John Allen Ferguson (“Ferg”) died January 5 in Northfield, Minnesota. An organist, choral conductor, composer, and teacher, he was born January 27, 1941, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He began piano lessons around age six and organ lessons at ten. By age twelve, he was playing regularly at his family’s church. As a teenager he worked for the Allen Organ Company, where his duties included playing Christmas music in a holiday display outside the company’s store in the Cleveland Arcade.
Ferguson graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio, in 1963 and completed a Master of Music degree at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, in 1965. He was then hired by Kent State as a faculty member and also became organist at Kent’s United Church of Christ. He went on to complete a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, between 1967 and 1976 while teaching full time. While at Eastman he met his future wife, Ruth Hofstad, also an organist. The two married in August 1971, and in 1976 they welcomed a son, Christopher.
In 1978 the family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Ferguson took up the position of minister of music at Central Lutheran Church. In 1983 he joined the faculty of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, as a professor of organ and church music. He also served as cantor to the St. Olaf student congregation and conductor of the St. Olaf Cantorei. During his years at St. Olaf, Ferguson revitalized and expanded the college’s organ studio and church music program, toured nationally and internationally with ensembles, and oversaw improvements to the college’s organs and worship spaces.
Ferguson remained on the St. Olaf faculty for 29 years, retiring in 2012. His tenure at was the catalyst for a career in composing and arranging, with more than 100 titles in print. Along with Anton Armstrong, he re-envisioned the St. Olaf Choral Series for Augsburg Fortress and worked to make it relevant to a wide variety of 21st-century choirs. He wrote and edited several books and hymnals, and he continued to compose until falling ill in the summer of 2023.
Ferguson traveled across the country and the world presenting hymn festivals and seminars. He served in leadership roles in national organizations and also consulted for churches of all sizes that wanted to improve the quality of their organs and worship practices. From 2002–2022, Ferguson served as the music advisor of St. Olaf College’s radio program Sing For Joy, broadcast weekly across the United States and the wider world. His work was recognized with multiple awards, including the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians’ Raabe Prize, the F. Melius Christiansen Award for the Minnesota Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and the Distinguished Artist Award from the American Guild of Organists. Upon his retirement from St. Olaf College, he was named Emeritus of Music.
After retiring, Ferguson served in two interim positions as organist and director of music, first at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Northfield, and later at Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota, only retiring from playing weekly church services in 2022.
John Allen Ferguson is survived by his son, Christopher and his wife Sarah Blakesley Ferguson, of Auburn, Alabama, and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Ruth. Memorial gifts may be made to the John and Ruth Ferguson Endowment at St. Olaf College, c/o St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, Minnesota, 55057, Attn: Advancement Office; or the John and Ruth Ferguson Endowment at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Northfield, Minnesota. A memorial service is being planned for the spring.
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