She was born in Brassó and obtained her degree in musicology in Kolozsvár in 1985. In 1998, she obtained her absolutorium from the Faculty of Theology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and in 2000, she completed her studies with a university degree in church music at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. In 2018, she was admitted to the doctoral programme at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. The title of her dissertation is Plainchant Melodies in the Workshop of Franz Liszt. She obtained her PhD on 3 March 2025.
Since 1992, she has been a research fellow at the Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum and Research Centre. She has received several international research scholarships and has conducted research in Vienna, Weimar, Prague, Krakow, and Regensburg. She participated in 20 international and 26 domestic conferences. She has published her studies in international conference proceedings and Hungarian musicology journals. Her book Following Franz Liszt’s Footsteps in Budapest, published in 2011, became one of Helikon Publishing's bestsellers. In 2014, she wrote her book Liszt Ferenc a Vigadó színpadán (Franz Liszt on the Stage of the Vigadó) for the reopening of the Vigadó concert hall in Budapest.
Ágnes Watzatka's research also covers the field of church music. She has been a member of the International Society for Hymnological Studies since 2004. Since 2018, she has been co-editor of the journal Vajdasági Himnológiai Füzetek (Vojvodina Hymnology Books). In 2024, she became a member of the board of the International Society for Hymnological Studies as referent of the region Austria, Hungary, and southeastern Europe.