[NEohioPAL]Meredith Monk at OC Feb. 21-26

[Betty Gabrielli]

February 9, 2005
RELEASE ON RECEIPT	

MEREDITH MONK IN RESIDENCE
AT OBERLIN COLLEGE FEBRUARY 21-26

EDITORS: Digital photos and interviews are available upon request. The=20
workshop is open to the media. Contact Scott Wargo (440) 775-5197 for more=20
information.

OBERLIN, OHIO- Meredith Monk is an internationally renowned composer,=20
singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, musical theater=20
works, films and installations. During a career that has spanned 40 years,=20
Monk has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike as a major creative=20
force in the performing arts.

"A composer, singer, and theater artist for whom experimentation has led to =

wondrous discovery, Monk conjures up a spectrum of colorful and evocative=20
sounds from her one-of-a-kind vocal instrument," said Plain Dealer music=20
critic Donald Rosenberg in 2001 when Monk made her Cleveland debut. "...=20
[Monk is] a musician of boundless imagination and vision,=94 he added.

This month the New-York based artist will return to northern Ohio to work=20
intensively with 20 student vocalists, choreographers, media artists,=20
dancers, and actors at Oberlin College in a week-long workshop. Presented=20
under the auspices of the art department, Office of the President, and the=20
Ellen Johnson Fund, the Oberlin visit marks Monk's only academic residency=20
this year.

A pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and=20
interdisciplinary performance, Monk creates works that thrive at the=20
intersection of music and movement, image and object, light and sound in an =

effort to discover and weave together new modes of perception.

At Oberlin, she will work with the workshop members =93to explore themes of =

myth and ritual through the creation of performance works involving text,=20
site-specific installations, music, and media,=94 says Rian Brown-Orso,=20
assistant professor of new media. She and Professor of Dance Nusha Martynuk =

will co-teach the workshop with Monk.

The workshop sessions will take place Monday, February 21, through Friday,=20
February 25. Monk also will give a free public lecture/demonstration at 7=20
p.m. on Wednesday, February 23, in Hallock Auditorium, the Lewis=20
Environmental Center, 122 Elm St.

Monk will conclude her visit with a solo performance at 8 p.m. Saturday,=20
February 26, in Oberlin's Finney Chapel, located at the corner of West=20
Lorain and North Professor streets. Performing with Monk will be vocalist=20
Katie Geissinger.

Advance tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens; $7 for staff and=20
faculty; and $12 for the general public. Tickets purchased at the door are=20
an additional $2. Please call Oberlin's Central Ticket Service at (440)=20
775-8169 for more information.
	
Monk has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the=20
prestigious MacArthur "Genius" award in 1995, two Guggenheim fellowships, a =

Brandeis creative arts award, three Off-Broadway  "Obies," two Villager=20
Awards, a "Bessie" for Sustained Creative Achievement in dance, the 1986=20
National Music Theatre Award, 16 ASCAP awards for musical composition, and=20
the 1992 Dance Magazine Award.		

In 1968 Ms. Monk founded The House, a company dedicated to an=20
interdisciplinary approach to performance. In 1978 she formed Meredith Monk =

and Vocal Ensemble to expand her musical textures and forms.

Her music has been heard in numerous venues, including films such as La=20
Nouvelle Vague by Jean-Luc Goddard and The Big Lebowski by Joel and Ethan=20
Coen. Current projects include a new work for the Western Wind Vocal=20
Ensemble and the Kronos Quartet.

Monk's first orchestra piece, Possible Sky, commissioned by Michael Tilson=20
Thomas for the New World Symphony, premiered in April 2003 in Miami. Her=20
latest music theater work, mercy, a collaboration with visual artist Ann=20
Hamilton premiered at the American Dance Festival in July 2001; the CD was=20
released on the ECM New Series label in November 2002.

She has made more than a dozen recordings.  Dolmen Music (ECM New Series)=20
and Our Lady of Late: The Vanguard Tapes (Wergo) were honored with the=20
German Critics Prize for Best Records of 1981 and 1986. A new publishing=20
relationship with Boosey & Hawkes has made Monk's music available to a=20
wider public for the first time.

In July 2000, a three-concert retrospective entitled Voice Travel honored=20
her music at the Lincoln Center Festival. In October 1999 Monk performed a=20
Vocal Offering for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, as part of the World=20
Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles.

Monk also is a pioneer in site-specific performance, creating works such as =

Juice: A Theater Cantata In 3 Installments (1969) and, most recently,=20
American Archeology #1: Roosevelt Island (1994).  An accomplished=20
filmmaker, she has made a series of award-winning films, including Ellis=20
Island (1981). Her first feature, Book Of Days (1988), which aired on PBS,=20
was shown at the New York Film Festival and selected for the Whitney=20
Museum's Biennial.

Recent art exhibits include a major installation, Art Performs Life, at The =

Walker Art Center; a show, Shrines, at the Frederieke Taylor / TZ Art=20
Gallery; inclusion in the 2002 Biennial at the Whitney Museum; ev +, a 2002 =

exhibition at the Limerick City Gallery of Art; and a group exhibit, Show=20
People, at Exit Art. A monograph, Meredith Monk, edited by Deborah Jowitt,=20
was released by Johns Hopkins Press in 1997.
			###
Media Contact: Scott Wargo
440 775 5197        		2/9/05 bg