Mikaela has performed with many and varied groups, including the Bear Lake Winds (the premier chamber wind group at UNCO), Spectrum Jazz Orchestra, the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, the CWU Flute Choir in joint concert with Maria Newman. She is currently a member of the Cascade Winds, Central Oregon Flute Ensemble, and the Lumina Flute Ensemble. She has performed internationally in Canada and Europe and is also an active composer. Recent accomplishments include the premier of Kay Cypret’s work for solo flute and piano pedal, Changing Leaves, as well as the much acclaimed premier of Giancarlo Aquilanti’s Rhapsodia, for chamber winds and piano trio, performed alongside the Pantoum Trio. Her compositions have gained international recognition and are being performed across the world. Her work, Sonata Duo for Flute and Piano, was also selected as a finalist in the 2025 Flute New Music Consortium’s Composition Competition. Her musical language can best be described as a mixture of tonal and post-tonal and is emotionally driven with a hint of strangeness.

Mikaela grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Flute Performance from Central Washington University. She earned her Master’s degree at Western Illinois University and is currently a doctoral candidate in Flute Performance at the University of Northern Colorado, with an emphasis in composition. Her flute teachers include Linda Doria, Hal Ott, John McMurtery, Terri Sanchez, James Hall, and Sophia Tegart. She has studied composition with Paul Elwood, Dylan Fixmer, Drew Zaremba, Paul Paccione, and James Romig.Biography