Monika Gruber

Pre-College
  • Chamber Music
  • Violin
Monika Gruber-Gibbons photo

Contact

Departments

Pre-College

Education

Master of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Pädagogisches Diplom, Hochschule für Musik (Weimar, Germany)

Künstlerisches Diplom, Hochschule für Musik (Weimar, Germany)

Ensembles

Circadian String Quartet (2019-present)

Eusebius Duo (2005-2015)

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Dortmund, Germany

What is your favorite recording? Why?

Ian Swensen’s 2004 live recital recording of Piazzola’s Histoire du Tango with Marc Teichholz on guitar, to be found in the SFCM library archives. It is an example of perfect timings, sound colors, and overall imaginative and creative violin (and guitar!) playing.

Who were your major teachers?

Ulrich Beetz (Abegg Trio) for chamber music and Ian Swensen for violin

What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?

How exactly do I want to present this piece and how exactly can I get there?

What was a turning point in your career?

Moving to America. Especially during my first year it was truly liberating for me.

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you, and why?

Berlin 1829: Both Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn put big efforts into the first performance of Bach’s St. Matthew’s passion outside Leipzig, which was a kick-off for the revival of Bach’s music throughout Germany and Europe. Felix got to conduct the event while Fanny, equally talented in all regards, sang in the choir. Later on, she was amongst the first women composers who published their own music under their own name and was thus a trail blazer. 

What is your unrealized project?

Finishing this bio—but I am getting close!

What do you think makes a concert experience unique?

The beauty about creating a live musical performance is that it is a fleeting thing, which can only be created in any given moment. The constellation of music, performer and audience will never be the same again. If we manage to stay truly in the present, as performers and audience members, the concert experience is unique and powerful. 

Please list your most important collaborations.

Playing John Adam’s Chamber Symphony with the SFCM New Music Ensemble in front of the composer during my first year in America. Then, more recently and fresher on my mind: my string quartet’s collaboration with Iranian santour player Hamid Taghavi, which required me to dive into Persian style violin playing. Lastly, our quartet’s recent recording session at Skywalker Ranch and collaboration with those amazing engineers at that incredible facility. 

Please list your top awards and distinctions.

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship
 

1st Prize winner, CMFONE International Chamber Music Competition

What recordings can we hear you on?

Stay tuned for the release of the album the Circadian String Quartet just finished recording at Skywalker Sound.


Bay Area composer Allan Crossman: Florebius (Navona, on the album ‘Between the Echoes’). Recorded with the Eusebius Duo.


Very recently: SFCM’s Matt Levine’s releases of ‘Longing’ and ‘Forgiveness’ on Spotify and other platforms. Recorded with the Circadian String Quartet.

Biography

"As a teacher I want to help my students to collect the tools and develop the focus they need to advance from where they are at consistently and in control, every day.”

 

Praised by critics for her "irresistibly melting tone, which she can also imbue with gripping fire", Monika is a versatile and nuanced violinist. As a member of the Eusebius Duo, she was invited to perform in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as first prize winners of the CMFONE International Chamber Music Competition. Throughout her years of study, she was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, notably the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, which enabled her to continue her studies in the US.

Monika received her training at 'Hochschule für Musik' in Weimar, Germany (Violin Performance and Pedagogy Degrees), 'Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique' in Lyon, France (European Erasmus Scholarship), and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Master of Music), where she studied with Ian Swensen. She is a seasoned orchestra and chamber musician, currently thoroughly enjoying on and off the beaten path explorations as a member of the Circadian String Quartet. Through her various collaborations she has acquainted herself with different styles and genres from historic performance practice to microtonality.

Ever since accepting her first teaching job as a maternity leave substitute at a local music school when she was a freshman, Monika continues to enjoy helping her students of all levels set and reach their goals. Her students have been selected for leading positions and solo concerto opportunities in various Bay Area youth orchestras and have gotten accepted into the SF Youth Orchestra. In addition, they have participated in reputable music festivals such as Aspen and Tanglewood, have been successful in local competitions, and have gained admittance into prestigious music schools such as Rice University, Cleveland Institute, Vanderbilt University, New England Conservatory and Lynn Conservatory.

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