Meredith Monk was born to businessman Theodore Glenn Monk (1909–1998) and singer Audrey Lois Monk (née Audrey Lois Zellman; 1911–2009), in New York City, New York.[2][3] Her mother, a professional singer of popular and classical music known under the stage name of Audrey Marsh, was herself the daughter of professional musicians: the Russian Jewish bass-baritone Joseph B. Zellman, and Rose (Kornicker) Zellman, a concert pianist of German Jewish background from Philadelphia.[4] Meredith has a sister, Tracy (born 1948).[4] Monk has a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence, where she studied composition with then-graduate student and Alwin Nikolais dancer Beverly Schmidt Blossom.
At the age of three, Monk was diagnosed with strabismus and her mother signed her up to a Dalcroze eurhythmics programme, a technique which integrates music with movement. Monk says that it "has influenced everything I've done. It's why dance and movement and film are so integral to my music. It's why I see music so visually."[5]
Careeredit
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 (music and lyrics by Norman Curtis; directed and choreographed by Patricia Taylor Curtis).[6] 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 (modeled 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 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. During this period Monk recorded Dolmen Music (1979), her first album released on Manfred Eicher's record label ECM, in 1981.
In the 1980s, Monk wrote and directed two films, Ellis Island (1981), and Book of Days (1988).[7] These developed from her 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 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 an 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 Bartók's cycle for piano Mikrokosmos.
Book of Days for 25 voices, synthesizer, piano or 7 voices, synthesizer (Chamber Version) (1985) recorded for ECM
Scared Song song for solo voice, synthesizer and piano (1986)
I Don't Know song for solo voice and piano (1986)
Double Fiesta solo voice and 2 pianos (1986)
String unaccompanied solo voice (1986)
Duet Behavior for 2 voices (1987)
The Ringing Place for 9 voices (1987)
Cat Song for solo voice (1988)
Processional for solo piano and voice (1988)
Light Songs for solo voice (1988)
Fayum Music for voice, hammered dulcimer, double ocarina (1988)
Book of Days (film score) for 10 voices, cello, shawm, synthesizer, hammered dulcimer, bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy (1988)
Atlas: An Opera in Three Parts for 18 voices 2 keyboards, clarinet, bass clarinet, sheng, bamboo sax, 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, French horn, percussion, shawm (1991)
Three Heavens and Hells for 4 voices (1992)
Volcano Songs (Duet) for 2 voices (1993)
St. Petersburg Waltz for solo piano and 2 voices (1993)
New York Requiem for solo voice and piano (1993)
Volcano Songs (Solo) for solo voice, voice with taped voices and piano (1994)
American Archaeology #1: Roosevelt Island for 9 voices, organ, bass, medieval drum and shawm (1994)
Star Trek: Envoy for composing/directing/performing in the Den-Kai/Krikiki Ensemble (1995)
On Behalf of Nature for 8 voices, violin, keyboards, French horn, clarinet, bass and contrabass clarinet, wooden flutes, vibraphone, marimba and percussion (2013)
Discographyedit
Key (Increase Records, 1971 / Lovely Music, 1977 and 1995)
1989 — Book of Days. Director and co-writer with Tone Blevins.
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.
2020 – ECM50 | 1981 – Meredith Monk: "Dolmen Music", short documentary about Meredith Monk's work for ECM Records, dir. Ingo J. Biermann, 2020, 21 min.[18]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Meredith Monk Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^"Meredith Monk". Meredith Monk's official website. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
^Citing "Meredith J. Monk". DOB: 20 November 1942. Manhattan, New York. Certificate Number 35634. (accessible viaAncestry.com, subscription required)
^ ab"Audrey Marsh papers". Archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^"'I feel like an aesthetic mother to Björk' – the amazing Meredith Monk on composing with growls, gasps, chirrups and yodels". www.theguardian.com. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
^"D/B Video Feature: Meredith Monk Documentary". Digital in Berlin (in German). 2010-02-24. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
^"Meredith Monk : Ellis Island, Book of days, interview [videorecording]". Laurel.lso.missouri.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
^Grimshaw, Jeremy. "Atlas, an opera in 3 parts for 18 voices & large ensemble". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
^Fonseca-wollheim, Corinna Da (2015-05-03). "Review: Meredith Monk Ends Carnegie Hall Run With Mystery and Mastery". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
^"Creative Capital - Investing in Artists who Shape the Future". Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
^Wulf, Steve (2015-03-23). "Supersisters: Original Roster". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
^"1985 Awards". Obieawards.com. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
^"COAST TO COAST MONK" (PDF). Ejassociates.org. New York City, N.Y. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
^"Meredith Monk: di scena la musica totale". Articles (in Italian). Teatro.org. 2007-06-02. Archived from the original on 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
^Dwyer, Colin (2015-09-10). "A Medal For A King — And For Many Of America's Greatest Living Artists". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
^Ugwu, Reggie (18 September 2017). "Meredith Monk Wins the Gish Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
Meredith Monk Archive, 1959-2006 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Holland, Bernard (2005-11-08). "A Performance Art Pioneer, With Friends". The New York Times.
Oteri, Frank J. (2000-04-01). "Meredith Monk: Composer First". NewMusicBox.
Sandow, Greg (1984-10-30). "The Struggle for Form". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2004-04-30.
Service, Tom (2005-01-25). "Kronos Quartet". The Guardian.
Sheridan, Molly (2005-11-15). "Our Lady of Late". New Music Box. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30.
Turner, Bob (November 2005). "Meredith Monk: magician of the voice". Common Ground. Archived from the original on 2005-11-07.
Meredith Monk in the Video Data Bank
Meredith Monk interview
Meredith Monk performs Our Lady of Late, for solo voice, wine glass, and percussion, July 23, 1975, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado
Archive film of Meredith Monk/The House performing Magic Frequencies in 1998 at Jacob's Pillow