John Ferguson began playing piano at age 7. He entered into the Conservatory of Music in Sydney, Australia, to learn piano, theory, and harmony. In 1943, when he was 12, he passed his exams and was working as a piano player at local speak-easy’s while the regular musicians were at war [Note: it was technically illegal for a child to be in a speak-easy, but at the time, the other piano players were in the military]. A year later, at age 13, he discovered the trombone and went back into the Conservatory to immerse himself into learning the instrument. It was then that he discovered Big Bands and found work playing trombone in the bands every night. In 1949, when he was 19 yrs old, he formed his first 17-piece big band, the John Ferguson Orchestra. This band performed all over Australia. But he still fell back to the trombone for steady work. At age 22, he was hired to play trombone in the orchestra pit of the musical “Kiss Me Kate”. For the next 6 months, he sat next to a French Horn player and fell in love with the instrument. At the end of the run, he traded in the trombone for a French Horn and went back to the Conservatory! For the next 7-8 years, he played French Horn for ballet, opera companies, and stage plays. He entered into various symphony orchestras about Australia and eventually rose to Principal Horn.