About Ilka LoMonaco
Ilka LoMonaco was born in Germany and studied at the Hochschule für Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Hamburg, where she won first prize in one of Germany’s most important voice competitions: the VdMK Wettbewerb. During that time she established a flourishing career in oratorio, and also began her pedagogic career by teaching at two music schools in Hamburg. In 1991 she moved to New York to continue studying with renowned teacher Thomas LoMonaco and expanded her repertoire to include more opera. Some of the roles she has performed are Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), and Elvira (Don Giovanni). While running a thriving private vocal studio in Manhattan, in 2000 LoMonaco began teaching at the Lee Strasberg Institute as well as New York University. In 2006 she completed her training as a certified Feldenkrais practitioner, and the method has been informing her vocal teaching ever since. In 2007 LoMonaco joined the vocal faculty at Bard College and moved to the Hudson Valley, while maintaining her vocal studio in Manhattan. At Bard, besides individual voice lessons, she coproduces the Opera Workshop, which is taught jointly with the other vocal faculty and culminates annually in a fully staged production with orchestra. Her other classes include Feldenkrais and the Voice, and Vocal Pedagogy, for undergraduate students and graduate choral conductors.