"Nancy Ives is one of the Four Big Names in the Oregon School of Composition, and as such really needs no introduction... [an] elegant compositional voice"
— Oregon ArtsWatch
"one of Oregon’s most prominent and accomplished classical musicians"
— The Oregonian
“a refreshing musical breadth, a diverse but integrated approach that bounced around from Bach to Prokofiev to Copland and back without ever sounding like anything other than one composer’s uniquely personal voice”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“a local treasure”
— Portland Mercury
“Throughout, I was struck by Ives’s subtle harmonic sense and well-constructed counterpoint — modernistic but melodic and compelling”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“Nancy Ives… has built a career of such spectacular diversity that no summation will do her achievements justice”
— Artslandia
“[Ives’ compositional] renaissance has given rise to creations that can be blissfully hummable… but beautifully test the boundary between notes and sounds”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“I was blown away because of the high quality, authenticity and eye-opening nature of Celilo Falls: We Were There… universal in [its] artistic, social and political impact”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“stunning, assiduously crafted, and mostly melodic music… blended into a many-splendored artistic experience.”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“A relative of the acclaimed composer Charles Ives, Nancy carries on the tradition of her namesake with modern relevance... working with indigenous communities to authentically capture, amplify and relay their stories to wider audiences”
— Oregon Coast Today
“[Ives demonstrated] with attentive grace that technically challenging and sonically difficult music can still be beautiful”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
“that informal quality makes the singing in such compositions all the more compelling, breaking that alienating barrier theater people always talk about, inviting us to hear the human voice not just as a trained musical instrument but also as an immediate and humanizing means of interpersonal connection. The raw vulnerability of the naked singing voice is a powerful thing in any context, and here it becomes a bridge across the historically impermeable barrier between vocalists and instrumentalists. In other words, it’s not just music the [Fear No Music] gang isn’t afraid of: I’m pretty sure these people aren’t afraid of anything”
— Oregon ArtsWatch (review of Ives’ Suite)
“Nancy Ives, one of the most important composers in Oregon”
— Oregon ArtsWatch
-
![]()
Musical America - New Artist of the Month
September 2024 - "The sound of an immense volume of water, rushing over a series of cascading falls in the Columbia River. The feel of the mist clouding the air and the eye of the Native American hitting the heads of the salmon as they jump to clear the falls... Both come to vivid life in Oregon composer Nancy Ives' Celilo Falls : We Were There performed to thunderous applause last month..."
-
![Review of Nancy Ives' Celilo Falls in Oregon ArtsWatch]()
Oregon ArtsWatch
“stunning, assiduously crafted, and mostly melodic music… The merging of these elements… blended into a many-splendored artistic experience. I was blown away because of the high quality, authenticity and eye-opening nature of Celilo Falls: We Were There… universal in [its] artistic, social and political impact.”
-
![Celilo Falls by Nancy Ives feature in the Oregonian]()
The Oregonian
“Her music — melancholy and turbulent in ‘Celilo Fisherman,’ exalted in ‘Grandfather Storyteller,’ angry in ‘Celilo Falls’ … The inner rhythm of the waterfalls, the percussive flopping of salmon heads striking rocks, even the wind eventually made their way into her 11-movement, 45-minute composition.”
-
![Nancy Ives feature article in Oregon Coast Today]()
Oregon Coast Today
“A relative of the acclaimed composer Charles Ives, Nancy carries on the tradition of her namesake with modern relevance... working with indigenous communities to authentically capture, amplify and relay their stories to wider audiences.”
-
![Nancy Ives feature article in Oregon ArtsWatch]()
Oregon ArtsWatch
“[Ives’ compositional] renaissance has given rise to creations that can be blissfully hummable… but beautifully test the boundary between notes and sounds.”
-
![Nancy Ives feature article in Artslandia]()
Artslandia
“Nancy Ives, Oregon Symphony principal cello since 2000, has built a career of such spectacular diversity that no summation will do her achievements justice.”
-
![Nancy Ives in the Oregonian]()
The Oregonian
“Oregon Symphony's top cellist talks cello rock and her stint with Lenny Kravitz”
-
![Nancy Ives pairs Bach with ice cream at Salt & Straw]()
Salt & Straw Blog
“As they played for us, it was decided our flavor would be a culinary translation of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G-major. The result is a velvety sweet, dark and smoky flavor. Much like the piece by Bach, the flavor tastes soothing and nostalgic as if it could calm you no matter how hard your day has been; it also has this drum beat that is spicy and earthy. The flavor is made of smooth and soothing notes of chocolate, ginger, carrots, brandy...”
