ensemble members

dylan feldpausch - violin

Dylan Feldpausch is a violinist and composer from Austin, Texas with degrees in violin performance from Rice University and Arizona State University. He was a Chicago Civic Orchestra Fellow from 2021 to 2023, and he is currently the Program Manager and Head Teaching Artist for Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra’s Side-by-Side strings program in Matteson, Illinois. Whether he’s teaching or performing, Dylan seeks to adapt musical convention to best serve whichever audience or community he’s bringing his experience to. He is a founding member of Hot Second, a genre-bending violin and percussion duo based in Chicago, and is a core member of Mycelium New Music.
jonathan hannau - piano

Jonathan Hannau is a Chicago-based composer and pianist devoted to the surreal, minimal, abstract, and colorful possibilities of music. He actively embraces eclecticism and explores concepts of narrative, drama, and stark expression by evoking a kaleidoscopic range of timbres. A regular collaborator, he has performed most notably with Ensemble Dal Niente, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and the Chicago Wind Symphony, along with numerous artists throughout the city of Chicago and abroad. In early 2024 he made his Chicago classical music radio debut on WFMT (98.7) with violinist Hannah Christiansen. He is one half of the piano-percussion duo Flannau Duo, and is also the pianist in the newly formed chamber ensemble Mycelium New Music which will debut in 2024-2025. He looks forward to continuing his role as Associate Artistic Director of the Chicago Composers Orchestra. https://www.jonathanhannau.com/bio/
rebecca mcdaniel - percussion

Rebecca McDaniel is passionate about sharing music with others and about supporting the creativity of young musicians. Relying on music as a unifying force, Rebecca seeks to share curiosity and joy as a performer, educator, and arts administrator. She is the Development Manager for the GRAMMY Award-winning quartet Third Coast Percussion, working closely with the ensemble in support of its performance, education, and collaborative programs. She is also an active chamber percussionist in the Chicagoland area, collaborating most frequently with violin and percussion duo Hot Second (founding Co-Artistic Director) and interdisciplinary percussion ensemble Beyond This Point (Artistic Partner). As an educator, she serves on the faculty at the Merit School of Music.

Rebecca attended Furman University (B.A. Music, B.A. Earth and Environmental Sciences) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (M.M., Percussion Performance). When she isn’t playing or supporting performances, she is most likely found hiking, biking, or otherwise outdoors.
isidora nojkovic - cello

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. http://www.isidoranojkovic.com/​
paul novak - flute/co-artistic director

​The "spellbinding" (Washington Post) music of Chicago-based composer/flutist Paul Novak immerses listeners in shimmering and subtly crafted musical worlds full of color, motion, light, and magic. His recent projects engage with dreams and memory, queer identity, climate change and the natural world, and psychosomatic illness. Novak’s recent commissions include projects with American Composers Orchestra, Balourdet Quartet, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Kinetic; other recent collaborators include the Austin Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and DanceWorks Chicago. He has received awards from the Barlow Endowment, ASCAP, BMI,  American Academy of Arts and Letters, and more. Originally from Reno, NV, he completed his undergraduate studies at Rice University, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago. https://www.paulnovakmusic.com/
michael tran - clarinet

Michael Tran is a freelance clarinetist in the Chicago area. He has a diverse career as a performer and educator. He is currently an Associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has performed with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Ocala Symphony, and the Fifth Wave Collective. As an educator he has given recitals, masterclasses, and clinics at universities across the country. Michael graduated from DePaul University with his M.M. in Music Performance and his B.M. in Music and M.S. in Management at the University of Florida. He conducted his studies with Stephen Williamson, Julie DeRoche, Jackie Glazier, and Mitchell Estrin. He is also the Artistic Advisor at the Vandoren Musician’s Advisory Studio in Chicago and has served in that role for over five years.
justin weiss - conductor/co-artistic director

Justin Weiss is composer and conductor whose “lush, colorful” (Cleveland Classical) music full of “rustling energy” (Hyde Park Herald) explores the perception of time, energy, and transformation through textural play and melodically driven lyricism. Justin has received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Prix Langage Musical, the Walter E. Aschaffenburg Prize and awards and recognitions from institutions including ASCAP, Society of Composers, Inc., The American Prize, and the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. He is the co-director of the University of Chicago New Music Ensemble and has led performances with VICE Ensemble, Oberlin Sinfonietta and Contemporary Music Ensemble, and soundSCAPE Sinfonietta, and has premiered dozens of new works internationally. Justin studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and is currently a PhD Candidate in Composition at the University of Chicago. www.justinweissmusic.com/