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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Meredith Monk| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Meredith Jane Monk| alias =| birth_date = birth date and age|1942|11|20| death_date =| origin = New York | instrument =| genre =| occupation =| years_active = 1968 —| label =| associated_acts =| website =| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942 in New York ) is an United States|American composer , performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records .Allmusic|class=artist|id=p40451/discography|pure_url=yes Allmusic
Life and work
Meredith Monk is primarily known for her vocal innovations, including a wide range of extended techniques , which she first developed in her solo performances prior to forming her own ensemble. In December 1961, she appeared at the "Actor's Playhouse" in Greenwich Village (NYC) as a solo dancer in an Off Broadway children's musical theater adaptation of Charles Dickens ' " A Christmas Carol ," entitled " Scrooge (musical)|Scrooge " (music and lyrics by Norman Curtis; directed and choreographed by Patricia Taylor Curtis). In 1964, Monk graduated from Sarah Lawrence College after studying with Beverly Schmidt Blossom , and in 1968 she founded The House , a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance.
Monk's performances have influenced many artists, including Bruce Nauman , whom she met in San Francisco in 1968. In 1978 Monk formed Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble (modelled after similar ensembles of musical colleagues, such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass ), to explore new and wider vocal textures and forms, which often were contrasted with Minimalism|minimal instrumental textures. Monk began a long-standing relationship with the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis , which continues to showcase her work to this day. Pieces from this time include Dolmen Music (1979), which also was recorded for her first album released at Manfred Eicher 's record label ECM (record label)|ECM in 1981.
In the 1980s, Monk wrote and directed two films, Ellis Island (1981), and Book of Days (1988), which developed from a single idea; "One day during summer of 1984, as I was sweeping the floor of my house in the country, the image of a young girl (in black and white) and a medieval street in the Jews in the Middle Ages|Jewish community (also in black and white) came to me." Monk tells this account in the liner notes of the ECM-recording. Apart from the film, different versions exist of this piece. Two are for the concert hall, and an album, produced by Meredith Monk and Manfred Eicher , is "a film for the ears."
In the early 1990s, Monk composed an opera called Atlas , which premiered in Houston, Texas in 1991. She has also written pieces for instrumental ensembles and symphony orchestra s. Her first symphonic work was Possible Sky (2003). It was followed by Stringsongs (2004) for string quartet, which was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet . In 2005, events were held all over the world in celebration of the 40th anniversary of her career, including a concert in Carnegie Hall featuring Björk , Terry Riley , DJ Spooky (who sampled Monk on his album Drums of Death (album)|Drums of Death ), Ursula Oppens , Bruce Brubaker (musician)|Bruce Brubaker , John Zorn , and the new music ensembles Alarm Will Sound and Bang on a Can All-Stars, along with the Pacific Mozart Ensemble .
Honors and legacy
Monk has won numerous awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship . She has been awarded honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Bard College , the University of the Arts (Philadelphia) , the Juilliard School , the San Francisco Art Institute and the Boston Conservatory . In 2007, she received in Italy the Demetrio Stratos International Award for musical experimentation.cite web |url= http://www.ejassociates.org/pdf/pr_MeredithMonk08-09.pdf |title=COAST TO COAST MONK |accessdate=2009-03-15 |format=PDF |publisher=ejassociates.org |location= New York City , New York|N.Y. , United States|U.S. cite web | url = http://www.teatro.org/rubriche/opera_da_tre_soldi_2011/meredith_monk_di_scena_la_musica_totale_9141 | title = Meredith Monk: di scena la musica totale | date = 2007-06-02 | work = Articles | publisher = Teatro.org | language = Italian | accessdate = 2011-08-26
Her music was used in films by the Coen Brothers ( The Big Lebowski , 1998) and Jean-Luc Godard ( Nouvelle Vague , 1990 and Notre musique , 2004).
French singer Camille (singer)|Camille paid an explicit homage to Meredith in her song The Monk ( Music Hole , 2008) which beyond its obvious title also reminds in its construction the work of Monk.
In a recent interview, Monk said that her favourite music includes Brazilian music, especially Caetano Veloso 's recordings, the music by Mildred Bailey ("the great jazz singer from the ‘30s and ‘40s"), and Béla Bartók|Bartók 's cycle for piano Mikrokosmos (Béla Bartók)|Mikrokosmos .
Personal life
Her partner was the Dutch-born choreographer Mieke van Hoek , who died in 2002.
Quotations
"In most of my music, theater pieces and films, I try to express a sense of eternity|timelessness ; of time as a recurring Social cycle theory|cycle ."
--Liner notes of the album Book of Days , ECM New Series (1990)
"I work in between the cracks, where the voice starts dancing, where the body starts singing, where theater becomes Film|cinema ."
" Björk did one of my songs, "Gotham Lullaby". I'd heard her sing that ... on an MP3 file one of my voice students gave me, and I found it really interesting. Then we met six months ago, and liked each other very much. She's a lovely spirit."
--Interview by Tony Montague in The Globe and Mail , November 11, 2005
Songs of Ascension of Jesus Christ|Ascension for vocal ensemble and string quartet (2006, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet , with Ann Hamilton (artist)|Ann Hamilton )
Weave for solo voices, chorus and orchestra (2010, commissioned by Grand Center Inc and the Los Angeles Master Chorale )
Discography
Key (Increase Records, 1971 / Lovely Music, 1977 and 1995)
Our Lady of Late (Minona Records, 1973 / wergo, 1986)
1993 – The Sensual Nature of Sound: 4 Composers – Laurie Anderson, Tania León, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros . Directed by Michael Blackwood.
1983 – Four American Composers "Meredith Monk." Directed by Peter Greenaway.
1996 – Speaking of Dance: Conversations With Contemporary Masters of American Modern Dance . No. 22: Meredith Monk. American Dance Festival. Directed by Douglas Rosenberg.
References
reflistSee also Beverly Schmidt Blossom
External links
http://www.meredithmonk.org/ Meredith Monk's official site
http://www.trovar.com/ECM/ECM.php? artist=Monk Meredith Monk on ECM Records
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9372467/Meredith-Monk Meredith Monk. Encyclopaedia Britannica .
http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/musmonk.pdf Meredith Monk Archive, 1959-2006 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
cite web |title=A Performance Art Pioneer, With Friends |first=Bernard |last=Holland |url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=940CE7D7143EF93BA35752C1A9639C8B63 |work= The New York Times |date=2005-11-08
cite web |url= http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx? id=619 |work=NewMusicBox |title=Meredith Monk: Composer First |first=Frank J. |last=Oteri |date=2000-04-01
cite web |url= http://www.gregsandow.com/monk3.htm |first=Greg |last=Sandow |title=The Struggle for Form |work= The Village Voice |date=1984-10-30
cite web |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,,1397617,00.html |title=Kronos Quartet |first=Tom |last=Service |work= The Guardian |date=2005-01-25
cite web |url= http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx? id=4422 |title=Our Lady of Late |first=Molly |last=Sheridan |work=New Music Box |date=2005-11-15
cite web |url= http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0511172/cg172_monk.shtml |title=Meredith Monk: magician of the voice |first=Bob |last=Turner |work=Common Ground |month=November | year=2005
http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$artistdetail? MONKM Meredith Monk in the http://www.vdb.org/ Video Data Bank
http://www.archive.org/audio/audio-details-db.php? collection=naropa& collectionid=Meredith_Monk_performance July 75P123 Meredith Monk performs Our Lady of Late , for solo voice, wine glass, and percussion, July 23rd, 1975, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado
http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/meredith-monkthe-house? ref=artist& refcar=/artist/m-n Archive film of Meredith Monk/The House performing Magic Frequencies in 1998 at Jacob's Pillow
Persondata | NAME = Monk, Meredith | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1942-11-20 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Monk, Meredith Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century classical composers Category:21st-century classical composers Category:Lesbian musicians Category:LGBT composers Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:Postmodern composers Category:Women composers Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni Category:ECM artists Category:Avant-garde singers
