Nicholas Monahan

Nicholas Monahan (17) is a Senior at Staunton High School in Staunton, IL. This is his first season playing with the St Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. He began playing violin at age 6 and added viola at age 15 through the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) Suzuki Strings program. He studies under the tutelage of Mikaila Seo. 
 
Nicholas plays with the SIUE Suzuki Tour Group, Viola Camerata, and Advanced Chamber Ensemble, as well as Alton Symphony Orchestra. He plays French Horn for his high school band program and sings with their choir. He also plays piano. In the past, he has played with the Alton Youth Symphony and the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has spent every summer since the age of 7 attending various music institutes, including Brevard Music Camp, Credo STL, Eastern Music Festival, Illinois Summer Youth Music, and American Suzuki Institute.   
 
Nicholas won the University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS) Music Solo Competition-Junior division and was able to perform as a soloist with the UIS orchestra, and the SIUE Suzuki John & Kay Kendall Concerto Competition Senior division in 2021. He has been selected for ILMEA-District 4 six times and selected to ILMEA All State in 2022. 
 
Nicholas has earned his Eagle Scout. He loves history and social studies. Nicholas loves to cook and try new foods. He loves to travel with his family including trips to Ireland and the Czech Republic and Poland with the SIUE Suzuki Tour Group, which gave him the opportunity to perform internationally as a group and soloist. He enjoys playing video games with his friends and chilling with his orange cat, Dewey, who is by his side for every musical note he practices at home.