Photos by Tré
Prasied for her “refined and attractive” playing (New York Times), string doubler, chamber musician, and concertmaster, Monica Davis has cultivated a protean performing career as a violinist and violist, collaborating across genres.
Based in New York City, she is a founding member of the “paradigm-shifting” (New York Music Daily) string quartet, The Overlook, known for bold, imaginative programming, that champions new compositions in the classical realm. A member of Simone Dinnerstein’s Baroklyn, Novus NY, The New York Pops, and the Grammy winning Experiential Orchestra, she also performs with The Orchestra of St Lukes, The Knights, and the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. In the 2026-27 season, Monica appears in concert in Portland, New York, Albuquerque, and Washington DC and celebrates the release of new albums with The Overlook, NOVUS, and Baroklyn.
A mainstay of NY’s commercial and theatrical scene, Monica is a member of the band of broadway’s Hamilton and has performed in multiple productions with the Encores Orchestra at New York CIty Center. Previous Broadway chairs held include Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Anastasia, Mean Girls, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Rocky. Recent performance highlights include serving as concertmaster for the one-night-only concert of Jeanine Tesori’s opera, Blue, at Lincoln Center, performing with Sabrina Carpenter at the Met Gala, and Encores! productions of Wild Party and La Cage Aux Folles at New York City Center. Monica regularly records scores for film and television and has performed and/or recorded as a side musician with various artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Solange. In past seasons, Monica led the strings on tour with Regina Spektor and toured North America with pop icon Diana Ross. She has been the string doubler for the Tony Awards orchestra since 2015.
Originally from Connecticut, Monica began studying the violin at the Hartt School of Music’s Community Division at age 3, where small ensemble playing was central to her early musical education. Attending Greenwood Music Camp as a teenager was the formative experience in her growth as a musician. She brings the rigorous, open, collaborative spirit she developed there to her professional work across genres today. She now proudly serves on the faculty of Greenwood’s Junior Camp every summer.
Monica is a graduate of Columbia University (BA - History) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM - VIolin Performance). Notable teachers and mentors include Teri and David Einfeldt, Stephen Wood, Mickey Reisman, Philip Setzer, and Laurie Smukler. Monica plays on instruments made by her husband, English violinmaker, Christopher Thorp.
