Monika Miodragovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and has been playing piano since she was five. She won numerous prizes at national and international competitions in Serbia. In 2008, Monika was selected to perform as a member of a duo at the internationally recognized Kolarac Hall in Belgrade. The same year, she moved with her family to Chicago, where she attended a pre-collegiate program with Professor Ivana Bukvich at Sherwood Music Conservatory at Columbia College. Under her guidance, Monika won numerous competitions, including the Fidelity Investments Young Artist Competition, which enabled her to perform at the Chicago Symphony Hall in 2011.
Monika received her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and Music Theory at the University of Michigan, under the mentorship of Prof. Christopher Harding. In 2014, she won second place with her quintet at the school’s inaugural Dale and Nancy Briggs Chamber Music Competition. She was selected twice to represent the school’s piano and chamber music departments at the annual Collage Showcase at the historic Hill Auditorium. Monika continued her piano studies as a teaching assistant at Florida International University under the tutelage of esteemed concert pianist Kemal Gekić. She was a teaching assistant for the piano and music theory departments where she taught group piano I-IV and aural skills I-IV. In 2015, she performed in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Monika won the FIU Concerto Competition with Chopin’s E minor Concerto the following year and played with the FIU orchestra. In 2017, she was awarded the Graduate Performance Award for her achievements. She was selected in 2018 to perform at the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.
Monika continued her studies with Dr. Winston Choi and Prof. Jorge Osorio at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and earned a performance diploma in 2020. The same year, she won first place at International Talent Musik Rhein-Main: Clara Schumann Klavierwettbewerb. While studying, she was also a pianist for Picardy Collective Trio, Oakton’s Six Piano Ensemble, and a volunteer at Sharing Notes, a nonprofit organization that organizes performances in Chicagoland hospitals. In 2021, Monika formed Chicago Concertino Co., and they had their debut performance playing music from six different continents.
Monika has extensive experience in teaching piano, first at Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago, and later at Old Town School of Music. Monika is also a part-time piano teacher at Sacred Heart school. In Fall 2022, she was appointed as an adjunct piano lecturer and department accompanist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.