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Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. Described as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Ruckus’ core is a continuo group, the baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon and bass. The NYC-based ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s questing, creative spirit with the grit, groove and jangle of American roots music, creating a unique sound of “rough-edged intensity” (New Yorker) that’s “achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next” (New York Times). The group’s members are among the most creative and virtuosic performers in North American early music.
Ruckus is the house band for Hudson Hall’s baroque opera productions, directed by R.B. Schlather. The New York Times’ Zachary Woolfe wrote: “Ruckus aptly describes itself as a band: it’s that tight, and that wild.” Ruckus’ next production at Hudson Hall will be Handel’s final opera, Deidamia. In spring 2025, the band released The Edinburgh Rollick (featuring violinist Keir GoGwilt) bringing new life to the tunes of Neil Gow, one of Scotland’s most important 18th-century composers. Praised as “a perfect meeting of folk repertoire and ancient instruments “ (Le Canard Folk), it will come to NYC in January 2026 at Music Before 1800.
Ruckus’ debut album, Fly the Coop, a collaboration with flutist Emi Ferguson, was Billboard’s #2 Classical album upon its release. Performances of Fly the Coop have been described as “a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” (New York Times). The Boston Musical Intelligencer describes the group as taking continuo playing to “not simply a new level, but a revelatory new dimension of dynamism altogether… an eruption of pure, pulsing hoedown joy.”
Ruckus joins Davóne Tines in a collaboration entitled “What is Your Hand in This?” The program, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, asks: How can we passionately address wrongs while coexisting as a people? Can we find compassion for others? Can we find compassion for ourselves? The repertoire spans early American hymnody, Handel's Messiah, Benjamin Carr's Federal Overture, abolition-era songs, mid-20th century protest songs, and features commissions from Carnegie Hall and Hudson Hall. It will make its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall in January 2026.