November 2022 Composer of the Month – Meredith Monk

Meredith Monk is one of the most unique American composers of the 20 and 21st centuries, having made her mark as an avant-garde composer, director, vocalist, choreographer, and filmmaker.

Overall, Monk was an innovator when it came to mixed media, often dancing a fine line between everyday reality and exotic fantasy. Throughout her career, she created a very diverse set of works, ranging from the historical Ellis Island (1983), which followed the stories of brave immigrants that traveled to America at the turn of the century, to Sixteen Millimeter Earrings (1966), which was a grouping of small film segments surrounding historical race studies combined with singing.

This month, we’ll be diving into Monk’s life and music career to spread knowledge about the significantly influential things she’s done for music.

Meredith Monk’s Personal Life

Meredith Monk was born in 1942 to a businessman and singer in New York City. Her mother, who went by the stage name Audrey Marsh, was a professional classical and popular music singer. Marsh also came from a line of professional musicians, including a German-Jewish concert pianist and a Russian bass-baritone singer.

It was in her early years that Monk started her musical journey.

Though she studied music throughout her early years, her jumping-off point came about when she received her Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College, the school where she studied composition with Alwin Nikolais, a then-graduate student.

While Monk was known for many things throughout her career, it was her innovations as a vocalist that was most influential.

In December of 1961, she performed as a dancer at Greenwich Village’s Actor’s Playhouse, performing in an Off-Broadway adaptation of A Christmas Carol from Charles Dickens. The show was titled, Scrooge.

By 1964, after studying for many years with dancer Beverly Schmidt Blossom, Monk received her Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence. Four years later, she became the founder of The House, which was a unique company that was dedicated to taking an interdisciplinary approach to the performing arts.

After many years working with that company, she formed the Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, which took influence from a few of her colleagues at the time, including Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The point of this ensemble was to explore unique forms and vocal textures, thinking outside of the box of traditional arrangements. During the same period, she recorded her very first full-length LP released on ECM entitled Dolmen Music.

It was after finishing this album that she wrote and directed a few films, including Ellis Island in 1981 and Book of Days in 1988.

By the late 80s, Monk had once again switched gears, working to compose an opera known as Atlas, which she released in 1990 and premiered in Houston, Texas. At the same time, she composed a number of innovative orchestras and ensembles. Some of her most popular works were Possible Sky, which she released in 2003, and Stringsongs, which she released in 2004.

2005 was a great year for Monk, as musicians all over the world held celebrations for the 40th anniversary of her career, including Terry Riley, Bjork, Ursula Oppen, John Zorn, Bruce Brubaker, and DJ Spooky.

Since 2015, she has been a resident composer at Carnegie Hall.

The Influence of Meredith Monk’s Music

Meredith Monk has created a number of unique works from the 1960s onwards. Much of her vast library of work combines music, dance, and theater, making her one of the most prominent multidisciplinary artists of the 20 and 21st centuries.

Atlas, the opera she composed in 1991, became one of her most famous works. The opera was commissioned by the American Music Theater Festival and the Houston Opera.

Monk’s music has been used in a number of popular films, including Nouvelle Vague (1990), Notre Musique (2004), and The Big Lebowski (1998).

Throughout her time as an artist, Monk won a number of awards, including the Creative Capital Award and the MacArthur Fellowship. In 2007, Monk received the International Award for Musical Experimentation from Italy’s Demetrio Stratos.

Notable Facts

Barack Obama awarded Monk the National Medal of Arts in 2015. This honor is the highest honor in the United States that has to do with art.
You can hear a sample of Dolmen Music on DJ Shadow’s Midnight In A Perfect World.
Monk wrote “Panda Chant II,” which is a unique science-fiction musical that dives into the never-ending cycle of political, cultural, and social hierarchies in society