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World Renowned “Genius” Artist Meredith Monk Coming to APSU

Clarksville, TN – Last week, most major news outlets spent a few minutes highlighting the winners of the 2010 MacArthur Foundation Genius Awards. The recipients were individuals who, according to the Foundation, “have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.”

The MacArthur Fellows, as the winners are known, are rewarded with $500,000, which is considered an investment on their future accomplishments. They have gone on to become some of the country’s top artists and creative talents.

Meredith Monk (The Standing Room)
Meredith Monk (The Standing Room)

In 1995, when the newspapers and network news shows announced the winners, Meredith Monk was among the names called. At 7:30pm on October 21st, this genre-defying artist will visit the Austin Peay State University Music/Mass Communication Building’s Concert Hall for the American premiere of “Education of the Girlchild Revisited,” a reprisal of her classic work “Education of the Girlchild.” Tickets are $20.00 a person.

The show, considered one of the most influential works in the field of performance art, “poetically conjures cycles of growth and change in a woman’s life.” NY Metropolitan Review described “Girlchild” as “art at its best, art that pulses with energy and sets up sympathetic vibrations which echo and reverberate down into our innermost selves.”

Monk began her career as a choreographer and dancer in the 1960s, but then decided to branch out into more experimental forms of artistic expression.

“She began composing and putting together performance pieces that involved music, dance, choreography, visual arts and voice,” Christopher Burawa, executive director of the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, said. “Her work is meant to be evocative – the visuals, the music, the movement, the voice. It’s a sensory experience that speaks directly to the heart.”

Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk

Monk is one of the four big name artists coming to campus this year as part of the showcase events celebrating the center’s 25th anniversary. In September, the nationally known Nashville Bluegrass Band performed at APSU. Next semester, award-winning writer Joyce Carol Oates and acclaimed modern dancer and choreographer Molissa Fenley will also visit the University.

“Every one of our showcase events are with nationally recognized artists,” Burawa said. “That’s the experience we want to bring to Clarksville. And what we’re bringing here this year, you will not find in Nashville. You won’t find it at the Vanderbilt Performing Arts Center, and you’re not going to find it at TPAC.”

That’s particularly true with the Meredith Monk show, which is so bold in its originality that it almost defies description.

“Anyone used to going to traditional arts performances would find this to be an incredible experience because of how it challenges all limits and boundaries of what it means to engage with the audience,” Burawa said. “It’s not just somebody sitting on the stage, or an actor playing a part, or a singer singing a song. She’s doing all this at once, and doing it to such a high degree.”

It’ll also provide area residents with the rare treat of seeing in person a recipient of the esteemed MacArthur Genius Award. Monk will take questions from the audience after the performance. For more information on the show, or other showcase events, contact the center at 931-221-7876.

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