Dartington welcomes international artist Meredith Monk to open the doors to the Arts Park
The Dartington Hall Trust is embarking on a journey to become one of the most significant and vibrant arts establishments in the UK – kick-starting its ambition with the arrival of internationally acclaimed composer, choreographer and multi-disciplinary artist Meredith Monk.
Development Director Matt Griffiths said, “We are all really excited to have Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble working on the estate. Their visit marks the first example of the Dartington Arts Park in action, a project that aims to make the Dartington estate a cultural hub for creative development, enterprise and education – where artists from across the world will come to develop new work free from the constraints of their normal environment.”
The multi award-winning American artist will be working at Dartington from 8 –17 March developing a new evening length work – provisionally titled Songs of Ascension – that will feature music, theatrical and movement elements, as well as visuals from renowned artist Ann Hamilton.
Meredith and her vocal ensemble will be joined in residency by the Elysian Quartet, one of the UK’s most innovative young string ensembles, who will be lending their sizeable talent to the developing process, as well as performing a public concert on Thursday 13th March in the Great Hall.
Meredith, her Vocal Ensemble and a guest string quartet will then perform the piece live this autumn at Stanford University and REDCAT in Los Angeles, before taking it on a tour of Europe and the UK in 2009.
Songs of Ascension is the first of five pieces commissioned for the Arts Park by the Transatlantic Arts Consortium; a collaboration between Dartington, Idyllwild Arts and CalArts in the US. Other commissions include a site-specific large-scale performance by composer Stephen Montague that will take place at this year’s Dartington International Summer School in August.
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The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity no. 279756. Company no. 1485560. Registered Office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL United Kingdom. Telephone 01803 847000; Fax 01803 847007;