Monica is a native of Francesville, Indiana. The youngest of three children, her father was a farmer and her mother a retired music teacher. Throughout her youth, she headlined hundreds of local and regional performances and appeared in dozens of local & national theatre productions and television commercials. As a teenager, she studied at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, and in 1995, Monica was selected to become a member of the GRAMMY National All American High School Jazz Band and Choir.
Monica studied Music Performance & Radio, TV, Film at Indiana State University and was a member of the ISU Jazz Singers. In 2000, she moved to Nashville and discovered the Nashville Jazz Workshop, studying under some of Nashville’s finest musicians including Beegie Adair, Roger Spencer, Lori Mechem, Sandra Dudley, Jeff Steinberg, Rod McGaha, Roy Agee and Annie Sellick, to name a few.
Since 2000, Monica has released three albums, all elegantly featuring her musical and personal friendship with jazz legend Beegie Adair, all capturing and interweaving a lush sophistication of some of music’s most beloved and forgotten songs from the Great American Songbook. Their recordings and live performances have received international accolade and airplay on jazz radio, Pandora, Spotify, Music Choice, SiriusXM and DMX.
Monica performs regularly in various venues, festivals and private events throughout the U.S. including the legendary Birdland, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Nashville Jazz Workshop and many others. When not performing, Monica enjoys spending time with her friends, her family, traveling and gardening. Monica supports various animal and human rights organizations.
