Why limit ourselves to 'genre's' when GOOD music can come from anywhere, any time period, and anyone?
Photo by Jacarrea Garraway
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 and Afro-Trinidadian 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 opening for Disney's Humanitarian Award Ceremony.
Most recently, a film I scored, “Many Thousands Lost” by Jehan Patterson was nominated for a BAFTA. I scored Kiana Khansmith’s animation short, “Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl,” which hit 3 Million views on Youtube. My work has been featured at the San Jose Museum of Art as a part of David Kelley and Patty Chang’s “Beta Exhibit” from November 2024 toMay 2025. Our film “Stray Dogs” was shown in Dakar, Senegal at the Africa-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge 3, a Conference Festival in June and will be preformed as a live performance at the LACMA in the Fall. My concert Euphonium and piano commission for Arisa Makita has been preformed in Spain and set to be played in LA and Japan.
My scores have been featured in Sundance, The Museum of San Jose's "The Beta" Exhibit, The New Yorker, Converse, Issa Rae’s Color Creative initiative, Sherman Oaks, AspireTV, BAFTA, and Columbia University's Film Festival. As an artist and creator I have been featured by Nike, VICE, Meta, ULTA Beauty, McKinsey, LinkedIn.
EMAIL: yasna@werkyournet.com
INSTAGRAM: @yazi_nay