydn Society, AMOC*, the New York New Music Ensemble, and the Manhattan Chamber Players. Emi’s recordings for Arezzo Music, Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes (2019 with Ruckus) and Amour Cruel (2017) were amongst the top 10 albums on the Classical Billboard Charts and showcase Emi’s fascination with reinvigorating music of the past.

Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant - the first baroque artist in the respected program’s history - and Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong is a rising star on both the historical performance and modern violin stages, and has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Costa Rica, Panama, China, and New Zealand. 

Pre-show dinner is catered with a Mediterranean flavor by Door Prize, a pop-up restaurant in the Berkshires that has taken the main dining area of MASS MoCA, Bondhu, among many others. Drinks are catered by Berkshire Cider Project.