Violinist Monica Germino is on the cutting edge of new music. She has premiered innovative works in such venues as Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican Centre, Berliner Festspiele, Alice Tully Hall, Mass MoCA, Le Poisson Rouge, Lincoln Center, Queensland Biennial Festival, Holland Festival and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. She performs often as a soloist and chamber musician with London Sinfonietta, Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Orkest de Volharding, MusikFabrik, Remix and Oslo Sinfonietta. Monica is co-founder of the international four-member ensemble ELECTRA, which commissions composers from all over the world. She has recorded for Attacca Records, Basta Music and BMOP, as well as numerous discs with the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch and Philips. On a quest to redefine her instrument's boundaries, Monica has created innovative programmes with a constantly expanding, eclectic repertoire, commissioning and performing many works written for her by today's leading composers. She has collaborated with composers Louis Andriessen, John Cage, Michael Daugherty, Christian Wolff and Julia Wolfe, among many others. Since 2003, when she acquired a custom-made 'Violectra,' she has been exploring the limitless possibilities for the electric violin. Together with sound engineer Frank van der Weij, she has conceived and produced multimedia programmes, revolutionizing the concept of a solo violin recital by transforming sound, executing unconventional feats and exploiting new technologies. A versatile artist, Monica has performed with Europe’s leading dance and theatre companies. Monica holds diplomas with honours from New England Conservatory and Yale University, studying 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, and is now based in Amsterdam. Monica plays a Joannes Baptista Ceruti violin (Cremona, 1802), on permanent loan from the Elise Mathilde Foundation.