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Meredith Monk

Biography

Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.[1] In 1991, Monk composed Atlas, an opera, commissioned and produced by the Houston 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 sampled Monk's "Dolmen Music" on the song "Midnight in a Perfect World". In 2015, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama.

Known For

Songs of Ascension
Songs of Ascension
Quarry
Quarry
Meredith Monk: Solo Concert 1980
Meredith Monk: Solo Concert 1980
Four American Composers: Meredith Monk
Four American Composers: Meredith Monk
16 Millimeter Earrings
16 Millimeter Earrings
Turtle Dreams
Turtle Dreams
Book of Days
Book of Days
Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance
Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance

Filmography

2025 Monk in Pieces
as Self
2019 Songs of Ascension
as
2018 Feminists: What Were They Thinking?
as Self
2013 Meredith Monk: Solo Concert 1980
as Herself
2009 Meredith Monk: Inner Voice
as Self
2001 Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance
as Self
1994 Meredith Monk
as
1993 The Sensual Nature of Sound: 4 Composers Laurie Anderson, Tania Leon, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros
as Herself
1989 Book of Days
as Madwoman
1987 Uncle Meat
as Red Face Girl
1983 Four American Composers: Meredith Monk
as Herself
1983 Turtle Dreams
as
1982 Paris
as Paris Couple
1980 Making Dances: Seven Post-Modern Choreographers
as
1979 Fried Shoes Cooked Diamonds
as Self
1979 16 Millimeter Earrings
as Herself
1978 Quarry
as Child
1974 A portrait of Meredith Monk
as
1969 Institutional Quality
as