Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk is primarily known for her vocal innovations, including a wide range of extended techniques, which she firstdeveloped in her soloperformances before forming her own ensemble. In 1964, she graduated from Sarah Lawrence Collegeand in 1968 she founded The House, acompany dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. Her performancesinfluenced many artists, including Bruce Nauman, whom shemet in San Francisco in 1968. In 1978 Monk formed the ensemblecalled Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble (modelled after similar ensembles ofmusical colleagues such as Steve Reich andPhili ...read more
Meredith Monk is primarily known for her vocal innovations, including a wide range of extended techniques, which she firstdeveloped in her soloperformances before forming her own ensemble. In 1964, she graduated from Sarah Lawrence Collegeand in 1968 she founded The House, acompany dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. Her performancesinfluenced many artists, including Bruce Nauman, whom shemet in San Francisco in 1968. In 1978 Monk formed the ensemblecalled Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble (modelled after similar ensembles ofmusical colleagues such as Steve Reich andPhilip Glass) to explore new and wider vocal textures and forms which often were contrasted withminimal instrumentaltextures.Powerful and influential pieces from this time include Dolmen Music (1979), which also was recorded for her first album releasedat Manfred Eicher’srecord label ECM in 1981. In the 1980s she wrote and directed two films, Ellis Island (1981), and Book ofDays (1988), which developed from asingle idea; “One day during summer of 1984, as I was sweeping the floor of my house inthe country, the image of a young girl (in black andwhite) and a medieval street in the Jewish community (also in black andwhite) came to me”, as Monk recounts in the liner notes of the ECM-recording. « hide |
