Experimental trailblazers join Meredith Monk for a supercharged musical ride celebrating her 80th birth year.

Easily one of the most influential vocalists of our time, Meredith Monk is a pioneer in what is now called “extended vocal technique.” Recalling the 1960’s minimalist movement, her compositions utilize repetitive rhythms, spoken word, breath, and nonsensical sounds to present the voice as a multifaceted, uniquely flexible instrument. Her music can be heard on ECM Records, though a majority of her work is best experienced in an opera or theater setting. Her compositions have also been featured in films by Terrence Malick, Jean-Luc Godard, David Byrne and the Coen Brothers.

Meredith Monk: “I had a revelation one day that the voice could be like an instrument, and that I could work with my voice the way I did with my body to make my own unique choreography… That within the voice were male and female, animal, vegetable, minerals, landscapes, feelings that we don’t have words for, very in between feelings… I was very aware of the ancient power of the voice.”

On Thursday, August 31st Monk will be performing her work Memory Game at The Ford alongside her vocal ensemble and Bang on a Can All-stars, a “fiercely aggressive group, combining the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble.” The performance is part of a celebration of Meredith’s 80th birthday year and the first event curated for The LA Philharmonic by dublab’s Mark “Frosty” McNeill.

Tickets are available now: https://www.theford.com/events/performances/2582/2023-08-31/meredith-monk-vocal-ensemble-and-bang-on-a-can-all-stars

More info: “MEMORY GAME is both a look back at a pivotal point in Meredith Monk’s storied career, and a richly layered portrait of how vocal music—under the guidance of an indefatigable master—can play with our expectations in poignant and compelling ways. For this journey, Monk and her ever-versatile vocal group join forces with Bang on a Can All-Stars, whose “lean, emphatic, and muscular execution suits the precision of Monk’s writing perfectly” (The Wire).

“Monk explores all-new arrangements of never-before-recorded selections from her award-winning sci-fi opera The Games, as well as new versions of several pieces originally released on Do You Be (1987) and impermanence (2008). What emerges from MEMORY GAME is a suite of songs that flows with a remarkable narrative cohesion, stemming in large part from the composer’s willingness to revisit the past with an insatiably curious eye.”

Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble:

• Theo Bleckmann, voice
• Katie Geissinger, voice
• Meredith Monk, voice
• Allison Sniffin, voice and bowed psaltery

Bang on a Can All-Stars:

• Eleonore Oppenheim, bass
• Vicky Chow, piano and keyboard
• David Cossin, percussion
• Arlen Hlusko, cello
• Mark Stewart, electric guitar
• Ken Thomson, clarinets
• Andrew Cotton, sound engineer

Revisit our writeup on Meredith Monk’s seminal Book of Days: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/meredith-monk-book-of-days-1988/