In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.
Since then she has completed a Doctorate in Music Education with minor fields in Jazz Studies from Indiana University where she is a Senior Lecturer in Arts Administration. Her research focus is on jazz as a model for creativity and entrepreneurship with recent publication of her grant-supported project “The Jazz Jam Session Model for Group Creativity and Entrepreneurship” in the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Journal (MEIEA). She is also the author of David Baker – A Legacy in Music, published in 2011 by IU Press and “Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion” by Rowman & Littlefield (October 2017).
As a touring jazz artist, she has completed numerous international tours and performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Indy Jazz Fest, Cleveland’s Nighttown, Birdland, the Manchester Craftsmen Guild, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured Germany, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.
She has released more than a dozen CDs under her leadership on her own ACME Records as well as Owl Studios and Whaling City Sounds. Her awards include a 1994 Down Beat Magazine Award for Best Original Song, a Jazz Journalist Association Hero 2015 award, as well as grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission, MEIEA, among others. Her newest project “SHEroes” features the world’s leading female jazz instrumentalists including Leni Stern, Jamie Baum, Ingrid Jensen, Jennifer Vincent, Ada Rovatti, Mayra Casales, Reut Regev, Lakecia Benjamin, Akua Dixon, and more. Monika Herzig ist a CASIO artist.
Thomas Garner from Garageradio.com writes, “I was totally awed by the fine musicianship throughout”.
More info and sound samples at www.monikaherzig.com
