The American composer, singer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Biennale Musica 2025, held in Venice from 11 to 25 October under the artistic direction of Caterina Barbieri. The honour places Monk among a lineage of major contemporary creators that includes Steve Reich, Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, Brian Eno, and Rebecca Saunders.
Recognition in Venice
The award ceremony took place today at Ca’ Giustinian, following the opening of Songs of Ascension Shrine, a sound installation by Monk at the Sala d’Armi E. Later in the festival, she will appear at Teatro Malibran with her ensemble in a retrospective concert covering her six-decade career.
During her acceptance speech, Monk expressed gratitude to the Venice Biennale and reflected on the enduring role of the arts:
“I believe in the healing power of music and art, especially in times like these. It is a way that we can communicate heart to heart and transcend barriers of all kinds. … May music and art live forever and may it heal this dark, dark world.”
Expanding the boundaries of the human voice
Born in New York in 1942, Monk studied at Sarah Lawrence College and became one of the central figures of the city’s experimental scene in the 1960s. Her pioneering use of the voice as a multifaceted instrument — what would later be called extended vocal technique — has shaped generations of composers and performers.
Through works such as Dolmen Music (1981), Vessel: an opera epic (1971), and the opera Atlas (1991), Monk developed a language that merges music, movement, theatre, and film, often dissolving the limits between ritual and performance. Her ensemble, Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, founded in 1978, became the nucleus of a body of work that continues to influence both the contemporary classical world and the experimental scene.
The Biennale’s citation praised Monk for having “revolutionised music and the performing arts with an approach that has expanded the potential of the human voice, transforming it into a vehicle for unprecedented sonic exploration”, and for creating “a dialogue between matter and spirit, between presence and transcendence.”
A living universe of sound
Over the last six decades, Monk has received some of the most distinguished international honours, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the National Medal of Arts, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Her recordings for ECM New Series, gathered in the 13-disc box set Meredith Monk: The Recordings released for her 80th birthday, trace a unique journey through contemporary music — one that continues to evolve with recent large-scale works such as Indra’s Net, premiered at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2023.
Biennale Musica 2025, themed The Star Within, situates Monk’s art within a wider exploration of music as an inner vibration that connects listeners with one another. The festival also features the American-Bolivian artist Chuquimamani-Condori, recipient of the Silver Lion, and presents installations, films, and performances that intersect electronics, voice, and ritual.
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