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photo by Eve Sussman |
Kati Agócs
Composition
The music of Kati Agócs bridges the gap between lapidary rigor and sensuous lyricism and has been hailed as original, daring, and from the heart. She is fast gaining international recognition as a significant voice of the younger generation. Recent commissions include St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Da Capo Chamber Players, American Composers Orchestra, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, pianist Fredrik Ullén, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Antares, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, New Juilliard Ensemble, CBC Radio, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Juilliard School (for its annual Irene Diamond Concert in 2001).
Awards include a 2008 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP Leonard Bernstein Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center, Fulbright Fellowship to the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest, Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education, Presser Foundation Award, and honors from ASCAP in their Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Time Out New York featured the premiere recording of "Every Lover is a Warrior" (on the debut CD by harpist Bridget Kibbey, entitled Love is Come Again) as one of its Top 10 Recordings of 2007. Fellowships and residencies include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (Yale Summer School of Music), Aspen Music Festival, Dartington International Music Festival (U.K.), and Virginia Arts Festival. On two occasions while attending Juilliard, Kati Agócs had her orchestral works premiered by the Juilliard Symphony in Alice Tully Hall as a winner of the annual Composer's Competition. In 2004, she spearheaded a groundbreaking exchange program between Juilliard and the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, that continues today. Her teaching bears, in certain ways, the influence of Roger Sessions as a kind of "grand-teacher," since three of the composers with whom she has studied (George Tsontakis, John Harbison, and Milton Babbitt) were his students at different times.
Kati Agócs began as a singer, performing as soprano soloist (and in ensembles) in New York and in various venues in Europe. She starred in Eve Sussman's film Solace, premiered at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2004, and in Ridge Theater's Obie-winning production of Mac Wellman's Jennie Richee.
Master's degree, D.M.A., The Juilliard School. Studies at Aspen Music School, Tanglewood, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, and Sarah Lawrence College. Composition with Milton Babbitt, Robert Beaser, and George Tsontakis. Additional studies with Zoltán Jeney, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison, Joan Tower, Christopher Rouse, and James MacMillan. Voice with Adele Addison and Adrienne Csengery.
Related links:
www.agocsmusic.com