Meet the Composer

Kati AgócsBoston, Massachusetts

By the Streams of Babylon (2008)

5 minutes
Orchestra version: 2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2.2—2.2.1.1—timp.perc(3)—electric guitar—strings—2 sopranos (amplified)
Sinfonietta version: 1(picc).1(corA).asax.bsax.1—1—1.1.1—perc(1)—strings—2 sopranos (amplified)
World premiere: April 12, 2008, Albany Symphony, David Allan Miller

• Listen to an excerpt:
  
  Performed by the Albany Symphony
• Score excerpt, Sinfonietta version (pdf, 603kb) »
• Program notes (pdf, 61kb) »
• Residency proposal (pdf, 60kb) »

Composer Kati Agócs (kuh-tee ah-goch) was born in 1975 in Windsor, Canada, of Hungarian and American background. Bridging the gap between lapidary rigor and sensuous lyricism, her music has been hailed as original, daring and from the heart. Recently appointed to the composition faculty of thee New England Conservatory in Boston, she is fast gaining international recognition as a significant voice of the younger generation. A 2008 citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters praises the "soulful directness" of her music, its "naturalness of dissonance," and its "melody, drama, and clear design." The New York Times has characterized it as "striking" and "nimble," and has described her vocal music as possessing "an almost 19th-century naturalness."

In the 2008-2009 season, her quintet Immutable Dreams was showcased across the USA by eighth blackbird on their acoustic program, and at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York; Supernatural Love for violin and piano was heard at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and on nation-wide tours of China and Canada by Duo Concertante; As Biddeth Thy Tongue was presented by saxophonist Timothy McAllister at the Lontano Festival of American Music in London, U.K.; and orchestral performances include premieres by the American Composers Orchestra at Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall), CBC Radio Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, with the composer singing. Time Out New York featured the
premiere recording of Every Lover is a Warrior—as part of harpist Bridget Kibbey's debut CD Love is Come Again—as one of its Top Ten Recordings of 2007, calling her an "innovative" and "promising" composer, and describing her music as "powerful". Six separate premiere recordings of her chamber music are scheduled to be released on upcoming CDs by the end of 2009.

Kati Agócs holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Masters degrees from The Juilliard School. She is also an alumna of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, 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. Her principal composition teachers are Milton Babbitt, Robert Beaser, George Tsontakis, and Zoltan Jeney; voice teachers are Adele Addison and Adrienne Csengery.

Composer’s website »