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Kati Agócs (1975-    )

Kati Agócs, composerKati Agócs (kuh-tee ah-goch) was born in Windsor, Canada, of Hungarian and American background, and has been on the composition faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston since 2008. Bridging the gap between lapidary rigor and sensuous lyricism, her music is performed all over the world by leading musicians and ensembles. The Boston Globe recently described it as "moving and taut" and "music of fluidity and austere beauty," while Boston's The Hub Review described her orchestral music as "gorgeous". The New York Times has characterized it as "striking" and "filled with attractive ideas" and has described her vocal music as possessing "an almost 19th-century naturalness." A citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for the Charles Ives Fellowship in 2008 praised the "melody, drama, and clear design" of her music, its "soulful directness", and its "naturalness of dissonance." Her works have been performed by Eighth Blackbird, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Xanthos Ensemble, Standing Wave, Lontano (London), Lisa Bielawa and Boston Modern Orchestra Project,  the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble de Flûtes Alizé (Montréal), National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Chamber Ensemble of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Composers Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Players, pianist Fredrik Ullén, Duo Concertante, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, and PRISM Saxophone Quartet, among others. Agócs was Composer-in Residence with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2010 season), and with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra, through the Music Alive: New Partnerships program of Meet the Composer and the League of American Orchestras. Her awards include an inaugural 2009 Brother Thomas Fellowship from the Boston Foundation, a 2008 Charles Ives Fellowship, ASCAP Leonard Bernstein Fellowship, multiple grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, a Fulbright Fellowship, Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Composition fellowship, a Jerome Foundation commission, Presser Foundation Award, and honors from ASCAP in their Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Fellowships and residencies include the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (Yale Summer School of Music), Aspen Music Festival, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Dartington International Music Festival (U.K.), and Virginia Arts Festival. In 2004, she spearheaded a groundbreaking exchange program between Juilliard and the Liszt Academy in Budapest (that still continues today), and she has written on recent American and Hungarian music for Tempo and The Musical Times. Agócs earned her Doctor of Musical Arts and Masters degrees from The Juilliard School, where her principal teacher was Milton Babbitt. She is also an alumna of the Aspen Music School, Tanglewood Music Festival, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific (one of the United World Colleges), and Sarah Lawrence College, all of which she attended on full scholarship. From 2006 through 2008 she taught at the School of Music, Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is on the composition faculty of The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and maintains a work studio in the village of Flatrock, near St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Agócs Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre    ~ ~ ~    Agócs on Agócs
All The Ends of the World, string trio (2001)
Caritas, flute, cello and piano (2001)
Secret Gardens, guitar (2004)
Imagination of Their Hearts, soprano or mez-sopr, vln, cl, vc & piano (2004) [text: medieval & folk poems in 5 languages]
Coloratura (6 motets), saxophone quartet (2005)
Versprechen (Promise), solo violin (or viola; or cello) (2005)
Every Lover is a Warrior, harp (2005)
As Biddeth Thy Tongue, alto saxophone (2006)
Division of Heaven and Earth, piano (2006)
Immutable Dreams, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2007)
I and Thou, 2 cellos (2007)
Vocalise on a Poem by Dylan Thomas, oboe and viola (2007)
Nostalgia for Airs Unheard, piano (2007)
Requiem Fragments, orchestra (2008)
Supernatural Love, violin and piano (2008)
By the Streams of Babylon, 2 sopranos and chamber orchestra (2008) [text: Psalm 136]
... like treasure hidden in a field, chamber orchestra (2009)
Awakening Galatea, soprano, flute and harp (2009)
Elysium, amplified solo cello, flute choir (or chamber orchestra) and tape (2010)
Perpetual Summer, orchestra (2010)
Shenanigan, orchestra (2011)
Vessel, 3 voices, violin, harp, double bass and 3 percussionists (2011) [10 players???]


WORKS BY GENRE                                                                         Agócs Links    ~ ~ ~    Agócs on Agócs    ~ top of page ~
Orchestra
Requiem Fragments, orchestra (2008)
... like treasure hidden in a field, chamber orchestra (2009)
    - Chorale
    - Peregrination
    - Pearl of Great Price
    - Cathedral with No Ceiling
    - Celestial Machinery
Perpetual Summer, orchestra (2010)
Shenanigan, orchestra (2011)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra or Ensemble
Elysium, amplified solo cello, flute choir (or chamber orchestra) and tape (2010)

Chamber
All The Ends of the World, string trio (2001)
Caritas, flute, cello and piano (2001)
Coloratura (6 motets), saxophone quartet (2005)
    - Introit
    - Laud
    - Hoquetus
    - Lamentation
    - Fuging Tune
    - Hymn
Versprechen (Promise), solo violin (or viola; or cello) (2005)
Immutable Dreams, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2007)
    - "I feel the air of other planets"
    - Microconcerto in Memoriam György Ligeti
    - Husks
I and Thou, 2 cellos (2007)
Vocalise on a Poem by Dylan Thomas, oboe and viola (2007)
Supernatural Love, violin and piano (2008)

Solo Instrument
Secret Gardens, guitar (2004)
Every Lover is a Warrior, harp (2005)
As Biddeth Thy Tongue, alto saxophone (2006)

Piano
Division of Heaven and Earth, piano (2006)
Nostalgia for Airs Unheard, piano (2007)

Vocal
Imagination of Their Hearts, soprano or mez-sopr, vln, cl, vc & piano (2004) [text: medieval & folk poems in 5 languages]
By the Streams of Babylon, 2 sopranos and chamber orchestra (2008) [text: Psalm 136]
Awakening Galatea, soprano, flute and harp (2009)
Vessel, 3 voices, violin, harp, double bass and 3 percussionists (2011) [10 players???]

Electronic
Elysium, amplified solo cello, flute choir (or chamber orchestra) and tape (2010)


AGÓCS  LINKS                                                                           Works by Genre     ~ ~ ~    Agócs on Agócs     ~ top of page ~
Canadian Composer Wins Prestigious U.S. Fellowship (CBC News)    also    here
Interview with Kati Agócs (Zach Herchen)
Kati Agócs – Six Questions About Women in Composition Now (WSO New Music Festival)
NEC Faculty Composer Kati Agócs to Have Orchestral Work Premiered at Olympics (New England Conservatory)

Composer's website    . . .   contact Kati Agócs:  here

Agócs @ Wikipedia
Agócs @ American Academy of Arts and Letters
Agócs @ Boston Modern Orchestra Project    also     here
Agócs @ Classical Archives
Agócs @ Composers Collaborative Inc.
Agócs @ composition:today
Agócs @ Facebook
Agócs @ InstantEncore
Agócs @ La Ligue canadienne des compositeurs (LCC)/Canadian League of Composers
Agócs @ Meet the Composer
Agócs @ Meet the Composer Studio
Agócs @ Metropolis Ensemble
Agócs @ MusicWeb International
Agocs @ New England Conservatory
Agócs @ New York City Ballet/New York Choreographic Institute
Agócs @ The New York Times
Agócs @ Sonagrama (in French)
Agócs @ WSO New Music Festival

Publisher
Agócs @ Composer's website

Streaming Audio
Agócs @ Concert Artists Guild
Agócs @ Classical Archives
Agócs @ Meet the Composer
Agócs @ Meet the Composer Studio
Agócs @ minimal exposition
Agócs @ MySpaceMusic/@ Breath Beneath
Agócs @ MySpaceMusic/@ Concert Artists Guild
Agócs @ ReverbNation
Agócs @ Leonardo Turrin

Recordings
Agócs @ ArkivMusic
Agócs @ CD Universe
Agócs @ ClassicsOnline

Video
Agócs @ YouTube
Agócs @ Google Video

                                                                                                                                                                                                     ~ top of page ~
Agócs on Agócs: Composing Vessel (VIDEO)







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