"No one has better epitomized, in so many different arts, that elemental yearning for the beyond than Meredith Monk." So said John Rockwell of The New York Times of the artistic pioneer who will visit UMBC for one performance only on April 3rd.
Monk has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force in the performing arts. A composer, singer, filmmaker and director/choreographer, she is a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary performance. Monk creates works that thrive at the intersection of music and movement, image and object, light and sound, in an effort to discover and weave together new modes of perception. Her ground-breaking exploration of the voice as an instrument, as an eloquent language in and of itself, expands the boundaries of musical composition, creating landscapes of sound that unearth feelings, energies, and memories for which we have no words.
She has invented a stunning vocabulary, including her characteristic ululations, multi-phonics, whispers, slides, range skips and hockets. Her wordless music combines the technical virtuosity of classical music, the poignancy and directness of folk music, the freedom and flexibility of jazz the the rhythmic immediacy and excitement of rock and roll. For Monk, the voice itself is a language with limitless possibilities of color, texture, character, landscape, genre and emotion.
For her concert on April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall, Monk will present selections from three works for unaccompanied voice (Songs from the Hill (1977), Light Songs (1988), and Volcano Songs (1994)) and five works for voice and piano (Gotham Lullaby (1975), Travelling (1973), Madwoman's Vision (1988), Choosing Companions from ATLAS: an opera in 3 parts (1991), and The Tale (1973)).
Admission to the concert is free to UMBC students, faculty and staff with a UMBC ID. General admission tickets are $15, and tickets for seniors and non-UMBC students are $7. For additional information please call 410-455-2942 or visit the online arts calendar. The concert is presented by The Arts at UMBC and is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
In addition to Meredith Monk, new music devotees can enjoy other upcoming concerts, including solo trombonist Abbie Conant (March 4), the Percussion Group Cincinnati (March 6), trombonist James Staley (March 7), the premiere performance of Ruckus (March 14 -- see the article in this issue of Insights), composer Kristine H. Burns (April 16) and pianist Shannon Wettstein (April 17). For more information on all these events, visit the online arts calendar.
