MaerzMusik
Meredith Monk in Concert
21 Mar 2026, 7 pm

Meredith Monk, the winner of this year’s Berlin Art Prize – Grand Prize, has been hailed as “a magician of the voice” and “one of America’s coolest composers.” The concert reflects Monk’s six decades of innovation and awe-inspiring vocal mastery, mining the depths of the myriad possibilities of the human voice.

“Cooperation, interdependence, and kindness” are the qualities that Meredith Monk emphasizes in her music “as an antidote to the values that are being propagated right now.” Alongside her co-performers Katie Geissinger and Allison Sniffin, the interdisciplinary artist presents selected pieces from her extensive vocal oeuvre, which ranges from solo works and recordings to concert works and contemporary operas.

Monk is a pioneer of what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary performance. Emerging as a key figure in the Downtown scene of 1960s and 1970s New York City, she went on to influence composers, singers, and artists such as Yoko Ono, Philip Glass, Kate Bush, Björk, and Rebecca Saunders. The many facets of the human voice have been a point of fascination and exploration since the mid-1960s, and she has developed new approaches to singing, performance, film, site-specific work and music theatre that continue to inspire new generations.