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Ferguson Hoey
With early encouragement from Thurston Dart and after studies at
the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College
of Music, Ferguson Hoey began making his first harpsichord in Greenwich
in 1971. He went on to work in the Duns Tew workshops of the late
David Rubio, also undertaking harpsichord voicing for Robert Goble
& Son and Adlam Burnett.
By 1974 he had embarked on a career as a professional instrument
builder and whilst never entirely abandoning his early performing
aspirations, he went on to become an acknowledged maker of quality
harpsichords.
Among the distinguished musicians who have either performed on or
purchased Hoey instruments are Gustav Leonhardt, Christopher Stembridge,
Christopher Hogwood, Robert Woolley, Ivor Bolton, Kim Marshall,
Gerald Gifford and Timothy Roberts. In reviewing a recital by Trevor
Pinnock, the Daily Telegraph critic wrote: "The harpsichord
by Ferguson Hoey was very fine. Quite without harshness it has a
remarkable sustaining quality to its sonorous tone which is especially
beautiful in the Adagio of Bach's D major Toccata, which breathed
the same poignancy of its musical counterpart in Schubert's String
Quintet." In 1980, when reviewing a recital by Paul Simmonds,
the Times critic Paul Griffiths wrote: "One mark of a good
harpsichordist must be that he justifies his choice of instrument,
that he does not waste its special qualities nor make one long for
the fuller presence of a piano..........the alacrity in rapid figures
and ornaments would have flummoxed any piano, but found a perfect
response in the sweet-toned new Ferguson Hoey harpsichord."
Among the institutions that have purchased his harpsichords are
'Scuola Diocesana Santa Cecilia', Brescia; the Royal Holloway
College, London; and the University Music Departments of Cork, Eire
and Queen's, Belfast. Groups regularly using a Hoey harpsichord
include Fiori Musicali under the direction of Penelope Rapson. His
instruments have been exported to Italy, Switzerland, Australia,
the USA, Germany and Fiji. Among CD recordings featuring them are
keyboard works by John Blow on Hyperion and all the Concertos for
Harpsichord by Bach with Ivor Bolton and the St. James's Baroque
Players.
As a restorer and researcher Fergus has travelled widely. In 1978
he spent some months in New Zealand restoring an eighteenth century
Kirkman harpsichord. Whilst there, he appeared on television and
gave a radio recital of works by Purcell, Chambonnières,
Louis Couperin, Marchand, Clérambault and François
Couperin. He has worked in co-operation with BBC Radio 3 and taken
part in programmes on Radio 4 and BBC 1 Television.
During the last twenty years Fergus has also worked with modern
pianos reconditiong or restoring grands at Blenheim Palace, Cholmondeley
Castle and the Bishop's Palace (Fulham). He has worked extensively
with professional performers and among the pianists for whom he
has prepared concert instruments are Anne and Connie Shih, Alberto
Portugheis, Ricardo Requejo, Alexander Ardakov, Edith Picht-Axenfeld,
and Professor Malcolm Troup in the UK. He has also worked on Steinway
pianos in Paris for Akiko Ebi and Piotr Anderszewski, his experience
as a player giving him an expert understanding of the mechanical
and acoustic standards expected by musicians.
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