violinist, presenter, educator

As a passionate ambassador of classical music, violinist Monique Mead has kindled excitement in new listeners as a performer, pedagogue, and concert presenter in Europe and the United States.

Chamber music study in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, and tours with Leonard Bernstein at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival inspired a multi-faceted career focused on making classical music accessible to audiences of diverse cultures.

Monique Mead has been educating young audiences since 1996 and has gained widespread recognition in Germany as an innovative performer and presenter of youth and family concerts. Critics praise her “refreshing approach in communicating with young audiences.”

Through television appearances, a radio series with the Munich Radio Orchestra, and as a frequent guest of the Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Berlin Radio Choir, Cologne Philharmonic, Düsseldorf Symphony, Bochumer Sinfoniker, and Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, among others, her programs have drawn national attention for their ingenuity and popular appeal.

During the 2006 Soccer World Cup, Monique Mead toured Germany with performances of her “Fussball a Tempo” program, which was also released on CD by the Bavarian Radio.

Her work has received sponsorship from T-Mobile, Audi, Bayer, Opel, McDonald’s, BASF, Dresdner Bank, and numerous government agencies, including support from the American Consul General.

She has performed as a soloist with the Philharmonia Hungarica, Krakow Radio Orchestra, Philharmonie der Nationen, and the Mexico State Symphony. In the U.S., she has played chamber music and presented concerts with the San Diego Symphony, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Skaneateles Festival, Maui Festival, and the Mainly Mozart Festival. She continues to work with many of these organizations in developing long-term projects to promote classical music.

In addition to her “Fussball a Tempo” CD, Monique Mead’s recordings include “Mother Goose meets Father Bach” on the Rounder Records label, a romantic violin CD with the Philharmonia Hungarica, “Great Violin Miniatures” for violin and piano, as well as 3 CDs with music and children’s stories in German. She performs on a violin made by Niccolo Amati in 1687.

Monique and her young children live in Pennsylvania, where her husband, Andrés Cárdenes is Concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Professor of Violin at Carnegie Mellon University.

More information about Monique’s educational work,
visit www.MotherGooseFatherBach.com

(doc-File, 21 kb)

Photographs