Established 1973
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Dennis Báthory-Kitsz
Dennis Báthory-Kitsz was born in 1949, the year that Silly Putty was invented. He has composed music for sound sculptures, soloists, tape & electronics, stage shows, orchestras, dancers, interactive multimedia, acoustic installations, and performance events. He has directed Il Gruppo Nuke Jitters, and has been commissioned by more than 75 ensembles and performers.
He helped advance the chamber opera resurgence with Plasm over ocean at the World Trade Center in 1977; the interactive performance work Echo for solo performer, handmade instruments, and computers was presented in Vermont in 1985; In Bocca al Lupo for quasi-intelligent systems was installed in Montana's Yellowstone Art Center in 1986; the outdoor Vermont installation Traveler's Rest was a 1991 collaboration with West Coast sculptor Fernanda D'Agostino; in 1999, he became the first American composer commissioned for Prague's legendary Mánes Museum, conducting Zonule Glaes II for string quartet & electronic playback; and concerts dedicated to his music were held at Amsterdam's Zaal 100 in 2003 and De Rode Pomp in Ghent in 2005.
Dennis's vampire opera Erzsébet, is to be presented at Cséjthe Castle in Slovakia. Recent commissions include Shahmat for solo flute (Su Lian Tan); LiquidBirds for three Theremins and video (FlynnSpace); NorthSea Balletic Spicebush for solo contrabass (P. Kellach Waddle); Bales, Barrels & Cones for drumkit and playback (Michael Manion); Phylum Euphoria for euphonium and playback (Jiri van der Kaay); and Icecut for orchestra (Vermont Symphony Orchestra). Among his electronic compositions, Detritus of Mating is on the Malted/Media label; zéyu, quânh and sweeh are on Frog Peak; iskajtbrz is on UnLimit; and Snare:Wilding is on illegal art.
His radio/cyber show Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar, co-hosted with composer David Gunn, won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Internet Award in 2000. He was project director for the 2001 Ought-One Festival of NonPop, and co-founded the NonPop International Network of radio and Internet new music shows.
Dennis speaks and writes about music and composition; is Senior Editor for The Transitive Empire; is co-founder of OrbitAccess, evaluating website usability; and is Executive Director of the Vermont Alliance of Independent Country Stores. Dennis's virtual home is at maltedmedia.com and he lives in Northfield, Vermont.
Two interviews with Dennis Báthory-Kitsz can be heard on Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar.