The pandemic brings a few bright shining moments of silver lining – and the SSO jumped on the opportunity to seize this silver lining. Cellist Oleksa Mycyk came home to Saskatoon to be with family when the pandemic started, and now he’s making his SSO solo debut!
Oleksander enjoys a multi-faceted career as a solo, chamber, and orchestral performer and teacher. He is completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Northwestern University and is a Teaching Assistant to Professor Hans Jørgen Jensen.
He recently completed the Certificate in Performance Program at Northwestern while a full-time member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra and currently performs as a substitute cellist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. Oleksander began his cello studies in Saskatoon with Lahni Russell and performed with the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. 
He completed a Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the University of Toronto, and a Masters in Solo Performance at McGill University studying with Matt Haimovitz. He has also performed in masterclasses around the world for cellists such as Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, Laurence Lesser and Aldo Parisot.
He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Felix Galimir Award for Excellence in Chamber Music, and the Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Award. A multiple laureate of solo and duo competitions, Oleksander has been a National Finalist in the Canadian Music Festival and a top prizewinner in the Canadian Music Competition. Recent performance highlights include the world premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s chamber work Water Cantos, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen during the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW concert series as well as being featured as soloist with the Canadian Chamber Choir on their US tour.
International appearances have included performances with the Grammy nominated Uccello ensemble at the International Cello Congress in Israel. Oleksander teaches applied cello at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, IL.
See Oleksa as part of our Visit to Vienna concert performance!