Moniek Darge or Monica Darge (born 1952) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

composer, musician, audio artist and educator. She was named a Cultural Ambassador of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Life

Darge was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

and studied violin and music theory at the Music Conservatory of Bruges, painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and art history, philosophy and anthropology at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. She taught courses on 20th century art history, audio art, non-western art studies and introduction to

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

as an assistant professor at the

Hogeschool Gent University College Ghent ( nl, Hogeschool Gent), commonly known as HoGent, is the largest university college in Flanders, with three faculties, one School of Arts and over 17,000 students as of 2022.

, retiring in 2012. She has performed around the world with the Logos Ensemble, with

Godfried-Willem Raes Godfried-Willem Raes is a Belgian composer, performer and instrument maker. He is the founder of the Logos Foundation of which he is still the president. He holds a PhD from Ghent University and is professor of experimental music composition at t ...

in the Logos Duo and with the M&M (Man and Machine) robot ensemble. She was a founding member of Logos Women. She has also designed, constructed and performed on a number of alternate "music boxes". In her travels, Darge has collected field recordings of world music from Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Brazil and the Canadian Arctic (

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

) that she incorporates into her

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, r ...

s. She has also published articles and lectured on her musical experiences during her international travel. Moniek Darge and Godfried-Willem Raes

From 1970 to 1980, Darge helped organize a series of

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

festivals. In 1992, she organized the Japanese Performance Festival in Ghent. She also organized an International Women’s Festival which incorporated music and performance art. Darge received

Meet The Composer New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progra ...

grants for Los Angeles and New York City. In 1997, she was named Cultural Ambassador of Flanders. Her 2005 composition "Whisper Ears" is one of the pieces chosen to play at the

Radio Forest {{Infobox radio station , name = Radio Forest , owner = Radio Forest , logo = RADIOFORESTLOGO2023.jpg , area = Essex, UK , airdate = 1976 , website www.radioforest.co.uk Radio Forest is a registered charity in the UK and has been ...

which is a sound installation created by Amy Franceschini and Stijn Schiffeleers near

Neerpelt Neerpelt (, literally ''Lower Pelt'') is a town in Pelt and a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. In 2018, the municipality had a total population of 17,174. The total area is 42.78 km². Effective 1 January 2019, ...

which was restyled by Koen Deprez.Radio Forest
KlankAtlas, Retrieved 24 March 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darge, Moniek 1952 births Living people Belgian violinists Belgian composers Women composers Belgian women musicians Ghent University alumni Sound artists Women sound artists Belgian women composers 21st-century violinists 21st-century women musicians