Why limit ourselves to 'genre's' when GOOD music can come from anywhere, any time period, and anyone?
Photo by Miley (Jie) Luo
Why limit ourselves to 'genre's' when GOOD music can come from anywhere, any time period, and anyone?
Hi my name is Yasna, and I am a multigenre artist. I am a Japanese (日本人) and Afro-Caribbean (Trinidad/Tobago + Surinam) woman who grew up in a loving, hardworking immigrant household. As a person who belongs to so many communities and having an interdisciplinary skillset through various mediums + industries, I believe my strength is my authenticity, empathy, and ability to story tell/communicate. I am very passionate about bringing non-traditional stories to life through an authentic and unique lens.
I first completed my undergraduate at Columbia University where I studied Religion and conducted research on sustainable development under the Dean of my college for four years. Then after a gap year I attended the University of Southern California to study Music for Film at the Screen Scoring program. During my junior year while being locked in the house during COVID, I published my first book "Werk Your Net," a book focused on helping people from non-traditional backgrounds learn how to build their network and career in a way where you don't have to compromise your values. During and before my time at Columbia, I worked within the tech/start up industry as well which helped me develop my love for entrepreneurship as there are many commonalities in the film world.
Growing up in a multicultural home, I grew up listening to every single Ghibli song to exist, Jazz, Blues, Funk, Soca, Samba, Boleros, Afro-beats, Latin, Folk, House, Japanese folk music, Japanese blaxploitation music, and many more genres which helped me develop a deep appreciation and love for world music. Since I was 11, I trained Classically and in Jazz on the trumpet and vocals. Eventually this lead me to have the opportunity to tour Japan, Europe, and the US preforming at: The Lincoln Center, Benaroya Hall, Yamaha Hall, Umbria Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, guest performance for Sarah Kinsley, C.U.G. Jazz Orchestra, and open for Disney's Humanitarian Award Ceremony. My scores have been featured in Sundance, The Museum of San Jose's "The Beta" Exhibit, The New Yorker, Converse, Sherman Oaks, AspireTV, Kweli TV, and Columbia University's Film Festival. As an artist and creator I have been featured by Nike, VICE, ULTA Beauty, McKinsey, LinkedIn.
EMAIL: yavismale@gmail.com
SOCIAL MEDIA:110K on IG, 150K on Tiktok, 10K on Threads