 Meredith MonkMeredith Monk is a composer, singer, and creator of opera and music theater works. A pioneer of "extended vocal technique," Monk has been hailed as "a magician of the voice," and "one of America's coolest composers." In a career spanning four decades, she has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force in the performing arts. Monk has received numerous awards including a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, two GuggenheimFellowships and the 2005 ASCAP Concert Music Award. She was inducted intothe American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006. In 1965, Monk began her innovative exploration of the voice as a multi-faceted instrument and subsequently composed and performed many solo pieces forunaccompanied voice as well as voice and keyboard. In 1978, she formed the Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble to further expand her musical textures and forms. She has since been commissioned to write for Michael Tilson Thomas's New World Symphony, and for the Kronos Quartet, among others. Her newest CD, Impermanence, was recently nominated for a Grammy Award. Her latest music theater work, Songsof Ascension, premiered at Stanford University in October 2008 and willbe performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music in October 2009. A longtime Shambhala Buddhist practitioner, Monk is a member of the New York Shambhala sangha and a student of Acharya Pema Chodron. Herarticle, "The Art of being Present," appeared in the Spring 2004 issue of Buddhadharma: Creativity and Dharma.
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Portrait of Meredith Monk |
