Monika Stadler

Monika Stadler started studying the harp at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and under Annemarie Zangerle (Salzburg) when she was 13. At the age of 15, she went to the Music Grammar School in Linz. From 1982 to 1990 she studied concert harp at the Academy of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna under Prof. Adelheid Blovsky-Miller. During her studies she was a member of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, participated in a number of productions at the Vienna State Opera, and was a member of the ensemble during the Carinthian Summer Festival. In 1990 she graduated with honours. Then she received a scholarship to study jazz under Dejan Pecenko at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz from 1991 to 1992. As it was not possible to study jazz harp in Europe, she went to America after being awarded further scholarships. There she studied under Deborah Henson-Conant (jazz harp), David Clark (bass) at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (Massachusetts), and under David Darling (free improvisation).

Monika Stadler now lives in Vienna. Apart from giving international concerts, she also holds workshops for improvisation and jazz in Europe and America.