Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director, choreographer, and creator of new theatrical works, films, and installations. A pioneer of interdisciplinary art, Monk has explored diverse modes of perception and expression for over five decades, forging a singular style that feels both ancient and contemporary. The exploration of the voice as an instrument with an expansive and universal language extending beyond words is at the root of Monk’s work. Known for her trademark three-octave vocal range and extended vocal technique, Monk often pairs her musical compositions with movement and theatrical expression, revealing a landscape of sounds full of kinetic, textural, and emotive capacity.
Early Life and Education
Monk was born in New York City in 1942 to a family of vocalists. In her youth, she played piano and trained in Dalcroze eurhythmics, a practice of awakening innate musicality through the body using rhythmic movement, ear-training, and improvisation. She attended Sarah Lawrence College where she studied dance, music, and theater. Upon graduating in 1964, Monk moved back to New York and became immersed in the downtown art scene. In the artist’s words: “I started composing vocal material and making choreography and bringing in objects and trying to kind of crack through traditional forms to find another form, to weave together these elements into one poetic whole.”
Early Work
In the mid-1960s, Monk’s early works consisted of solos which she presented in loft spaces and downtown New York venues such as the legendary Judson Memorial Church. Building on her interdisciplinary education, her performances from this period incorporate multimedia elements alongside her experiments with movement and voice. Works such as her breakthrough 16 Millimeter Earrings (1966) are painterly and image-based, incorporating objects, video, and projections.
Collaborations: The House and Vocal Ensemble
In 1968, Monk founded the House, a company devoted to interdisciplinary approaches to the arts. In the 1970s the scale and ambition of Monk’s works grew more complex, with pieces such as Quarry (1976), an opera about Word War II. The piece prompted the formation of her vocal ensemble, Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, which came together in 1978. Working with the group, Monk was able to widen the scope of musical textures and forms of her music, turning her solos into a communal exercise. The ensemble consists of instrumentalists and performers, many of whom she has performed with for decades.
Late Work
In recent years, Monk has been creating works that she considers a kind of cycle—including mercy (2001), impermanence (2004), Songs of Ascension (2008), On Behalf of Nature (2013), and Cellular Songs (2017). The works contemplate systems of life, fundamental energies, and human behaviors that repeat over time. Working to preserve her legacy, Monk has begun scoring her music for the first time—particularly her work with the Vocal Ensemble—so that it will be accessible to future generations.
Awards and Recognition
Among her many accolades, Monk was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France (2015), and was appointed to the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall for the 2014–2015 season. In 2015, Monk received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. She has received the MacArthur Fellowship, as well as two Guggenheim Fellowships, three Off-Broadway Theater Awards (including an award for Sustained Achievement), and two New York Dance and Performance Awards (Bessies) for Sustained Creative Achievement. Monk received an inaugural USA Prudential Fellow award (2006), a Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts (2011), and a Doris Duke Artist Award (2012). She also holds honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Bard College, Boston Conservatory, Cornish College of the Arts, the Juilliard School, Mount Holyoke College, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the University of the Arts.
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