By Lily Rockefeller
For pioneering composer, singer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk, the boundary between her artistic practice and her dharma practice has increasingly dissolved.
Born into a long line of singers, Monk always knew she would be a musician, but her approach has been quite different from her mother’s radio performances or her grandfather’s concert career. Monk is known for her groundbreaking exploration of the voice as an expressive instrument beyond conventional music and language.
She has spent more than six decades creating influential work across music, theater, dance, and film. Her many honors include a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of Arts.
This December, Monk returns to the Garrison Institute with longtime collaborator Ellen Fisher for Voice as Practice, a four-day workshop exploring the connections between voice, movement, meditation, and creative expression.
Monk has described how the principles she once understood as artistic instincts, such as the ability to be deeply present to experience, to listen deeply, and to be comfortable in ambiguity and fear, are also key to fundamental Buddhist teachings. In this excerpt from her essay, The Soul’s Messenger, she explains:
“The experience of creating and performing are as close to meditation as anything I can think of. In meditation practice, the basic instruction is to repeatedly come back to the breath (without judgment) even if the mind has wandered off into thoughts, fantasies, or emotions. The moment of coming back is a moment of awareness. Making art is very much the same process. It consists of starting at zero every time; trusting the emptiness, the space, the gift of uncertainty; not judging too quickly; letting the materials remain themselves until the time is right to weave them together into a form.”
This quality of presence is central to the workshop Voice as Practice. Each session begins with guided meditation, followed by vocal and movement warm-ups. Participants explore how the outbreath becomes sound, how tone and resonance can be experienced in the body, and how listening can deepen awareness of the environment and the voices emerging within us.
Through playful experimentation, attendees are invited to discover the expressive possibilities of their own voices, without needing previous artistic experience.
Ellen Fisher brings a complementary perspective shaped by decades of collaboration with Monk and her ensemble, The House. A movement-based performance artist whose work integrates gesture, film, and shadow play, Fisher expands the workshop’s exploration of how we communicate and create meaning beyond words.
For Monk and Fisher, the relationship between artistic and spiritual practice reaches beyond personal discovery. Monk has spoken about her desire to make work that can be healing, awaken awareness, and offer something to others. This approach echoes the Buddhist emphasis on practicing for the benefit of all beings.
Through meditation, movement, and vocal exploration, Voice as Practice offers participants an opportunity to experience artistic practice not just as self-expression, but also as a spiritual practice of deepened listening and sustained attention to the world around us.
Learn more about Voice as Practice with Meredith Monk and Ellen Fisher, December 11-14 at the Garrison Institute.
Photo Credit: Steven Pisano
