The Ensemble

Nika Bauman, flute

Nika Bauman (HR) is the founder of Synesthetic Project— an interdisciplinary team of musicians and artists. She also a founding member of Ensemble Illyrica, Bauman-Ferlan duo, and guest solos with Mimika Orchestra. Through these projects, Nika performs across Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Belgium, and Ireland.

As a soloist, Nika performed at the Alpenarte Festival Schwarzenberg in Austria, and won many national and international prizes. Most recently she was a finalist at the 2019 HUGO competition for concert dramaturgy (Feldkirch), and Bauman-Ferlan duo won 1st Prize for chamber music in the 2018 Premio Citta di Padova (IT).

Nika has played in orchestras in concert halls such as V. Lisinski (Zagreb), Brücknerhaus (Linz), and Musikverein (Vienna) under Z. Mehta and F. Welser-Möst.

Nika received her masters at Zagreb Academy of Music and at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna.

Hiwote Tadesse, viola

Croatian-Ethiopian violist Hiwote Tadesse holds the co-principal viola position in the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and is also a member of Ensemble Illyrica and Max Bruch Trio.

Hiwote has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Croatia, Austria, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands under conductors such as Dirk Brosse, and T. Fačini, and played with artists such as T. Samouil, G. Hoffman, A. Dumay, A.Zemtsov.

She graduated with the highest honors from Elly Basic Music Academy (Croatia), Royal Conservatory (Belgium), Maastricht Conservatory (the Netherlands), and was artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Belgium), mentored by M. Kugel and M. da Silva.

Marko Ferlan, guitar

Marko Ferlan (SLO) plays in the Bauman-Ferlan duo, Pool of Invention, and is a founding member of Ensemble Illyrica.

As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in concert halls across Europe, including Konzerthaus (Vienna), National Concert Hall (Dublin), Schloss Belvedere Hall (Weimar), The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Ljubljana), and the Croatian Music Institute (Zagreb).

Marko won several prizes in international competitions, most recently 1st Prize for chamber music in the 2018 Premio Citta di Padova (IT) with Bauman-Ferlan duo.

As a jazz musician, Marko plays in different bands in Croatia and Austria, such as the Lana Janjanin Quartet, Oscar Antoli Quartet as guitarist, bassist, double bassist and percussionist.

Marko began his musical education in Brežice (SLO), and continued it at the GU Elly Bašić (Zagreb) with A. Čagalj, and earned his masters at University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in the class of G. Schneider.

Iva Casian-Lakos, cello

Iva Casian-Lakoš is an NYC-based cellist, singer, and improviser known for her “fiery cello playing” (David Lang) and singing “with an exquisite fragility” (Christian Carey). A first-generation American of Mexican-Croatian descent, she performs across North America and Europe with ensembles including Unheard-of//Ensemble, eco|tonal, Ensemble Illyrica, and PinkNoise.

Performance highlights include tours with the American Modern Opera Company at Lincoln Center and Tanglewood (dir. Peter Sellars); performances of In C with the Bang on a Can All-Stars and Sasha Waltz & Guests; a forthcoming album with Joan La Barbara; and appearances on Fire Ecologies (New Focus, 2024) and David Crowell’s Point / Cloud—named a 2024 Guardian Top 10 Contemporary Album.

Also active as a composer and improviser, Iva collaborates across disciplines and has performed her work internationally. She holds a DMA from Stony Brook University and currently teaches at Vassar College and Musart Music.

Photos by Toni Mijac