about
Praised for her "great control" (Chicago Classical Review), cellist Isidora Nojkovic is an active soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has a passion for contemporary music and commissioning, having premiered over 50 works, and is one half of the contemporary violin/cello duo Orbit (“the new cross-continental duo to pay attention to.” – Classical Post). A founding member of Varo String Quartet, she also performs regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. She has completed two tours with Lincoln Center Stage, performing in twenty-two countries as part of a piano quintet.
Chamber Music:
Isidora has performed in chamber music festivals around the world, including the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Harpa Music Festival in Iceland, Ottawa Chamberfest, Belgrade International Cello Festival, Scotia Festival of Music with Lynn Harrell in Canada, and Spoleto Festival USA. She has performed with Chicago’s Zafa Collective and Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, along with many others.
In spring of 2020, Isidora formed the violin-cello duo Orbit (www.orbitduo.com ) with friend and collaborator Aliayta-Foon Dancoes. Hailed as "the new cross-continental duo to pay attention to" (Classical Post) and described as packing “a mind-bending punch” (I Care If You Listen), their collective focus is the creation of new works for violin and cello. Together they have commissioned Cris Derksen, Olivia Shortt, Robyn Jacob, Amy Brandon, and Christina Volpini with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and SOCAN.
Isidora is also a member of Aviary bassoon-cello duo with her husband Ben Roidl-Ward. They are committed to expanding the duo repertoire for cello and bassoon, and together they have commissioned eight new works since 2018, all presented in collaboration with Omaha Under the Radar, NYU’s Precarious Sounds conference, the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, New Music//Chicago’s Impromptu Fest (a double bill with ~Nois Saxophone Quartet), Mise-en Place Brooklyn’s Guest Curatorship Series, and the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver, BC.
Orchestral Life:
As an orchestral musician, Isidora has performed regularly as a substitute with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, Charleston Symphony, Illinois Symphony, and many others. She was an associate member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2015.
Teaching:
Isidora served as Assistant Adjunct Professor of Cello at University of Northern Iowa from 2022-2024. She is active in teaching masterclasses, sectionals, and private lessons throughout the midwest, and currently is the cello instructor at Millikin University.
As a teacher, Isidora is also devoted to bringing music education to kids who need it the most. In 2018/19 she was teaching for Harmony Program, an el sistema inspired after school program offering free after school music lessons to kids across New York City. She was also co-founder of the Yukon Cello Project, an introductory cello summer camp for kids in the Yukon Territory (Canada’s rural north).
Awards:
Isidora has achieved recognition at competitions from a very early age, as a national finalist at the Canadian Music Competition in 2006, 2008, and 2011, and as winner of the Fuchs Chamber Music Competition in New York in 2017. She has also been the recipient of various grants from the British Columbia and Canada Councils for the Arts, SOCAN, and others.
Education:
Isidora graduated with a master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Philippe Muller. Other former teachers include Paul Marleyn (University of Ottawa) and Audrey Nodwell (Vancouver Academy of Music). She has spent her summers at Music Academy of the West, Orford Music Center, Darmstadt, Lucerne Festival Academy, and Domaine Forget.
Chamber Music:
Isidora has performed in chamber music festivals around the world, including the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Harpa Music Festival in Iceland, Ottawa Chamberfest, Belgrade International Cello Festival, Scotia Festival of Music with Lynn Harrell in Canada, and Spoleto Festival USA. She has performed with Chicago’s Zafa Collective and Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, along with many others.
In spring of 2020, Isidora formed the violin-cello duo Orbit (www.orbitduo.com ) with friend and collaborator Aliayta-Foon Dancoes. Hailed as "the new cross-continental duo to pay attention to" (Classical Post) and described as packing “a mind-bending punch” (I Care If You Listen), their collective focus is the creation of new works for violin and cello. Together they have commissioned Cris Derksen, Olivia Shortt, Robyn Jacob, Amy Brandon, and Christina Volpini with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and SOCAN.
Isidora is also a member of Aviary bassoon-cello duo with her husband Ben Roidl-Ward. They are committed to expanding the duo repertoire for cello and bassoon, and together they have commissioned eight new works since 2018, all presented in collaboration with Omaha Under the Radar, NYU’s Precarious Sounds conference, the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, New Music//Chicago’s Impromptu Fest (a double bill with ~Nois Saxophone Quartet), Mise-en Place Brooklyn’s Guest Curatorship Series, and the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver, BC.
Orchestral Life:
As an orchestral musician, Isidora has performed regularly as a substitute with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, Charleston Symphony, Illinois Symphony, and many others. She was an associate member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2015.
Teaching:
Isidora served as Assistant Adjunct Professor of Cello at University of Northern Iowa from 2022-2024. She is active in teaching masterclasses, sectionals, and private lessons throughout the midwest, and currently is the cello instructor at Millikin University.
As a teacher, Isidora is also devoted to bringing music education to kids who need it the most. In 2018/19 she was teaching for Harmony Program, an el sistema inspired after school program offering free after school music lessons to kids across New York City. She was also co-founder of the Yukon Cello Project, an introductory cello summer camp for kids in the Yukon Territory (Canada’s rural north).
Awards:
Isidora has achieved recognition at competitions from a very early age, as a national finalist at the Canadian Music Competition in 2006, 2008, and 2011, and as winner of the Fuchs Chamber Music Competition in New York in 2017. She has also been the recipient of various grants from the British Columbia and Canada Councils for the Arts, SOCAN, and others.
Education:
Isidora graduated with a master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Philippe Muller. Other former teachers include Paul Marleyn (University of Ottawa) and Audrey Nodwell (Vancouver Academy of Music). She has spent her summers at Music Academy of the West, Orford Music Center, Darmstadt, Lucerne Festival Academy, and Domaine Forget.
Aviary
Formed in the summer of 2017 at the Spoleto Festival, USA, Aviary (Isidora Nojkovic, cello, and Ben Roidl-Ward, bassoon) is committed to expanding the duo repertoire for cello and bassoon by working with living composers and using non- standard instrumental techniques and electronics.
In the winter of 2017/18, Aviary embarked on an international tour, with concerts in New York City (presented by NYU’s inaugural Precarious Sounds/Sounding Sanctuary conference), Tacoma, WA, and Vancouver, BC. Their 2018/19 season will include premiers of four newly commissioned works funded by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, a joint-curatorship at Mise-en Place in Brooklyn, NY with the Berrow Duo, and a double-bill with saxophone quartet ~Nois at New//Music Chicago's Impromptu Fest 2019.
In the winter of 2017/18, Aviary embarked on an international tour, with concerts in New York City (presented by NYU’s inaugural Precarious Sounds/Sounding Sanctuary conference), Tacoma, WA, and Vancouver, BC. Their 2018/19 season will include premiers of four newly commissioned works funded by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, a joint-curatorship at Mise-en Place in Brooklyn, NY with the Berrow Duo, and a double-bill with saxophone quartet ~Nois at New//Music Chicago's Impromptu Fest 2019.
