Meredith Monk and Katie Geissinger: Dancing Voice/Singing Body

Liverpool Biennial, in partnership with Frieze Foundation, is proud to present a workshop with interdisciplinary arts pioneer Meredith Monk and performer/member of the Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, Katie Geissinger.

The workshop will offer a unique opportunity to uncover the fundamentals of performance where voice and movement intersect. After beginning with breathing techniques and a detailed vocal and movement warm-up, participants will work with the voice and body as multi-faceted instruments for exploring range, timbre, gesture, resonance, character, landscape and rhythm. Select pieces from Monk's repertoire will also be taught.

Open to all levels, basic ability to sing is required.

Participants should wear clothing and shoes allowing for ease of movement.

Meredith Monk's workshop in Liverpool follows her London performance for Frieze Music 2013. Meredith Monk with Katie Geissinger in Concert will take place on 15 October 2013 at Cecil Sharp House (The English Folk Dance and Song Society), a short distance from the Frieze London site in Regent’s Park. Monk’s performance for Frieze London 2013 is also accompanied by a keynote lecture as part of Frieze Talks. For further details, click here.

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer, filmmaker, and creator of new opera and music-theater works; over the last five decades, Monk has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force. In 1968, Monk founded The House, a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. In 1978, she formed Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble to further expand her musical textures and forms. In addition to her vocal and music-theater pieces, she has created new repertoire for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments.

Katie Geissinger has been performing with Meredith Monk since 1990. Geissinger has made appearances with Monk at festivals and venues worldwide, in concert, and in pieces such as ‘ATLAS’, the Grammy-nominated ‘impermanence’, ‘Songs of Ascension’ and the recently premiered ‘On Behalf of Nature’. She was also a featured soloist in Monk’s ‘Realm Variations’ (2012) with the San Francisco Symphony, and ‘WEAVE’ (2010) with the St. Louis Symphony and LA Master Chorale.

Photo: Nadia F. Romanini