About the music of Kati Agócs, the Boston Globe has said” “Go, listen, and be changed.” She has been honoured and performed worldwide, delivering visceral power and otherworldly lyricism with soulful directness. From folk music of an imaginary culture to volatile spectralism, polytextual vocal ensembles to large symphonic forces, her work embraces the 21st-century orchestra in all of its protean possibilities. A recent Guggenheim fellow, she is also a winner of the prestigious “Arts and Letters Award”, the lifetime achievement award in music composition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her 2016 album The Debrecen Passion inspired Audiophile Audition to name her “one of the brightest stars in her generation of composers”, with MusicWeb International calling it “a moving, spiritual experience, both powerful and uplifting.”
Recent works include a Horn Concerto for James Sommerville, a Piano Concerto for Nicolas Namoradze, and Voices of the Immaculate, a voice/ensemble piece setting words from survivors of abuse by clergy. Born in Windsor, Ontario, Agócs studied at the Juilliard School with Milton Babbitt, and currently serves on the composition faculty of the New England Conservatory. She maintains a permanent work studio in the fishing village of Flatrock, near St. John’s, Newfoundland.