Followed the sound of music

Monica Xiao moved to a new and unknown country a month ago when her husband got a job as a university professor in Iceland. She is a Chinese pianist who worked as a kindergarten teacher in Germany for five years.

"When I arrived in Iceland, I didn't know anyone and I didn't know what to do, so I went to the library," Monica says.

On a Thursday morning, around eleven o'clock, Monica found herself in Grófin City Library, and heard the sound of music coming from the children's department. She recognized some of the songs, as she had sung them with German kindergarten children, but was impressed with the performance she heard. "I didn't want to disturb the musicians," she says, but later that day she stumbled upon Valli in the music department, and asked him about the performance. "He told me it was a Toddler Time, so I asked if there was room for a piano too – and he just made it happen!"

Monica says she is inspired by children as a group of audience. "They are so interactive and innocent of the social restraints, we know as adults, to not react to what we hear."

And indeed the atmosphere was excellent at the last Toddler Time of August, when Monica took part in the musical performance together with Valli and Bára - and the children unabashedly indulged in the sweet and cheerful tunes.