Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Starting in the 1960s, Monk created works that combine music, theatre, and dance. She has recorded many works for ECM Records. In 1991, Monk composed Atlas, an opera, which was commissioned and produced by the Houston Grand Opera and the American Music Theater Festival. Her music has been used in films by the Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, 1998) and Jean-Luc Godard (Nouvelle Vague, 1990 and Notre musique, 2004). Trip hop musician DJ Shadow used a part of Monk's song "Dolmen Music" in the song "Midnight in a Perfect World." In 2014, she was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

Early life

Meredith Monk was born in New York City, New York, to businessman Theodore Glenn Monk (1909–1998) and singer Audrey Lois Monk (née Audrey Lois Zellman; 1911–2009). Her mother, known professionally as Audrey Marsh, was a singer of popular and classical music. Audrey was the daughter of a concert pianist from a German Jewish family in Philadelphia. Meredith has a sister named Tracy, who was born in 1948. Meredith earned a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied composition with Beverly Schmidt Blossom, a graduate student and dancer associated with Alwin Nikolais.

At age three, Meredith was diagnosed with strabismus, a condition affecting eye alignment. Her mother enrolled her in a Dalcroze eurhythmics program, which combines music with movement. Meredith says this program "has had a big influence on everything I do. It’s why dance, movement, and film are important parts of my music. It’s why I see music in a visual way."

Career

Meredith Monk is best known for her creative use of the voice, including unique ways of singing and speaking, which she first developed during her solo performances before forming her own group. In December 1961, she performed as a solo dancer in an off-Broadway children’s musical theater production of A Christmas Carol at the Actor’s Playhouse in Greenwich Village, New York City. The production was titled Scrooge, with music and lyrics by Norman Curtis and directed and choreographed by Patricia Taylor Curtis. In 1964, Monk graduated from Sarah Lawrence College after studying with Beverly Schmidt Blossom. In 1968, she founded The House, a group that combined different types of art in its performances. Her work has influenced many artists, including Bruce Nauman, whom she met in San Francisco in 1968.

In 1978, Monk created The Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, inspired by similar groups formed by other musicians like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. This ensemble explored new ways to use the voice, often pairing these vocal styles with simple instrumental music. She began a long partnership with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, which continues to present her work today. During this time, she released her first album, Dolmen Music (1979), 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). These films were inspired by an image she saw while sweeping her home in the countryside. She described this vision in the liner notes of an ECM recording. The film has been adapted into different versions, including concert performances and an album produced by Monk and Manfred Eicher, which she called “a film for the ears.”

In the early 1990s, Monk composed an opera titled Atlas, which premiered in Houston, Texas, in 1991. She has also written music for instrumental groups and symphony orchestras. Her first symphonic piece was Possible Sky (2003), followed by Stringsongs (2004) for string quartet, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. In 2005, events worldwide celebrated the 40th anniversary of her career, including a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring artists such as Björk, Terry Riley, DJ Spooky, Ursula Oppens, Bruce Brubaker, John Zorn, and ensembles like Alarm Will Sound and Bang on a Can All-Stars, along with the Pacific Mozart Ensemble. Monk served as a composer in residence at Carnegie Hall until 2015.

In an interview, Monk mentioned that her favorite music includes Brazilian recordings by Caetano Veloso, jazz songs by Mildred Bailey (a famous singer from the 1930s and 1940s), and the piano collection Mikrokosmos by Béla Bartók.

Honors and legacy

Meredith Monk has received many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Creative Capital Award in Performing Arts. She has been a MacDowell Fellow six times (1987, 1988, 1994, 1996, 2001, Winter 2007). She has been given honorary Doctor of Arts degrees from Bard College, the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), the Juilliard School, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Boston Conservatory. In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was made and sold; one card included Monk’s name and picture. In 1985, Monk received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence for her work in the off-Broadway community.

In 2007, she was honored with the Demetrio Stratos International Award for musical experimentation in Italy. On September 10, 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama gave Monk a National Medal of Arts, the highest honor in the United States for achievements in the arts. In 2017, she received The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

Her music has been used in films directed by David Byrne (True Stories, 1986), the Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, 1998), Jean-Luc Godard (Nouvelle Vague, 1990 and Notre musique, 2004), and in The Rapture (1991). Hip hop artist DJ Shadow used a part of her song “Dolmen Music” in “Midnight in a Perfect World” (Endtroducing….., 1995). French singer Camille clearly honored Monk in her song “The Monk” (Music Hole, 2008), which also reflected Monk’s musical style. In 2014, her music was included in the HBO series True Detective.

The House Foundation for the Arts, Inc. (founded in 1971) is a nonprofit organization based in Manhattan that works to preserve and share the work of Meredith Monk and her ensemble.

Personal life

Monk has practiced Buddhism since 1985. This greatly influences her art, which focuses on mindfulness, interconnection, and presence. She has lived in the same fifth-floor loft in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood since 1972. Her partners have included Ping Chong and Mieke van Hoek (1946-2002).

Discography

• Key: Increase Records, 1971; Lovely Music, 1977 and 1995
• Our Lady of Late: Minona Records, 1973; wergo, 1986
• Songs from the Hill and Tablet: wergo, 1979
• Dolmen Music: ECM, 1981
• Turtle Dreams: ECM, 1983
• Do You Be: ECM, 1987
• Book of Days: ECM, 1990
• Facing North: ECM, 1992
• Atlas: An Opera in Three Parts: ECM, 1993
• Volcano Songs: ECM, 1997
• Mercy: ECM, 2002
• Impermanence: ECM, 2008
• Beginnings: Tzadik, 2009; compositions from 1966 to 1980
• Songs of Ascension: ECM, 2011
• Piano Songs: ECM, 2014
• On Behalf Of Nature: ECM, 2016
• Memory Game: Cantaloupe, 2020
• Cellular Songs: ECM, 2025

Films

• 1981 — Ellis Island. Created and directed by Meredith Monk. Produced and co-directed by Bob Rosen. Camera work by Jerry Pantzer.
• 1983 — Turtle Dreams. A film made for public viewing.
• 1989 — Book of Days. Directed and written 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.
• 2009 — Meredith Monk: Inner Voice. Directed by Babeth Mondini-VanLoo.
• 2020 — ECM50 | 1981 – Meredith Monk: "Dolmen Music," a documentary about Meredith Monk's work with ECM Records. Directed by Ingo J. Biermann.
• 2025 — Monk in Pieces, a documentary film. Directed by Billy Shebar.