Monica Germino

Violinist Monica Germino (USA/NL) has premiered innovative works throughout the world, including appearances at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre, Berliner Festspiele, Queensland Biennial Festival, Holland Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Lincoln Center. She has performed with the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, Orkest de Volharding, MusikFabrik, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and London Sinfonietta. Germino is part of the international four-member ensemble ELECTRA, which commissions composers from all over the world. She has recorded for Basta, BMOP, and Attacca.

On the cutting edge of new music, Germino has worked with many composers, including Louis Andriessen, John Cage, Heiner Goebbels, Michael Gordon, György Ligeti, JacobTV, and Christian Wolff. Since 2003, when she commissioned a custom-made 'Violectra,' she has been exploring the unlimited possibilities for the electric violin. Closely collaborating with composers on works for electric as well as acoustic violin, she has created striking programs with a constantly expanding, diverse repertoire. She also performs new works for singing and playing, a skill that she developed in recent years. A versatile artist, Germino has performed in projects with Europe’s leading dance and theatre companies, and broken barriers in exciting collaborations with choreographer Nanine Linning, singer Cristina Zavalloni, pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama, and many others.

Germino holds diplomas with honors from New England Conservatory and Yale University, where she studied with James Buswell and Syoko Aki. She won the Charles Ives Scholarship, Yale Alumni Association Prize, and a Frank Huntington Beebe Grant for study with Vera Beths at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She is now based in Amsterdam. Germino plays a Joannes Baptista Ceruti violin (Cremona, 1802), on permanent loan from the Elise Mathilde Foundation.