COSTA, SIR MICHAEL ANDREW AGNUS (18o8 1884), was the leading conductor in England and a notable figure in the musical life of his day. Born at Naples, he settled in London (1830), conducted the opera at Her Majesty's from 1832 till 1846, then seceded to the Italian Opera at Covent Garden; conducted the Philharmonic Society from 1846 to 1854, the Sacred Harmonic Society from 1848, and the Birmingham festival from 1849. Meanwhile he had conducted the Bradford and Handel festivals (185y-8o), and the Leeds festivals from 18i4 to 1880. As a composer he produced a number of operas and oratorios of no importance. He became a naturalized English man and received the honour of knighthood in 1869. He died at Brighton April 29, 1884.