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Kati Agócs

Upcoming shows with New Thread

130423_newthreadshows

I’ll be doing my first shows with New Thread Quartet as an official member in two weeks! We’re working on some great music by Kati Agócs, Michael Djupstrom, Gilbert Galindo, and Daniel Wohl. Details:

Fri May 10 @ 8pm – The Firehouse Space
Saxophone galore! New Thread joins the Ogni Suono Saxophone Duo on their upcoming tour (flier excerpt above, artwork by Isaac Klunk).

Sat May 11 @ 8pm – The DiMenna Center
New Thread performance on NYsoundcircuit, a multimedia salon series showcasing various arts disciplines.

Contour Lines

I’m very excited to announce my latest project: Contour Lines!

Contour Lines is a program of contemporary electroacoustic and solo works for saxophone, featuring the newly commissioned piece, Shipbreaking. The project explores the landscape of contemporary saxophone, from avant-garde to classical to pop and jazz influences, with an emphasis on electroacoustic works. Concerts will showcase both established and young composers, including leading spectral composers Gérard Grisey and Fabien Lévy, Dutch composer and culture commentator JacobTV, current Meet The Composer Studio resident Kati Agócs, and past winner of the Look & Listen Festival competition Paul Leary.

Commissioned works by Victoria Cheah, Paul Leary, and Benjamin Taylor will represent the younger generation of composers. Cheah’s Strangeloop (solo bari sax) navigates the tangled hierarchical system of strange loops. Leary’s Number Stations (alto sax and audio playback) blends pop/rock influences with classical training. Taylor’s Shipbreaking (alto sax and processed sound) reflects on the wonderment of accomplishing monumental tasks through simple means. Shipbreaking was commissioned by an international consortium led by myself. Ben will be present at my Boston and Baltimore concerts to talk about his piece and give a hands-on demonstration of the technology used. The talk and performances will be shared on YouTube.

East Coast mini-tour:

April 18 @ 8:00pm – Gershwin Hotel, NYC
April 19 @ 8:00pm – Yes.Oui.Si, Boston (talk/tech demo by Benjamin Taylor at 8pm, concert at 8:30pm)
April 20 @ 9:00pm – Red Room, Baltimore (talk/tech demo by Benjamin Taylor at 9pm, concert at 9:30pm)
May 17 @ 9:30pm – On The Cusp, Jersey City

Program:
Fabien Lévy: L’air d’ailleurs-Bicinium
Benjamin Taylor: Shipbreaking – commissioned by international consortium
Gérard Grisey: Anubis-Nout
Victoria Cheah: Strangeloop – commissioned by Zach Herchen
Kati Agócs: As Biddeth Thy Tongue
Katarina Miljkovic: If in a winter…
JacobTV: Billie
Paul Leary: Number Stations – commissioned by Zach Herchen

Contour Lines logo designed by ycArt Design Studio.
This project is funded in part through New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program.

AM/PM – mini tour with Vivre Musicale

I just got back from a great performance weekend with AM/PM Sax Quartet! We played three concerts with Vivre Musicale (a chamber music society based in Baltimore and DC). Our first two performances were titled SeNsuAlitY and presented “the pursuit and peril of physical pleasure. Offering the audience an in-depth (and at times unexpected) look into the sensual, this program is an exploration of sensuality itself, as well as it’s consequences and rewards.”
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AM/PM: Hymn by Kati Agócs

In the beginning of this year AM/PM commissioned Eli Stine to create a video for performance with Kati Agócs’ piece Hymn. We were really blown away with the result and recently spent the time to record the piece. Above is the result. Enjoy!

Video from YouTube.

Concert, Concert, Concert


I’ve got a busy long weekend coming up! For those of you in Virginia, I’ll be performing at the Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, hosted by the University of Richmond. This Friday, on the 2:30pm concert, I am playing the premiere of Chris Chandler’s soprano sax and playback piece a thing of dreams and mist. I’ve had fun recording samples and meeting with Chris over Skype during the last couple months. And a great big Thank You goes out to Cara Salveson for lending me her soprano.

Then Saturday, on the 10:30am concert, I am performing Paul Leary’s Number Stations. This is a piece I commissioned/premiered in 2010 and had the good fortune to perform at the SEAMUS 2011 conference. Check out my recording of the work in the media section. I’m also very excited to be sharing the program with Peabody faculty member McGregor Boyle!

After a quick train ride to Baltimore I’ll be performing with AM/PM on Monday at the Three Arts Club of Homeland in Baltimore. We’ve got a great program lined up including Piazzolla’s classic Histoire du Tango, our own Miguel Bolivar’s Saxophone Quartet #1, Kati Agócs’ Hymn, and the lengthy but amazing Recitation Book by David Maslanka.

And then I will be go home and rest…

Recording on Q2

Last April I recorded/mixed Meet The Composer’s Three City Dash concert at Symphony Space. The program featured the music of Yu-Hui Chang (performed by Music from China) and Kati Agócs (performed by Metropolis Ensemble). I’m pleased to announce that the entire concert recording is now available to stream on Q2, NYC’s premiere new music radio station. Enjoy!