Folkwang

Meredith Monk to assume the Pina Bausch Professorship at the Folkwang University of the Arts

The world-renowned artist will start her work with selected Folkwang students from various disciplines in October 2025

The New York artist Meredith Monk, known for her cross-genre, interdisciplinary approach, will take over the Pina Bausch Professorship at the Folkwang University of the Arts in the winter semester 2025-26.

Photo: LNDWstudio

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer, film-maker and creator of new opera, music-theatre works, films and installations. As a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique, interdisciplinary performance, and site-specific work, Monk particularly embodies the interdisciplinary teaching and learning at the Folkwang University of the Arts. At the centre of Meredith Monk's work is the human voice, which she explores as a multifaceted instrument. Countless awards, honours and nominations commemorate her work.

Meredith Monk will start her guest professorship at the Folkwang University of the Arts at the end of October 2025. In her course entitled ‘Dancing Voice/Singing Body’, she, along with members of her renowned Vocal Ensemble, will work with Folkwang students from various fields of study in three phases. A public work-in-progress event is planned for spring 2026.

Meredith Monk is recognised as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time. Celebrated internationally, her work has been presented at major venues around the world. In 1968 she founded The House, a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. After beginning her innovative exploration of the voice in 1965, she founded Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble in 1978 to expand her musical textures and forms. Her numerous awards and honours include a MacArthur Fellowship, two Guggenheim Fellowships, 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, awarded by President Barack Obama. In addition to her numerous vocal works, Monk has created vital new repertoire for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. She has recorded with the ECM New Series label since 1981. From Fall 2023 to Spring 2024, Meredith Monk. Calling, her first European retrospective exhibition, was realised as a collaboration between Oude Kerk Amsterdam with Hartwig Art Foundation, and Haus der Kunst München. Recently Monk celebrated her 60th Performance Season and will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Music from the Venice Biennale this October.
You can find further information on Meredith Monk at: www.meredithmonk.org

The Pina Bausch Professorship provides an opportunity for internationally acclaimed artists from all disciplines to work at the Folkwang University of the Arts as a guest professor, collaborating with the students to develop new work methods and applying mindsets and research approaches that transcend all boundaries.
The Folkwang University of the Arts established the Pina Bausch Professorship – named after world-famous Folkwang alumna Pina Bausch and run in co-operation with the Pina Bausch Foundation – in the 2022-23 winter semester. Its rousing inauguration came in the form of Marina Abramović’s Free Interdisciplinary Performance Lab, which involved 26 Folkwang students, as well as the joint final presentation and 54 Hours publication. In the 2025 summer semester, performance artist and sculptor Miles Greenberg created a special working and thinking space for engaging with art with his workshop ‘Black Ritual and Durational Action’. Fifteen international Folkwang students from all artistic and academic disciplines presented their work in the exhibition ‘Restless Sanctuaries’.
The Pina Bausch Professorship is made possible by the North Rhine-Westphalia State Ministry of Culture and Science.

Comments on the new appointment for the Pina Bausch Professorship:

Meredith Monk_ Pina Bausch Professor, 2025|26 winter semester:
‘It is an honor to engage with the lineage of Pina Bausch through this historic professorship. I love working with young creative people, and look forward to introducing students at the Folkwang University of the Arts to my multi-disciplinary approach to performance, weaving together different perceptual modes to affirm our richness as human beings and offer an antidote to the fragmentation, disconnection and uncertainty of our world.’

Holger Zebu Kluth_ President of the Folkwang University of the Arts:
'I am delighted to welcome Meredith Monk as a Pina Bausch Professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts. In her, the university has one again secured itself an extraordinary, renowned artist who embodies the Folkwang's interdisciplinary philosophy. With music, vocals and sound at the heart of her work, she adds another exciting dimension to the Pina Bausch Professorship. Her artistic range and unique work approach will be enriching for Folkwang students from all disciplines of art and science. I am very confident this co-operation will produce some impressive and surprising work, and provide formative experiences that will have a lasting impact on our students' artistic development.'

Ina Brandes_ North Rhine-Westphalia State Minister for Culture and Science:
'She is a singer, choreographer, dancer, film-maker and performance artist. Meredith Monk is all about art that pushes the boundaries of individual disciplines. Which is what makes her an excellent fit for the interdisciplinary music, theatre, dance and design training offered at the Folkwang University of the Arts. I am sure both students and audiences will reap great benefit from Meredith Monk' wealth of experience.'

Salomon Bausch_ Founder and CEO of the Pina Bausch Foundation:
'For me, the Pina Bausch Professorship is about opening up new horizons for the students. I am very happy that we have been able to secure Meredith Monk for the professorship. Few others are able to combine such a variety of art forms and thus perfectly embody the interdisciplinary focus of the Pina Bausch Professorship. I am sure the co-operation with Meredith Monk will be a very enriching and formative experience for the students.'

> Press release

Groß / 12. August 2025