Composer Kati Agócs Premieres VOICES OF THE IMMACULATE At Miller Theatr, December 9

On December 9th, 2021 at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University in New York City, composer Kati Agócs will premiere a brand new song cycle, Voices of the Immaculate, performed by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Lucy Dhegrae, with whom it was closely developed, and the chamber ensemble Third Sound. The Composer Portraits program will also feature Agócs's Immutable Dreams, as well as an interview with the composer.

Voices of the Immaculate is influenced by the experiences of both Agócs and Dhegrae, focusing on themes of the survivor's experience in the aftermath of trauma, and their path towards reclaiming agency and power. The texts of the work interweave excerpts from the Book of Revelation with testimony from those who experienced childhood sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

Interwoven with the sacred texts, the testimonies form an abstract meta-narrative of abandonment and redemption, casting the singer as an 'angel of the apocalypse' who moves between roles, and embodying a reversal of power over the work's dramatic arc.

Says Agócs of the new work: "I set the words of people from First Nations, Latin American, Canadian, and U.S. communities - boys and girls from different socioeconomic backgrounds - all raised in the church, and subject to abuses of power that they had to conceal. The musical world that I have built to reveal their testimony is a conduit for those who have told their stories after so much silence, and for those who have yet to speak."

Voices of the Immaculate is a co-commission for the performers by the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Chamber Music America, New Music USA, and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

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