“The lone cello on stage pierces the twilight hue and three ghosts waft through the audience, moths drawn to the amber sound. Performing from memory, in the dark, they enact the ethereal sounds of Nicholas Yandell’s The Bewitching Hour… like a Robert Wilson slo-mo sequence. Eugene’s Delgani String Quartet deserves a shout out for setting a very high bar for the evening’s Magic. The ghosts drift back out through the audience, still playing, and the lone cello pines after them from the stage. I was indeed bewitched.”
Maria Choban (Oregon Artswatch)
“And the Surface Breaks” for solo cello was perhaps my favorite work of the night. Nick Yandell’s compositional voice is meditative and biological, at once natural and strange in its organic asymmetry and spontaneity. There is a shift back and forth between slow movements and flurries, between gliding repose and hungry predation. But gradually the frenzy subsides and the spirit prevails as we enter a more hymn-like and reverent tonal world. I felt as if in the span of a few minutes we heard the story of a melancholy evolution – from wings and teeth in the water to some human archetype on the shore – a basket in the reeds, a wounded king, a raft by the Mississippi.”
Christopher Corbell (Muse:forward)
“One of the survivors, poet Micah Fletcher, already known around Portland State University as a superlative poet even before he became famous in a way no one wants, performed his original poetry, which also inspired all the compositions on the program, including Nicholas Yandell’s opening Crisis Actor. Just before the composer intoned Fletcher’s words as part of the performance, the lighting turned blood red. That chilling extra-musical effect added a dimension to the performance by evoking the bloody attack that inspired it.”
Brett Campbell (Oregon Artswatch)
“Young Portland composer Nicholas Yandell‘s And the Surface Breaks for solo cello, from 2014, proved a mesmerizing seven minutes of mostly double stops as soulfully played by Ms. Oliveira.”
Terry Ross (Oregon Artswatch)
“[Marilyn] de Oliveira then gave one of the night’s highlights, Nicholas Yandell’s And the Surface Breaks, a work for solo cello strongly reminiscent of Benjamin Britten’s cello works in its soulful depth and textural variety; the warmth and focus of her playing gave it shape and intensity.”
James McQuillen (Artslandia)
“[Casey] Bozell in turn joined in an oddball combination of accordion (Kiran Moorty) and vibraphone (Florian Conzetti) in Nicholas Yandell’s intermittently poignant Eventide’s Lament…one of the more intriguing pieces on a strong program."
Brett Campbell (Oregon Artswatch)
"I float past cellist Marilyn de Oliveira at the front of the stage, the moon focusing on her luscious strokes, playing Nicholas Yandell’s And the Surface Breaks. I can’t shake the portent of Yandell’s disturbed ripples. Sadness mingled with terror.”
Maria Choban (Oregon Artswatch)
"The light show was run by Nicholas Yandell, whose music began each half of the concert. In the opening Dilate; Elucidate, slowly evolving pastels emulated the holy glow of the rising sun and reflected the yearning arpeggiations and pedal notes of the Pacific Northwest’s resident organ god, Dan Miller. After intermission, Yandell’s Hymn of Daybreak resurrected the solar theme, this time with Cheryl Young at the manuals and the sweet longing of Kurt Heichelheim’s distant horn imbuing the chapel with numinous
charms."
Matthew Andrews (Oregon Artswatch)
Articles & Reviews:
Oregon Artswatch: Cascadia Composers: Crimes Against Conformity by Maria Choban; July 23rd, 2019.
Subito Music Journal; Issue II, Spring 2019
The Rudimental Necessity of Love: An analysis of I Spat in the Eye of Hate and Lived by Charles Rose (concert review and analysis).
The Future of “Classical” Music; Oval Table 1: The Word “Classical” Just Bugs Me! by Charles Rose (interview).
Layers and Petals: A Conversation With the Composers: Kenji Bunch, Texu Kim, Bonnie Miksch, and Nicholas Yandell
by Matthew Neil Andrews and Charles Rose.
Oregon Artswatch: The Sound of Changing Times by Brett Campbell (article and concert review); June 19, 2019.
KATU News (television and website Article): Max Attack Survivor Teams Up for Artistic Response to Tragedy by Lincoln Graves; February 15th, 1019.
Willamette Week: Classical Resistence (calendar posting) by Brett Campbell.
Oregonian/Oregonlive.com: Not Your Typical Classical Concert (Concert preview) by Brett Campbell; February 9th, 2019.
Oregon Artswatch: Cascadia Composers Reviews: Lights, Poetry, Music by Matthew Andrews; APRIL 26, 2017.
Muse:forward: Review: 45th Parallel’s “Classical Crossroads” Concert by Christopher Corbell; April 13, 2017.
Artslandia: Same Old: An Enfant Terrible Follows in Familiar Footsteps in a Provocative Program by James McQuillen; April 12, 2017.
Oregon Artswatch: Horror Show by Maria Choban; April 11, 2017.
Oregon Artswatch: 45th Parallel Review: A Critical Approach by Terry Ross; April 6, 2017.
State of Wonder: Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB): Crossed Swords Lead to ‘Classical Crossroads’ Concert by April Baer; March 25th, 2017.
Oregon Artswatch: Cascadia Composers and Northwest Piano Trio Reviews: The Color of Magic by Maria Choban; April 11, 2016
Oregon Artswatch: Words & Music: Ambitious Oregon Productions Combine Stories & Sounds by Brett Campbell; April 5, 2016.
Oregon Artswatch: Dianne Davies Preview: Attachments and Detachments by Brett Campbell; February 25, 2016.
The Register Guard: Northwest Composers Shake Things Up in a Eugene Program by Randi Bjornstad; January 28th, 2016.
Oregon Artswatch: Cascadia Composers Preview: Engaging Ears, Eyes, & Minds by Gary Ferrington January 19, 2016.
Oregon Artswatch: Oregon Contemporary Classical Music: Golden Age? by Brett Campbell; January 18, 2016.
Oregon Artswatch: Oregon Rites of Spring: Drums Along the Pacific By Brett Campbell; August 7, 2015.