Yaz Lancaster (they/them) is a Black transdisciplinary artist. They are most interested in practices aligned with relational aesthetics & the everyday; fragments & collage; and liberatory politics.

Yaz performs as a violinist, vocalist & steel-pannist in a wide variety of settings; and their work is presented in many mediums & collaborative projects. It often reckons with specific influences ranging from politics of liberation & identity to natural phenomena & poetics. Their ongoing independent studies navigate politics/poetry of horror, Marxist theory, and digital (sub)cultures. Their writing (both creative and journalistic) appears in various online & in-print publications including I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, Afternoon Visitor, the tiny, and Underblong, where their poem “Ratios” was awarded the 2021 Blongprize.

Yaz has a varied discography including performing with Miss Grit on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (as well as their 2023 debut LP “Follow the Cyborg”), violin and vocals on international experimental artist Nyokabi Kariuki’s “FEELING BODY” (Cmntx, 2023), and violin the on genre-defying “FINAL SKIN” by 2022 Gaudeamus winner BAKUDI SCREAM (Cantaloupe Music, 2022), as well as a feature on four-piece screamo quartet Massa Nera’s “Derramar | Querer | Borrar” (Zegema Beach, 2022). Yaz has also collaborated and performed with notable artists including Andy Akiho, George Lewis, JACK Quartet, Jacolby Satterwhite, and Leilehua Lanzilotti. They are currently in post-genre duo laydøwn with guitarist-producer Andrew Noseworthy. Additionally, they have been commissioned by large-scale organizations like GRAMMY-nominated string orchestra A Far Cry, contemporary opera producer Beth Morrison Projects, chamber orchestras Alarm Will Sound (via MICF ‘23) and Contemporaneous, and versatile Opera Philadelphia– for which they’re working on a digital opera “PAPER TIGER” featuring Eliza Bagg (Lisel), Miss Grit, and Mary Prescott with a film directed by Sean Pecknold. Their debut album of commissioned music for violin/voice & electronics with video AmethYst released April 7th, 2023 on people | places | records (PPR).

Yaz holds degrees in violin and poetry from New York University where they studied with Cyrus Beroukhim, Robert Honstein, Joan La Barbara & Terrance Hayes (among others). Currently, Yaz is the visual arts editor of Peach Mag, a co-organizer with Sound Off: Music for Bail, and the newly appointed co-manager of PPR. They live in Lenapehoking (NYC) with their little dog Nori; and they enjoy chess, anime/manga, and jalapeños.