Meet Shane
My artistic statement
Hi, my name is Shane Valle. I’m a composer, saxophonist, and urban planner living in Portland, Oregon. The music I write is inflected with the feelings and rhythms of pacific northwest life, which probably reflects that much of my musical thinking and writing ends up happening while I am out hiking in our wildernesses. At its best, my music tries to invoke and nourish what is tender, noble, and good in each of us.
Much of musical language falls on the conventional side of things, informed by classical music and gospel music traditions. If I had to try to place a finger on what is novel about my work, I think it actually comes from my urban planning background—which brings a zoomed-out, birds-eye perspective that is most concerned with how disparate elements can add up to a cohesive whole, how a composer and performers can take care of the long sonic dramatic arc that stretches across a piece of music, without which music dissolves into a series of unrelated episodes or monotony that fails to retain interest.
It’s easy to get lost in the swirl of soundbites, reels, and empty calories. With my music, I’m hoping to make the case for the deep, enduring gratification that comes from the long read, the multi-course meal, the long listen. We often entrust our time and attention to our technological overlords, corporations making a buck by promising us connection and opportunity while delivering a fractured and fractious civic space, addicting us to outrage and simple answers while stealing our sense of agency and purpose. I hope my music can provide an alternative you can feel good entrusting yourself to, a product whose only intent is to remind you of what you find foundationally important—family, community, generosity, connection to something larger than yourself— music that only seeks to return you to yourself.
If this ethos resonates with you, check out some of my music or drop me a line and let’s work on creating something together.
Bio
Shane Valle*—a composer, saxophonist, and urban planner based in Portland, Oregon—often infuses his music with the Pacific Northwest’s essence, reflecting its seasons, people, and natural surroundings. At its finest, Valle’s music evokes a sense of flowing tenderness and vulnerability, attempting to crack something open for listeners and for himself.
Valle has cultivated close creative relationships with emerging and local artists, collaborating to create music that’s meaningful for those involved. His compositions have been featured for multiple seasons at Chamber Music Northwest and have been performed in seven states and Puerto Rico.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Valle writes about music composition, creativity, and life in the Pacific Northwest on Substack at @composersnotebook. Outside of music, he serves as a Senior Urban Planner for the City of Portland, reads avidly, enjoys forest bathing and rockhounding, and gardens with moderate success.
*Last name pronunciation: pronounced like “valley”, the geographic feature. For bonus points, my last name is Spanish in origin; the Spanish pronunciation of Valle (“ba-ie”) is also acceptable. There’s a long family story about why we accept both pronunciations.
