Dylan Olimpi McDonnell

Dylan is a working musician and educator in New Haven who seeks to create community through collaboration in a variety of improvised and dance musics. He specializes in live performance, studio recording, and private instruction.

Dylan has played and studied the flute since age 10, and saxophone since age 17. In 2015, he received a B.A. in Musical Studies from Oberlin College and Conservatory with a concentration in Ethnomusicology (the study of music in/as cultural context). While there, he studied flute under Johnny Cochrane, Alex Cummings, and Zoe Sorrell. In New Haven, he studied under Naomi Senzer and Kris Jensen. Additionally, Dylan performed in ensembles led by Dr. Jennifer Fraser, Jay Ashby, and Jamey Haddad. He participated in master classes and jam sessions by the Punch Brothers, Johnny Vidacovich, Kenny Werner, and Leo Blanco. These performance experiences exposed him not only to the sounds of musical styles from Southeast Asia, Brazil, Southeastern Europe, and beyond, but introduced him to forms of improvisation and spontaneous arrangement idiomatic of those styles.

Dylan performs full-time with "spacehop"/RnB band Phat A$tronaut in venues around the CT/NY area. He was featured on the group's debut studio album, "The Fifth Dimension," released in April 2018. He can occasionally be found contributing horn lines to live performances by Thabisa (Pop/Soul from Port Elizabeth, South Africa). As a bandleader, Dylan fronts Flute + 3, a rotating collective of musicians playing bebop tunes, bossas, and jazz ballads. Beyond pop styles, Dylan has performed flute/wind chamber repertoire, most recently pieces arranged for flute/euphonium/bassoon, a highly unlikely trio.

Dylan's additional studio work is featured on "Child" from chamber folk band Kindred Queer, as well as on "Spike Lee" from "The Breakfast EP" by New Haven multi-instrumentalist/producer Gritz King.

Dylan teaches private students ages 8 and up in flute and saxophone at Hopkins and Foote Schools in New Haven, and . In lessons, he focuses on the techniques and repertoire of conventional Western classical flute, as well as guiding students to develop their own voice as influenced by his wider range of musical experience. Overall, Dylan seeks to join or create opportunities for aspiring musicians in New Haven to not only build technique, but to expand their musicianship, creativity, and leadership skills through participation in low-stakes performance environments.