Artist Statement:
I have never felt the need to work within a consistent style, create a recognizable “signature image,” or follow a single developmental line. Nevertheless, almost all my work is built around a solid core of interests, concerns and influences: 1. a fascination with the most fundamental properties of sound and light; 2. the influence of various tribal, folk and ethnic modes of artistic expression and thought; 3. an abiding interest in the possibilities of new technologies and techniques; 4. a need to explore and also challenge, both as theoretician and artist, the basic premises of the various “languages” of the arts.
Recordings of many of my musical compositions can be accessed via SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/victorag
1937 -- Born in Poughkeepsie, New York
1959 -- Bachelor of Music with major in composition, Syracuse University -- studies at Aspen School of Music under Darius Milhaud, 1958.
June, 1961 -- Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology, Wesleyan University.
1961-62 -- graduate student, ethnomusicology, UCLA -- creation of Lost Angels, for woodwind quintet (performed at Ojai Festival), Greenwich, for Flutes, Brass and Percussion, The White Piano, for piano solo.
1963-66 -- full time research associate, collaboration with Alan Lomax, Cantometrics Project Columbia University; early experiments in electronic music, audio montage and film; creation of Inferno, audio montage later published in Electronic Music (see below).
1965 -- creation of Angel Eyes the first imageless (or "flicker") film made in the United States and among the first of the so- called "structural" films -- presented at St. Mark's Church, New York.
1966 -- further research with imageless "structural" film, leading to creation of Archangel, presented as part of a special series of avant garde screenings at the 1966 New York Film Festival, Lincoln Center; creation of Seraph, one of the first "minimalist" films -- presented at the Filmmaker's Cinemateque, New York.
1967-70 -- studies in music composition at SUNY Buffalo, under Leo Smit, Henri Pousseur and Lejarin Hiller (Ph.D. awarded in 1972); creation of several works of electronic music at the Music Department Moog synthesizer; experimentation with synthesis of oscilloscopic visual patterns generated by the Moog synthesizer; various works performed by students, faculty and members of the resident "Creative Associates" new music group; active participation in creation of Black Studies program and hiring of first African-American music department faculty at SUNY Buffalo.
1967 -- creation of Threshold, a nightlong multimedia "ritual" performance, reflecting the influence of non Western approaches to the arts, featuring musical and movement improvisation, electronic sound, and specially designed film and slide projections, at the Workshop Repertory Theater, Buffalo; installation of Veil, light sculpture projection, at Both Ends gallery, Buffalo; Inferno, audio montage, published in Electronic Music, on the Folkways label.
1968 -- creation of Small Dog (electronic tape) and The Liberator (piano), early, independently conceived, examples of minimalist music; studies (on full scholarship) with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Cologne Course for New Music, Germany; creation of Temptation of St. Anthony (electronic tape and audio collage) at the APELAC studio, Brussels; second version of Threshold presented by students at the University of Illinois at Urbana. White River, for two pianos, performed at SUNY Buffalo music dept.
1970-73 -- Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh Music Department -- development of new classes in World Music and Music in Society; additional classes in Electronic Music, Composition, Twentieth Century Music, Orchestration, etc.; performances of new works by University based groups including Heinz Chapel Choir; development of experimental improvisation ensembles, both vocal and instrumental, inspired by the group performances of tribal peoples such as the Pygmies and Bushmen of west and south Africa.
1971 -- revised and expanded version of Threshold multimedia performance piece, Studio Theater, University of Pittsburgh; active in creation of Pittsburgh Filmmakers media center -- member of Board of Directors for several years.
1972 -- completion and self-publication of Book of the Year Three Thousand, a combination epic poem, soundpiece, ritual performance piece and concrete poem (40 pages of text reduced to a single sheet); Book of the Year Three Thousand read in its entirety in a three hour performance at the Kitchen, New York; Ph.D. in Music Composition awarded by SUNY Buffalo.
1973 -- one man presentation of films and dynamic light sculpture, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1974 -- completes film version of Book of the Year Three Thousand -- presented at one man shows at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Millennium, New York; text of Book of the Year Three Thousand (Part 1) published in the avant-garde music journal, Source; resigns (amicably) from University of Pittsburgh (after reappointment), joins Pittsburgh Filmmakers as part-time faculty.
1974-76 -- several presentations of new films, installations, performance pieces, electronic music at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Millenium; active in the development of programs in film studies at Pittsburgh Filmmakers in association with University of Pittsburgh and Point Park College; publishes first part of "A Theory of Pure Film" in Field of Vision
1977 -- visiting artist, Center for Creative and Performing Arts and Department of Media Studies, SUNY Buffalo; Polyhyperchord, multimedia work for instrumental ensemble, lights and video presented at Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, by the Creative Associates of Buffalo, Morton Feldman, director; creation of Video Piece 1, computer controlled video display, at Vasulka studio, Buffalo; Exorcism of the Photographic Image, multimedia installation, Hallwalls, Buffalo; participation with Paul Sharits, Tony Conrad and Peter Kubelka in seminar on Imageless Film, SUNY Buffalo; Book of the Year Three Thousand film selected for permanent collection, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1978-82 -- extensive research in film theory, aesthetics and semiotics, leading to creation of monograph Montage, Realism and the Act of Vision presenting a theory of "negative syntax" (accepted for publication in Advances in Semiotics series by editor Thomas Sebeok, but turned down by publisher in anticipation of poor sales); participates in Film London 79 festival, where several new films are shown; creation of additional computer-video pieces through auspices of Woody and Steina Vasulka; Veil 4, computer video installation, presented at Contemporary Media Study Center, Dayton ('80).
1983-86 -- period of intense involvement with computer programming (in BASIC, machine language and C, using the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers) and computer based music and video art; development of Program Music, full featured machine language music sequencer for the Commodore 64; Veil 5, computer video installation, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts ('83); Passage, for string orchestra -- performed by Pittsburgh String Consort, (‘83); Orbis Factor, computer video/sound installation, Off-Forbes festival, Pittsburgh ('84); teaches classes in Computer Video at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and, for these classes, develops Video Procedures Library (VPL), a language for the teaching of dynamic design via computer based video; mid Atlantic region media arts fellowship ('85)
1987 -- accepts part time position as Computer Lab Coordinator and Music/Art Teacher at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), Pittsburgh; VPL language ported (with extensive enhancements) to DOS based computers for use at CAPA; Mid Atlantic region media arts fellowship for creation of original computer video work.
1988 -- Mondo, set of five computer music pieces, created with original software, is completed; Lux and Orbis Factor, computer video pieces created with original software, presented at the WYSIWYG Exhibition, Blair Art Museum and Johnstown Art Museum; lecture/demonstration on Dynamic Design presented at the SCAN conference on computers in the arts and education, Philadelphia.
1989 -- visiting Assistant Professor, Music Department, University of Pittsburgh -- seminar on "Ethnomusicological Resources for Composers" -- classes in theory and composition; participates in process of revamping Pitt's electronic music studio to include MIDI equipment and computers; Ocean of Silence, computer controlled light/sound installation, based on original software, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh; begins Hyperchord series -- computer music based on cyclic structures.
1990 -- Begins Harmonia series, part of larger project, originally for the Amiga computer, called Spells from the Book of Lights.
1991 -- Alter (light sculpture installation), Birmingham Lofts, Pittsburgh; presentation of new computer music, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe.
1992 -- completion of Great March Across the Plain, for full orchestra.
1993 -- Millennium Fanfares, Changes, Passing Changes, music for computer controlled synthesizer; “Toward a Unified Theory of the Arts,” published in Semiotica.
1994 -- Presence of Mind/Ocean of Changes (light sculpture installation with computer controlled sound), The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; Completion of Meditation in the Long Grass, for string quartet.
1995 -- continuing work on Spells from the Book of Lights, dynamic audio/ visual design for the Amiga computer -- theoretical research and writings.
1996 -- continuing work on Spells from the Book of Lights for new Pentium-based computer system: Homage to Leger and Alegrias completed; “Mondrian and the Dialectic of Essence,” published in Art Criticism; “Toward a Unified Theory of the Arts” reissued on the Internet in the journal Music Theory Online.
1997 - 98 -- continuing work with dynamic design computer projects; continuing theoretical research and writing. Recipient of the Creative Achievement Award, in the Established Artist category, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Nov., 1998. “Passage from Realism to Cubism: The Subversion of Pictorial Semiosis,” published in Art Criticism, 1998. “Brakhage and the Theory of Montage,” published in The Millenium Film Journal , 1998.
1999 -- “Testament,” prose poem, published in Ygdrasil, online literary Journal, Feb., 1999. To Stone, computer video composition, begun in 1997, completed, Feb.
1999. I, Bertolt Brecht, a work in progress, combining musical theater and Web site, published by the Internet Journal JanusHead. Group of four short films presented at the Whitney Museum’s “American Century” retrospective. Appointed Visiting Assistant Professor in the music program of Chatham College.
2000 -- Awarded grant of $5,000 from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Multimedia installation, Ocean of Story, included in the Pittsburgh Biennial, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Four films included as part of the American Century retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
2001 – Multimedia installation, Alegrias, presented at the Megahan Gallery of Allegheny College, February and March. Multimedia installation, To Stone presented at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Completion of three act performance-piece/play, I Bertolt Brecht (see under 1999, above).
2002-2004 – One act play, Stop Motion, among finalists in the Scripts Competition of the Sonoma County Repertory Theater. Completion of a new three act play, Aliens Among Us. Composition for Violin and Piano, Yehudi.
2010 – Temptation of St. Anthony – 45 minute video with electronic soundtrack, based on paintings by Hieronomous Bosch. Accessible via youtube.
2011 – Sounding the Depths – book-length study of musical evolution. Initially self-published. Italian translation subsequently published by Codice Edizione.
2013 – Violin Concerto.
2014 - The Human Abstract, for vocal ensemble.
2018 – Oak Forest, for wind orchestra, commissioned by Robert Beaudreau. Tender Green, for wind ensemble. Oak Forest, Tender Green and Greenwich published by C.F. Peters Corp. To Cygnus, piano quintet.
2020 – Passages, for orchestra.
2021 – Millenium Fanfares – 23 minute video with electronic soundtrack. Accessible via youtube.
2022 – Concerto for clarinet and orchestra. Meditation for clarinet and orchestra. First Symphony, for full orchestra. Voyage, for orchestra.
2023 – Plain Song, for orchestra.
2024 – Gradus ad Parnassum, for orchestra; Voyage24, for full orchestra, premiered by the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra.
2025 – On Ice, for orchestra. Second Symphony, for orchestra.
2026 – Third Quartet.
