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Knowing
a bit about a composer
Click on some of Alex Shapiro's personal essays linked on this page, and enjoy reading about everything from inspiring maestros to bighorn sheep.
Follow additional links below to a page filled with articles and broadcast media.
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Alex has been given many opportunities to discuss issues relevant to today's composers. Through years of publications and broadcasts, Alex's global perspective-- as well as her humor-- are in full force as she directly addresses what it is to be both a musician and an active particpant in the world. " To experience a very wide variety
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excerpt: |
"...For a long time I found his random notes, some fortissimo, others softer, to be little more than distracting noise, annoying in the way they pulled my attention from the notes *I* was sauntering across. But one day..." |
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| "...After a reasonable amount of pencil chewing, cat petting, email checking, almond munching, drawer reorganizing and writing and erasing, I was about ready to give up for the night. It’s easy enough to write down a note. Nearly any note will do. But often, the hardest thing about composing is just coming up with the all-important and necessary second note..." |
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| "Artists are communicators, and the world of communication has changed immensely in the past decade. Yet the way artists perceive themselves in the world has been slow to adapt to the freedom and power we now possess. We're most likely to have a viable career with our art if we ignore some of the paralyzing rules, paradigms, and myths from the past that are no longer relevant." |  |
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excerpt: |
"...what's primary here and really at the crux of why we all do what we do, is that even if those of us listening don't "get it," the person who created these sounds does, and passionately..." |
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Four Letter Words excerpt: |
"...Although I must admit that nearly twenty five years later, I don't recall the pith of Mr. Leinsdorf's analysis that day, what I distinctly remember is even more valuable..." |
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excerpt: |
"...Music is sex. Passion! Love. Joy. Pain. Tears. Agony! More joy. Communication. Y'know, making music is a helluva lot like making love..." |
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excerpt: |
"...I don't think tonality and overt melody ever left the building, but in some circles they were like a couple of illicit lovers locked in a small broom closet for quite a while..." |
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Words
on Artists
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excerpt: |
"You know what composers sell? Their heart. And it's wrapped in this fantastic packaging called their music. So, whether from the center of London or the edge of the Salish Sea, you reach out, and your essence, every bit as much as your music, becomes the draw for others to explore your work." | |
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The Economy of Exposure: Publicity excerpt: |
"We've entered an entirely new paradigm, in which it is not only money but distribution that is the payment which leads to...money." |
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excerpt: |
"Money has nothing to do with the quality of anyone's music. That said, for those who choose to put together a living from composing, there are myriad avenues for monetizing one's output—which can offer both exciting opportunities and an overwhelming career equation to solve." | |
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excerpt: |
"...the more artists refuse to consider differences in target audiences, the more successful we'll be! Hey, that sounds pretty radical, huh? It completely flies in the face of the way things are currently set up, whereby radio stations [read: advertisers] strap themselves into a demographic straight-jacket..." |
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| "The power of ideas resides in the act of their dissemination. A creative work may be thought provoking or life changing, but without the ability to distribute it to others, its content is of limited use..." |
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"...In this age of marketing, the titles composers choose serve to draw listeners to a piece, even more than to describe it. In a way, the title is the only advertisement our pieces have..." |
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| "...Paramount and other large, long-established companies are still desperately grasping on to the old paradigms of the way they expect to make money, even though those archetypes are rapidly disappearing..." | |
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excerpt: |
"If you want to see a look of horrified alarm on someone's face, just ask a struggling artist whether..." |
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The
Joys of
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"...By presenting an integrated array of music within a concert, composers might reach a broader base of potential fans..." |
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"Academia must awaken to the realities of the 21st century, in which artists are in control of their own careers... The concept of waiting to be approved of by a panel of "experts" seems quaint at best, and professionally debilitating, at worst." | |
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Musicians
& excerpt: |
"...If composers want to attract audiences for our music, indeed, if we wish to remain relevant to the public, then it is my opinion that we must earn the interest of our listeners..." |
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| "The other benefit of a Fictitious Business Name is privacy. Just like a comic book hero, you can shield your true identity from those you don't want to find out about you." | |
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Making an Asset excerpt: |
"Googling yourself may sound either painful or illegal in some states, but in fact it can provide a lot of information about where your career buzz is buzzing..." | |
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Amusing Musical Musings
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Life
Amidst Nature,
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excerpt: |
"...As the clamoring grew even louder we peered outside, only to see sheets of corrugated metal roofing, 3' by 8' long, flying through the air, buffeted ever so aerodynamically 100 feet or so above our little heads, and landing, one by one, perilously close to our little heads..." |
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"...I was probably crying about all sorts of things that had nothing to do with the spider, but I couldn't think of what else they were..." |
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"...You can't see, you can't think, you can't really tell which way is up or down as some level of vertigo settles in, you can't see the ground under your skis, you can't control the horrid conditions, but YOU'RE THERE so YOU DEAL WITH IT and godammit, this is, after all, supposed to be fun... |
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Life Revelations
i
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"...And so a few years ago, in the middle of the hottest July in many decades and in the midst of a very unhappy time for me, I set out to face my sadness surrounded by the soothing beauty waiting a few hundred miles from my home. The desert, particularly in the intense heat of summer, is a marvelous place to think..." |
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| "... I was barely able to discern her compact body, almost unrecognizable out of context. I looked forward to her descent once dusk arrived. She was my studio companion, since we both worked such late hours..." |
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Alex is even more engaging in person than she is in media!
To learn more about her many public speaking appearances,
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For ten years beginning in 2006, Alex published a personal, pixelsonic blog called Notes from the Kelp, that has developed a following of thousands of readers each month.
Pairing snapshots from her daily life by the sea with audio clips of fitting pieces of her music, Alex welcomed comments and exchanges from visitors around the globe.
It's Alex's contribution to virtual tourism! Join her in Kelpville, and see where her music really comes from.
Enter another world, here
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Interact! Become one of Alex's online friends
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Here are two of Alex's former writing companions, Moses (left), and Smudge (right), sleeping in one of their cat beds and doing their best impression of the Chinese Yin/Yang symbol.
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©2000-2024
by Alex Shapiro.
All rights reserved to design and content.