Toronto, Canada
Monika is a virtuosic pianist of the highest caliber, who has been passionately pursuing excellence in piano her whole life, as she has been inspired only by the world’s greatest pianists of all styles beginning at the age of 6. Not just a highly accomplished pianist holding a Master of Music in Piano Performance Degree and an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto She was also the recipient of the Excellence in Music Board of Education Award in high school and received a Distinguished Musicianship Honors recognition from University.
What sets Monika apart is her ability to be equally comfortable in performing serious concert repertoire as well as playing improvised modern stylings and arrangements of her own of a very wide range of styles from contemporary and light jazz standards to popular songs, all seemingly effortlessly since she began playing in restaurants at the age of 20 and has continued regularly between 75-150 such appearances per year.
She feels so extremely grateful for having top notch training from teachers in a lineage leading back to Beethoven and Chopin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, training her to win many gold, silver and bronze awards and scholarships in local festivals as well as a First Place award in Canada in the annual Canadian Music Competition as part of a very successful 15 year piano duo which toured 26 cities and performed with York Symphony Orchestra and Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.
She feels very lucky to have been exposed to many other genres, such as Jazz band in her high school Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, which placed third in Canada in the Canadian Stage Band Competition; and accompanying choirs and school musicals since the age of 12 as well as her sister in piano concertos; all of which gave her hands on training of creating arrangements for various platforms, which eventually helped Monika develop an extremely highly refined technique of lyrical and virtuosic playing evoking from the piano myriads of textures and tones seamlessly as few can, as the world’s greatest pianists of the 20th century did and also blending art music with music of our times similarly.
She has a powerful ability to engage and create moods from the simple and sublime to powerful and passionate in her performances and has the rare ability of doing it all seemingly effortlessly. With over 10,000 performing hours to her credit she has developed the most beautiful specially refined piano tone of making the piano sing as she creates textures and colors in very moving renditions making it speak. She treats every piece of music she plays, whether it is an intense profound classical work or light contemporary arrangement as a work of art. She speaks deeply through her music and her piano is an a natural extension of her.
Having over 1,000 titles in her repertoire of serious classical, standards as well as current popular songs, has enabled her to professionally perform regularly, being chosen from many pianists, to perform at notable high class locations, restaurants, reputable dignitary functions; prestigious downtown Toronto shopping venues, hotels, famous landmarks as well as country clubs throughout Southern Ontario since the age of 20, and numbering over 2,800. She has appeared on CJRT, CHIN, CHWO radio and TV Ontario and Roger’s Television.
Her intention has always been to bring the highest caliber piano music into every day places and lives of people who would not otherwise be going to classical piano concerts, as well as preserving the tradition of the grand Romantic Pianists of the past Century and moving it into the 21st Century. Her favorite pianists and influences are Vladimir Horowitz, Ivo Pogorelich, Earl Wilde, Van Cliburn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yuja Wang, George Shearing, Katia Labeque, Sviatoslav Richter, Marian McPartland, Christopher O’Riley, Bill Evans, John Bayless, Liz Story, Suzanne Ciani, Liberace among many others.
Being highly sensitive, combined with her huge passion, immense dedication and work ethic is a recipe for something fabulously uplifting and unbeatable.
Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/pianistmona
Greeting Everyone, I am so pleased of the overwhelming support I have for this CD. It was a labour of love that formed over many years of playing and gigging. I…
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