My name is Mona.

I'm a musician.

An improviser.

I play bowed string instruments, mainly the viola.

I also have an active practice of singing and electronic music (particularly live sampling).

 

I was born in 1997 on Réunion Island, but I grew up in the Alps where I learned the violin. Then, at the age of 17, I discovered jazz. I was immediately drawn to its creative potential. It was through this gateway that I discovered the world of improvisation.

 

I studied jazz in Geneva, then in Amsterdam. My music is deeply influenced by the Dutch improvisation scene. Back in Switzerland, I started playing in Geneva, and at the same time, I earned a master's degree in improvisation and electronic music in Basel.

 

I have performed in improvised music projects, jazz, experimental music, performance art, and a theater play. Over the years, I have developed an active reflection on the world of culture, the place of improvisation in society, and the responsibility of artists. My projects often reflect this thinking, drawing on European free jazz movements, but they can also venture into retro-futuristic science fiction and travel interspatially within the individual and collective imagination of worlds to come.

​

Alongside my experiences as an artist in the city, and after my studies in Amsterdam, I went to Brittany, where I learned to sail on a 13-meter sailboat called La Limule. From this unique experience arose the desire to organize sailing tours with other artists. La Limule has hosted five of these tours, each one unique in its shared experiences with the groups, nature, and the people of the sea.

 

I am currently based in Geneva. I teach improvisation at the AMR jazz club and play in several projects, including Killer Whales Music Theory, MERCALM, Tier des Jahres, Confusion Vessel, Solaris, Musica Temporanea, and Tronco.

 

I also work with two organizations in Geneva that promote improvised and experimental music: AMR and Arboretum, a laboratory for artistic experimentation.

 

Influences and inspirations: Paul Motian, Nils Økland, Donna Haraway, Misha Mengelberg, Sun Ra, Henry Purcell, Jen Shyu, John and Alice Coltrane, Evan Parker, François Villon, Ornette Coleman, Holger Czukay, Bob Ostertag, Dr. N. Rajam, Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Andrea Parkins, and others.