Alcyonis - about me

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.