Monika performed live on stage for the first time when she was 10 years old.
She played a small part in the opera Carmen, with the children's choir of the Grazer opera.
Some years later she started studying solo singing at the College of Music and Expressive Arts in Graz. At the same time she studied art history and ethnology.
She earned the money for her studies by performing with the "Heart Breakers" since 1986.
This experience shaped her solo career, which started in 1996 with the song "La luna blu".