Dr. Mónika JÓZSA, choir conductor, music and voice teacher is Assistant Professor at the Teacher Training Institute of the Central European Studies Faculty of the University of Constantinus the Philosopher in Nitra (Slovakia). She is an honorary member of the Hungarian Kodály Society and a non-academician member of the secretariat of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
She began studying choral conducting at the Higher Choral Conductor Training Institute in Budapest in 1985. She graduated in conducting in 1992 at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, and as a voice and music teacher and choir conductor in 2003 at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In 2013 she obtained a doctoral degree in the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, her field of research being the work and relationships of Kodály Zoltán in Slovakia. From 1981 to 1994 she was choral conductor of the Girls’ Choir of the Hungarian Language Grammar School in Galanta, and from 1986 to 1993 the conductor of the choir of the Ifjú Szivek Hungarian Arts Ensemble in Bratislava. From 1982 she has directed the Kodály Zoltán Chorale in Galanta, and from 1992 the Hungarian Choir in the University of Constantinus the Philosopher in Nitra. From 1980 she was a singer and later conductor of the Vass Lajos Choir of Hungarian Teachers in Slovakia, where from 2006 she was artistic director.
She has an important role in training Hungarian music teachers in choral conducting in Slovakia. From 2006 she has been a regular guest speaker and leader of choral conducting courses at the Jókai Mór Summer School organized by the Alliance of Hungarian Teachers in Slovakia. The choirs she directs interpret choral music at an extremely high artistic level, and have achieved outstanding results in several contests, in choir competitions in Hungary and abroad. She has received many awards for her concert activity and her work in education, e.g the Silver Plaquette of the Slovak Republic (2002), the Prize of the Alliance of Hungarian Teachers in Slovakia (2009), the St. László Cross of Merit (2011), the Mikola Anikó Prize (2011), the Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit (2013), the Prize of the Rector of the University of Constantinus the Philosopher in Nitra (2015), the Pro Urbe Prize of the town of Galanta (2017), the Csemadok Education Prize (2020), and the Music Prize from the Hungarian Academy of Arts (2020).