Meredith Monk: Indra’s Net

For over five decades, American composer, singer and director Meredith Monk has been setting new standards in vocal music. She is considered one of the most unique and influential artists of our time and a pioneer of "extended vocal technique". One of the distinguishing features of Monk's compositions and performances is that she defies conventional notions of what music should be or sound like. In 1965, Monk began her innovative exploration of the voice as a versatile instrument. In 1978, she formed the Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble to further expand her musical textures and forms. Since the early 2000s, she has created a large repertoire for orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo instruments.

Following On Behalf of Nature and Cellular Songs, Indra's Net is Monks third work in a series dedicated to exploring our relationship with nature. The premiere of Indra's Net at the Holland Festival is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Drawing on her Buddhist practice and the Buddhist term Indra's Net – a metaphor that illustrates the interdependence and interpenetration of all phenomena – the music theatre piece revolves around consciousness and perception, from the microscopic to the telescopic, and our relationship to the world.

“In a world so fragmented and full of suffering, I want to create a work that affirms life and our sense of interconnectedness with each other and everything else.” (Meredith Monk)

Indra's Net is Monk's most ambitious exploration to date of the interplay between music, movement, architecture and space. Rather than performing on a regular stage, the work is conceived for a vast and flexible space in which the musicians of a 16-piece chamber orchestra and the Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble are spread across the entire surface. Each performer is amplified separately, creating a net-like sound system that provides a spatial 3D experience of the composition.

Further information:
hollandfestival.nl/en

Dates

June 23 and 24, 2023
Gashouder, Amsterdam