She began her teaching career at the Academy of Music in Łódź as an assistant to prof. Zenon Płoszaj , then assistant of prof. Igor Ozim’s class at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern. Since 1997, she has been a professor of violin and chamber music at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, and since 2011 she is also a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Kalaidos.
More than 120 violinists from all over the world have studied with her. Many of them have become laureates of renowned solo violin and chamber music competitions. Her alumni have gone on to careers as soloists, chamber musicians, founders of chamber orchestras and are also active at the universities in Switzerland, England, Poland and USA. Many of the graduates play in renowned orchestras all over the world.
Monika Urbaniak has served on numerous competition juries, among others Tibor Varga Junior International Violin Competition (Sion, 2022) . As a music expert, she has been a frequent guest at Swiss music colleges. She has given international courses in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Mexico and in Poland in cooperation with other music universities.
She studied at the Academy of Music in Łódź, graduating with honors in the violin class of prof. Zenon Płoszaj. In 1979 she was awarded the 1st prize at the Zdzisław Jahnke National Violin Competition, and in 1981 the special prize at the 8th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań. From 1985 -88, as a scholarship holder of the Swiss government, she studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern under prof. Igor Ozim, graduating the soloist diploma with honours.
Alongside her addition to his pedagogical activities, she has a wide range of concert activities, including a rich solo and chamber repertoire of all periods. She promotes music by Polish composers, especially Karol Szymanowski. She performs in many chamber formations, from duo to octet. She was the only Polish member of the renowned Camerata Bern chamber orchestra. As part of Camerata Bern’s concert tours throughout Europe, Asia, America and Australia, she has been a guest at venues such as Carnegy Hall, Berliner
Philharmonie, Herkules Saal, Wiener Musikverein, Sydney Opera House. She has performed at music festivals in Lockenhaus, Luzern, Rheingau, Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Warsaw Autumn, among others. She has made with Camerata many award-winning recordings for record companies such as Denon, Berlin Classics, Novalis, ECM, Erato.
She plays violin Jean Baptiste Vuillaume Paris 1840.
