ABOUT MONIKA

Monika Idasiak was born in Poland where she had her debut on Polish Radio Wroclaw at the age of 17. She graduated from The Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where she received her B.M. and M.M. in viola performance along with a pedagogical diploma. As an Erazmus scholar, she studied with Vladimir Bukac (Talich String Quartet) in Germany at the Hochschule fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden.

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 She improved her viola playing skills under the watchful eye of pedagogues such as: Stefan Kamasa, Piotr Reichert, Danilo Rossi, Rivka Golani, Christoph Schiller, Gudny Gudmundsdottir, Stephan Pätzold, Scharoun Ensemble from Berliner Philharmoniker, Julia Gartemann, Camerata Quartet, Manabu Suzuki, Marc Desmons and others.

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As an orchestral musician, Monika has performed in several concert halls and venues around the world including: the Opera Allianz in Buenos Aires, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Boston Symphony Hall, Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington D.C., Chicago Symphony Center Orchestra Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center Kinght Concert Hall in Miami and Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota. Eglise Notre Dame in Bordeaux, Basilique Fourvière in Lyon, Theatre Du Jeu de Paume in Aix en Provence, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, Auditiorio Nacional Madrid, Auditiorio Miguel Delibes in Valladolid, Euskalduna in Bilbao, Tatro Gayarre in Pamplona, Kursaal in San Sebastian, Opera Berlioz in Montpellier, Witold Lutoslawski Philharmony in Wroclaw, Poland, National Radio Symphony Orchestra Hall in Katowice, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, Semperoper Dresden and many others.

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She played viola in the Wratislavia Chamber Orchestra, Santander Orchestra (under the baton of Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki and John Axlerod), and with the Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2014 she was a Principal Viola in Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. In 2012 the President of Warsaw granted Monika with the Papal Scholarship of John Paul II for her years of charity work.  In 2013 Japanese television made a documentary movie featuring Monika and others. The movie is titled "Hotel no Mado kara Warsaw Hotel Bristol" and it was made for BS Nippon TV in Japan.

 In 2015, together with Scharoun Ensemble from Berliner Philharmoniker, she performed during the Emanacje III International Music Festival at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Center for Music in Luslawice, Poland. In 2017 she participated in Music Master Course in Japan where she studied with Alan Gilbert, Naoto Otomo, Michael Gilbert, Yoko Takebe Gilbert, Jennifer Gilbert and others. Monika is a member of UNT`s Bancroft String Quartet  for which she receives a teaching assistantship while pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts under the instruction of Dr. Susan Dubois.