What the Press Says
”It was a truly professional and extremely sincere, emotional performance,
of which the best theaters of the world could be jealous. I do mean theaters,
not just concert auditoriums, because the dramatic composition of the
performance was filled with contrasts, dynamic and free singing as well as
subtle artistic nuances.”
Kultura Weekly, Minsk, May 8-14, 2004 Nadzeya
Buntsevich
“With rain splattering in from the open sides and the leaky roof of the
performance hall, American Voices director John Ferguson treated
concert-goers in the central city of Hue to its first performance by an
American musician since the end of the Vietnam War. Ferguson's strong solo
renditions of music by Gershwin, Joplin and Charles Ives charged the audience
members with enthusiasm for music forms which many of them had never before
heard.”
U.S. Consulate General, Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam
November, 2003
"American Voices recently held an audience of 100 guests in rapt attention
at my Residence…It was a gratifying moment, confirming the need as often as
possible to let the arts speak, to represent the achievements and goodness of
America….The pedagogical aspect to the project, with its lasting impact on
the successor generation of young musicians is just as important as the
group's professional concerts…They show the finest side of American arts and
artists."
Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece, R. Nicholas Burns January,
2001
“The two guest groups from the United States were a miracle on stage.
Sometimes the audience was reverently silent; at other times they screamed in
admiration. On the second day of the Festival one could hear this kind of
conversation in the lobby of the Hall: “Unfortunately, I could not get to the
first day of the festival.” “You have lost half of your life! But do
not worry - you still have the second half!”
‘Almaty Business Week’, April 15, 2002
"You will not hear American music or jazz in Tashkent every day because
people here know only about one set of American music…pop and rock. So the
concert organizers will hope that such events will reveal another side of
music and culture in America as well."
CNN World Report, ‘Gershwin in Tashkent’, January 1999
“In the ‘Blues’ of George Rochberg, John Ferguson proved himself a pianist
of the highest intellectual and performing rank.”
General Anzeiger, Bonn, April 20, 1996