ALL ABOUT YAEL

Past. Present. Future.

It wasn’t long before Yael realized that a career in music was exactly what they wanted in life. Surrounded by a community of musical talents in the vibrant San Francisco cultural scene, Yael brings an original and innovative approach to their work. Catch all the updates as they progress through their music career.

Raised in Chicago, Yael Kane began playing piano at an early age. When her tendency to tap on desks in class became frequent enough to annoy her teachers, Yael realized that she wanted to play the drums. In high school, she was accepted to the Merit School of Music Tuition Free Conservatory where she studied percussion under Doug Brush and Robert Dillon of Third Coast Percussion. At Merit, she learned music from all over the world at a high level. She participated in the Honors Jazz Ensemble, the Honors Chamber Music Ensemble, the Wind Symphony, the Latin Jazz Ensemble, the West African percussion ensemble, among others. She was also nominated by Nico Segal (trumpet player for Chance The Rapper), to be the drummer for the Gallery 37 Jazz Ensemble. These experiences set the stage for her strong interest in the many different musics of the world that would shape her future education.

This interest led her to study at the New York University percussion department, where she received her B.M. At NYU she studied classical percussion with professors Jonathan Haas, James Saporito, and Simon Boyar; jazz vibraphone with Sean Statser; steel pan with Josh Quillen; gyil and djembe with Valerie Naranjo; and Peruvian cajon and drumset with Maestro Freddie Huevito Lobaton and Gabriel Alegria. During her time at NYU, Yael traveled to Peru to tour with the Afro-Peruvian jazz band Karachacha, and recorded two albums.

Yael continued her studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, receiving her M.A. There she studied Afro-Cuban and Brazilian drumming with Michael Spiro, and drum set with Steve Houghton. At IU, Yael also began exploring composition by taking lessons with P.Q. Phan and Wayne Wallace. She continued to develop this interest by attending the So Percussion Summer Institute as a composer for two summers.

During her graduate studies Yael also began exploring her own cultural and religious heritage, that of the Jewish People. Finding great meaning in doing so, she attended the Machon L'Yahadus Women's Yeshiva after graduating from IU. There she studied Jewish mysticism and law and gathered many meaningful ideas from which she draws inspiration for her compositions.