Shane
Bio
Born and raised in Seattle (b. 1992), Shane Valle* is the soprano/alto saxophonist for the Portland Wind Symphony, a founding member of the Portland Saxophone Ensemble and Quartet 321, and has studied classical saxophone performance at Portland State University and the University of Washington with Dr. Sean Fredenburg and Dr. Michael Brockman.
A self-taught composer with degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Urban & Regional Planning, Shane brings his cross-disciplinary fascination with structure and time to his music, which is written in a familiar language that still finds a way to take listeners to new places. Ultimately, Shane seeks to write music that is fun to perform and fun to listen to.
“At it’s best, my music is a journey toward a kind of flowing tenderness, toward vulnerability—trying to crack something open for the listener and for myself.”
In non-musical life, Shane is a Senior Urban Planner for the City of Portland, a rapacious reader, a forest bather, an easily impressed backpacker, and a mediocre-but-enthusiastic gardener.
*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. (long family story about why the primary pronunciation is “valley” and not “ba-ie”…)
