The pioneering and totally unique MEREDITH MONK, the American composer, singer, director, film-maker, choreographer and legend in her own lifetime, still composing and creating. Born 1942 in New York City, into a family that had been musical for generations, her mother signed her up to eurhythmics - music and movement classes - at the age of three and she says that influenced her whole life, that it’s why she sees music so visually. Her debut was as a dancer in 1961 in an Off Broadway production. Composition study at Sarah Lawrence College followed and in 1968 she founded The House, a company for inter-disciplinary performance now in its 60th season.
The Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble followed, her first albums for ECM, her films, her opera and theatre, string quartets, orchestral works, her composer residence at Carnegie Hall and all the remixes, films and books made about her and her art. Björk is a fan, of course. And her awards and honors run as long as your arm. Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters,10 honorary doctorates, 6 McDowell fellowships, 2 Guggenheim Fellowships, 2 “Bessie”s 3 “Obies”, the MacArthur Genius Grant and the National Medal of the Arts. To name just a few.
Currently, she’s developing the third part of a trilogy about nature. I believe in the healing power of art, she says. I think that art can melt walls
MUSIC: Education of the Girlchild: Biography
Presented by composer Joan Tower for International Women’s Month in March, written and produced by Charlotte Wilson for WMHT
