Meredith Monk Essentials

Postmodern/avant-garde American composer, filmmaker, vocalist and choreographer Meredith Monk has been pushing boundaries with her work since the early ‘60s. Particularly interested in the human voice, Monk writes gripping pieces full of sounds that can feel arcane (“Dawn”), otherworldly (“Ascent”) and, sometimes, flat-out weird (Songs from the Hill: “Lullaby”). Her piano works have a minimalist, meditative edge (Phantom Waltz, Paris), while her chamber compositions search for striking dissonances and orchestrations (Totentanz).