Hi, I’m Nicholas Alan Yandell and welcome to my page!
I’m a Portland, Oregon-based composer, musician, writer, visual artist, and private music composition instructor. Musically, I specialize in composing film scores, contemporary classical concert works, post-rock, and electronic music. I am half of the band Gentle Heresy (with Tristan Bliss), I’ve composed or collaborated on a number of scores for short films and film projects, and have had the pleasure of having my works performed by such artists as the Delgani String Quartet, cellist Marilyn De Olivera, the Iridescence Piano Flute Duo, the Madrona Viola Duo, and pianist Dianne Davies, as well as numerous other performances through Cascadia Composers (a chapter of NACUSA). In 2019, I had the honor of being one of the four composers commissioned by 45th Parallel to set the words of poet Micah Fletcher to music and got to perform with the Pyxis Quartet (and percussionist Sergio Carreno) at their: "I Spat in the Eye of Hate and Lived" concert. I also hold a Masters of Music Composition and a Bachelor of Music from Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY, and have had the honor of being named the 2020 Composer of the Year by the Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA). I willingly and whole-heartedly embrace the opportunity to compose for any instrumental or vocal combination and have even made my own instruments for performances.
As an author, I passionately explore the world of poetry and fiction and have had poems and stories published in RFD magazine, multiple editions of the journal Deep Overstock and in the zines Learning to Fly and Handbasket (no. 13), as well as having my works featured on the podcasts The Poet Heroic and Deep Overstock Fiction Podcast. I am currently in the final stages of finishing my first novel and have plans to release a book of poetry in the near future as well.
I have also been creating works I refer in as “extant art”. The definition of Extant is: still in existence; surviving; not destroyed or lost. This is art that focuses on what remains after the surface of an object, person, or idea is stripped away, often layered with themes of catharsis and sanctification. In the visual art realm, this idea is expressed in the breaking down of images to their simple lines and shapes, adding limited, often stark, contrasting colors, and backgrounds that interact with the images. The most recent set of self-portraits focuses on the substance of self after the erosion of the physical and emotional surface. As with nearly every concept I take on, I've been exploring this in the musical and verbals mediums as well.
In all my creative works, I’m interested in delving deeply into subjects such as mental health and psychology, spirituality and perseverance, all with an ultimately hopeful outlook, woven into strongly comprehensible narratives. As a queer person, I also use creativity to express my struggles with identity and sexuality as well as my own personal journey to acceptance.
