Monica Germino
Encyclopedia
Monica Germino is an American violin
ist based in the Netherlands
.
She is primarily a soloist
, but she sometimes performs as part of an ensemble
. She has worked with many composers, including Louis Andriessen
, Martin Bresnick
, John Cage
, Michael Gordon
, György Ligeti
, and Christian Wolff
. She has worked with Andriessen since 1994, playing many of his solo and ensemble pieces. Many new pieces have been written for her including a solo violin piece and a double concerto (performed together with singer Cristina Zavalloni
) by Louis Andriessen, a work for violin and sampler by Heiner Goebbels, and a large-scale piece for electric violin and soundtrack by Jacob ter Veldhuis
.
She has recorded for Basta, BMOP, and Attacca. Her primary teachers were Syoko Aki, Vera Beths, James Buswell, and the Tokyo String Quartet
.
Germino holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Yale University
. In 1999, she helped found the ensemble ELECTRA
, a four-person ensemble based in the Netherlands
. In 2003, she began performing with a custom-made electric violin
made by Violectra
.
Box 3 in the JacobTV series
label: Basta Music
2CD | 3091 752
includes Monica Germino performing the title track SUITES OF LUX, a large-scale, half-hour work for electric violin & soundtrack
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist based in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
She is primarily a soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
, but she sometimes performs as part of an ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. She has worked with many composers, including Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen
Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
, Martin Bresnick
Martin Bresnick
Martin Bresnick is a composer of contemporary classical music, film scores and experimental music.-Education and early career:Bresnick was born and raised in the Bronx, and is a graduate of New York City's specialized High School of Music and Art. He was educated at the University of Hartford ,...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon (composer)
Michael Gordon is an American composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can festival and ensemble. His music is associated with the genres of totalism and post-minimalism.-Early life:...
, György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
, and Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff (composer)
Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...
. She has worked with Andriessen since 1994, playing many of his solo and ensemble pieces. Many new pieces have been written for her including a solo violin piece and a double concerto (performed together with singer Cristina Zavalloni
Cristina Zavalloni
Cristina Zavalloni is a contemporary Italian singer and composer who focuses primarily on jazz and experimental music....
) by Louis Andriessen, a work for violin and sampler by Heiner Goebbels, and a large-scale piece for electric violin and soundtrack by Jacob ter Veldhuis
Jacob ter Veldhuis
Jacob ter Veldhuis, also known as Jacob TV, is a Dutch avant-garde classical composer. Ter Veldhuis favors tonal, melodic compositions, avoiding the dissonance of some recent classical music. Many of his works build melodies around samples of the human voice, as in Steve Reich's composition...
.
She has recorded for Basta, BMOP, and Attacca. Her primary teachers were Syoko Aki, Vera Beths, James Buswell, and the Tokyo String Quartet
Tokyo String Quartet
The is an international string quartet.The group formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music. The founding members attended the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where they studied with Professor Hideo Saito. Soon after its formation the Quartet won First Prizes at the Coleman Competition,...
.
Germino holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. In 1999, she helped found the ensemble ELECTRA
Electra
In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argive princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon...
, a four-person ensemble based in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In 2003, she began performing with a custom-made electric violin
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
made by Violectra
Violectra
Violectra is the trade name of an electric violin produced by Barcus-Berry with the pitch equivalent of an acoustic tenor violin, sometimes called baritone violin. It is tuned an octave below normal violin; i.e. between viola and cello. It was developed in USA by Barcus-Berry in the early 1960s but...
.
Discography
- JacobTV / SUITES OF LUX (2007)
Box 3 in the JacobTV series
label: Basta Music
2CD | 3091 752
includes Monica Germino performing the title track SUITES OF LUX, a large-scale, half-hour work for electric violin & soundtrack