Praised for her “enchanting, glowing timbre and perfect intonation, with a good helping of theatrical spirit” (Weiler Zeitung), British-American soprano Agnes Coakley Cox is a specialist in the performance of early Baroque music and a sought-after ensemble musician.
Agnes is co-founder and co-director of the New England-based ensemble for 17th-century music, In Stile Moderno. Her desire to bring early music to life has led her to become an expert in the historical performance practice of singing, and she actively applies historical gesture, pronunciation, and ornamentation to her performances. Agnes’ singing is characterized by a genuinely expressive style, a deep level of engagement with the text, and a passion for connecting with the audience. She enjoys collaborating with early music ensembles such as Seven Times Salt, La Fiocco, Long and Away, Les Canards Chantants, MIRYAM, and Les Enfants d’Orphée.
Known for her clear, bright tone and high-caliber musicianship, Agnes is also in demand as a choral musician. Recent choral appearances have been with the Handel & Haydn Society, Ensemble Altera, Zenith Ensemble, and The Thirteen. She has also sung with the Washington Bach Ensemble, the Choir of the Church of the Advent, the Schola Cantorum of Boston, Cappella Clausura, and the Boston Camerata.
Agnes is also proud to add “voice of the universe” to her qualifications, as she lends her unerring pitch center and haunting tone quality to the new project Black Hole Symphony, a collaboration between composer David Ibbett of the Multiverse Concert Series and Boston’s Museum of Science that combines new music with an immersive planetarium experience.
Agnes teaches voice privately in the Pioneer Valley and online. An enthusiastic pedagogue, she loves making vocal technique and musicianship accessible and rewarding for all ages.
After graduating summa cum laude in Music at Yale, Agnes studied voice, historical performance practice, and pedagogy at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland, where her teacher and mentor was Evelyn Tubb. Agnes lives in Greenfield, MA with her husband Nathaniel and son Simon. When she is not singing, she can be found knitting, baking, or tackling (minor) DIY projects in their 100-year-old house.