MAKING SPACE AT THE ARMORY ARTIST TALK: INDRA’S NET
sunday, september 29, 2024 at 5:30pm
VETERANS ROOM
featuring pioneering composer, singer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk
in conversation with Founder and Co-Artistic Director of The Industry, Los Angeles
Yuval Sharon
SEASON SPONSORS
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Support for Park Avenue Armory’s artistic season has been generously provided by the Thompson Family Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, The Shubert Foundation, Wescustogo Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Marc Haas Foundation, Mary W. Harriman Foundation, the Reed Foundation, the Leon Levy Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg, The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation, the Richenthal Foundation, and the Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Armory’s Artistic Council. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Indra’s Net is made possible with support from The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation.
Making Space at the Armory is made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF).
Cover image by Stephanie Berger Photography.
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
MEREDITH MONK
Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director, choreographer, filmmaker, and creator of new opera, music-theater works, films, and installations. Recognized as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, she is a pioneer of what is now called “extended vocal technique” and “interdisciplinary performance.” Celebrated internationally, her work has been presented at major venues throughout the world. Over the last six decades, Monk has received numerous awards and honors including a MacArthur Fellowship, Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Republic of France, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and a National Medal of Arts. Monk has recorded with the ECM New Series label since 1981. Selected scores of her work are available through Boosey & Hawkes. From Fall 2023 to Spring 2024, Meredith Monk.Calling, the first extensive European exhibition about Meredith Monk, was realized as a collaboration in two acts at Oude Kerk Amsterdam and Haus der Kunst München, together with the Hartwig Art Foundation. Indra’s Net is her third work in a trilogy exploring our relationship with the natural world, following the highly acclaimed On Behalf of Nature (2013) and Cellular Songs (2018). This production celebrates the beginning of Monk’s 60th Performing Season.
YUVAL SHARON
Director Yuval Sharon is founder and co-Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles and the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera. His first book, A New Philosophy of Opera, was published by Liveright in September 2024.
With The Industry, Sharon has directed and produced new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, Hollywood sound stages, and various “non-spaces.” From 2016–2019, Sharon was the first Artist-Collaborator at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, creating nine projects that included newly commissioned works, site-specific installations, and performances outside the hall. His residency culminated in a new production of Meredith Monk’s opera ATLAS, making him the first director Monk entrusted with her work.
The first American ever invited to direct at Bayreuth, Sharon distinguished himself with a boldly progressive Lohengrin in 2018. In 2017, Sharon was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art grant for theater. He was named Musical America’s Director of the Year in 2023.
Future seasons will see Sharon make his Metropolitan Opera debut with a production of Tristan und Isolde (2025–26) as well as his first-ever Ring cycle, beginning in 2027–28.
NEXT AT THE ARMORY
RECITAL SERIES
KARIM SULAYMAN & SEAN SHIBE
OCTOBER 8 & 10
Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman displays his sensitive and intelligent musicianship, riveting stage presence, beautiful voice, and inventive programming in a varied program of works examining the relationship of East and West performed with guitarist Sean Shibe. Featuring wide-ranging works from Monteverdi, Britten, and Purcell to Takemitsu, Layale Chaker, and traditional Sephardic songs, this intimate recital inspects the artists own ethnic identities through song that at once was seen to exotify but through playful juxtaposition subverts that narrative into one of celebration.
MAKING SPACE AT THE ARMORY CANTO DE TODES
OCTOBER 19
Singer and performance artist Dorian Wood (she/they) exhibits a 12-hour composition and installation inspired by a lyric written by the late Chilean singer and songwriter Violeta Parra. Divided into three movements, this durational work features two hour-long chamber pieces separated by a 10-hour pre-recorded, multi-channel composition mixing a genre-defying canon of folk, pop, and experimental music of Central and Latin America. This Armory commission spotlights timely issues of migration and emphasizes the urgency of folk music as a vessel for social change. The event also includes a film program, poetry work, and series of panels in collaboration with the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present.
