about
Isidora Nojkovic is a Serbian-Canadian cellist who performs internationally as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has a passion for contemporary music, having premiered over 50 works, and is active in commissioning and working with living composers. Praised for her "great control" (Chicago Classical Review), Isidora has appeared at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Harpa Music Festival in Iceland, Ottawa Chamberfest, Belgrade International Cello Festival, the Scotia Festival of Music with Lynn Harrell in Canada, and Spoleto Festival USA. She has also completed two tours with Lincoln Center Stage, performing in twenty-two countries as part of a piano quintet.
New Music:
Isidora is equally devoted to the performance and creation of new works. As a member of Aviary bassoon and cello duo, she has commissioned eight new works since 2018, all presented in concert in collaboration with Omaha Under the Radar, NYU’s Precarious Sounds conference, New Music//Chicago’s Impromptu Fest, Mise-en Place Brooklyn’s Guest Curatorship Series, and the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver, BC. She regularly performs with Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble, and in 2022 will appear with Chicago's Zafa Collective.
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), their collective focus is the creation of new works that are written to be equally effective when performed remotely or in person. Together they have commissioned Cris Derksen and Olivia Shortt with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Orchestral Life:
As an orchestral musician, Isidora has performs as a substitute with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, Charleston Symphony, Illinois Symphony, and many others. She was a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2015, and principal cellist of both the Handel Festival Orchestra NYC and Music Academy of the West Opera Orchestra in 2017.
Teaching:
As a teacher, Isidora is devoted to bringing music education to kids who need it the most. In 2018/19 she was teaching for Harmony Program, an 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 several grants from both the British Columbia and Canada Councils for the Arts.
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, and Domaine Forget.
New Music:
Isidora is equally devoted to the performance and creation of new works. As a member of Aviary bassoon and cello duo, she has commissioned eight new works since 2018, all presented in concert in collaboration with Omaha Under the Radar, NYU’s Precarious Sounds conference, New Music//Chicago’s Impromptu Fest, Mise-en Place Brooklyn’s Guest Curatorship Series, and the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver, BC. She regularly performs with Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble, and in 2022 will appear with Chicago's Zafa Collective.
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), their collective focus is the creation of new works that are written to be equally effective when performed remotely or in person. Together they have commissioned Cris Derksen and Olivia Shortt with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Orchestral Life:
As an orchestral musician, Isidora has performs as a substitute with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera, Charleston Symphony, Illinois Symphony, and many others. She was a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2015, and principal cellist of both the Handel Festival Orchestra NYC and Music Academy of the West Opera Orchestra in 2017.
Teaching:
As a teacher, Isidora is devoted to bringing music education to kids who need it the most. In 2018/19 she was teaching for Harmony Program, an 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 several grants from both the British Columbia and Canada Councils for the Arts.
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, 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.
