Meredith Monk Announces 2019–2020 Season

Widely acclaimed composer, performer, singer and creator Meredith Monk announces her robust 2019-2020 season, which is set to include a host of performances, residencies and workshops, as well as the distinguished honor of being appointed Harvard University's Fromm Foundation Visiting Lecturer on Music. Combined, the season offers audiences numerous opportunities to experience Monk's work, gain glimpses into her creative process and learn from Monk herself alongside longtime members of her renowned Vocal Ensemble. Highlights follow, with links to additional info.

On October 21, Monk and the women of her Vocal Ensemble perform a concert version of her most recent evening-length work, Cellular Songs, at the University of Rochester as part of its inaugural Institute for the Performing Arts Visiting Artist Residency. From October 21-23, Dancing Voice/Singing Body: A Residency with Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble will offer a mix of talks, workshops, master classes and more to both students of the university and the public. Details available HERE. In addition, Monk will serve as the 2019 Glenn Watkins Lecturer at the University's Eastman School of Music.

Monk then performs solo as part of ECM Records at 50, a pair of evenings November 1-2 celebrating the iconic record label at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tickets and information HERE.

November 4-8 will be focused on the creation of Monk's next evening-length work, which she is currently referring to as Indra's Net (working title)-the third in a series dedicated to the examination of humans' relationship to nature (following 2013's On Behalf of Nature and 2018's Cellular Songs). Commissioned by Mills College and set to premiere there in November 2020, Monk and members of her Vocal Ensemble will be in residence to workshop the piece with students and show films of her work. Details available HERE.

Immediately following the week at Mills College, Monk and celebrated, longtime Vocal Ensemble member Ellen Fisher lead a special weekend-long workshop at 1440 Multiversity, November 8-10. Voice as Practice: Instrument of the Heart will offer careful instruction and supportive guidance from both Monk and Fisher to help attendees tap into the landscapes of sound contained within the human voice. Information and registration details available HERE.

The aforementioned concert version of Cellular Songs will then be presented in multiple cities throughout the fall, winter and spring: Hartford, CT at the University of Hartford's Hartt School on November 14; Hamburg Germany at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on February 5; and Chapel Hill, NC at Carolina Performing Arts on March 5. More dates to be announced.

March 26-29 marks Monk's third appearance at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, this time presenting MEMORY GAME, the world premiere of a new joint adventure between Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. The all-Monk program will include a suite from her 1984 work, The Games: a science fiction opera. More information HERE.

Finally, in the spring of 2020, Monk is honored to serve as Fromm Foundation Visiting Lecturer on Music at Harvard University. In this role, she and members of her Vocal Ensemble will teach two semester-long courses in the Harvard University Music Department, one at the graduate level and one for undergraduates. At the end of the semester, a public concert will be presented featuring student performers along with Monk and members of her Vocal Ensemble.

Photo credit: Christine Alicino

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