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The honor of serving with others
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Symphonic & Concert Writer Member,
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Additional awards & distinctions
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December, 2023: Alex is in her second term as the Northwest Division Representative on the NAfME Council for Music Composition, and received this appreciation from President Scott Sheehan. |
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2021 award: Concurrent with the premiere of her second symphony, SUSPENDED, commissioned by Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma for their July 2021 National Intercollegiate Band, Alex was made an Honorary Brother of both fraternities, and awarded Tau Beta Sigma's "Outstanding Service to Music Award".
And if you're wondering what the colorful ping pong balls are doing in the photo, listen to the third movement of the symphony, a minuet and trio titled MASKED!
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2018 award: Alex received the 2018 Friday Harbor Film Festival Local Hero Award for her activism through music, as an arts advocacy speaker and as a composer who often pairs her works with her wildlife photography to raise environmental awareness.
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August, 2011: Alex was honored by the national music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon with its highest award, the Award of Merit. Citing "her dedication to new music composition and activism for the arts," the award, given to a member biannually, was presented at the Mu Phi Epsilon National Convention held at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. To read the lovely inscription on the placque, click here |
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Some reviews
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The Jan/Feb 2006 issue of the American Record Guide gave a terrific review to Above and Beyond, the new CD from the Los Angeles Flute Quartet. Christopher L. Chaffee writes, "I am especially taken with the Shapiro "Bioplasm," ... I hope other flutists play it too."
The March 2006 issue of International Record Review glowingly praises Carolyn Beck's CD, Beck and Call, stating, "the disc opener [of Alex Shapiro's] "Of Breath and Touch" is delicate and nervous, like a fine race horse...".
The May/June issue of Fanfare Magazine calls Alex's work for contrabassoon and electronics, Deep, "...texturally absorbing...", and the May 2006 issue of Gramophone says of Deep, "The blend of sonorities is ominous and magical."
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“...one of [Shapiro’s] most remarkable works is simply entitled Deep, written for contrabassoon and electronic soundtrack....The electronic timbres are so mystically sepulchral that they fold the contrabassoon into themselves, and you really have to watch the score to be sure what the soloist is playing and what’s on the accompanying sound track.... And the sound production is so superb that you could pass the piece off as a really outside-the-box pop record, like a long-lost Brian Eno track. Surely this is the best solo contrabassoon piece ever written...”
—Kyle Gann, Chamber Music, May/June 2008
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- "Alex Shapiro's new piece DEPTH SOUNDING was impactful and engaging. Rarely does one hear tuba-euphonium ensemble and electronics blended so masterfully."
— ITEA JOURNAL VOLUME 51:1, FALL 2023
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"PAPER CUT produces an aural and visual experience that is unmatched for music at this grade level and is easily one of the most original and interesting pieces written at any grade level in recent memory." To read the full review, click here
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In his May 2001 review for |
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"Don't let look and location put you off (My gosh, she lives in Malibu!?!) here's a first-rate, real composer. Her piano sonata is tough, tightly controlled motivically in the manner of mid-century American serious composers, but it is also musically tense and expressive. This is the genuine article.
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"West Coast composer Alex Shapiro writes that "Composing is a lot like making love. We're trying to please ourselves. We're hoping to please at least one other person. And we are, in fact, communicating. Passionately." You didn't hear this stuff from Milton Babbitt!… This [album] ought to make a good introduction to the eclectic music of the present day, which embraces audiences as resolutely as the composers of the 1960s and 1970s rejected them, and it's enough to give one hope for the contemporary music scene."
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"[Alex Shapiro's Current Events] deserves circulation... Her title, by the way, refers to her hobby, which has something to do with “communing with the sea life at tide pools. It's music exceptionally well made ... I found it most attractive, especially in a long, beautifully unfolding slow movement."
In her pre-performance talk [Shapiro] kept invoking the ghost of Brahms, but I think she sold herself short on that count; her string scoring had little of the thickness with which the good Doktor was often given to burying his best thoughts. I wonder if he ever caught the romance of a tide pool."
—Alan Rich, L.A. Weekly, February 2005
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"[Alex Shapiro's Sonata for Piano]... jazz hued spikiness... The scherzo closer works surprisingly well, coming off as a slam bang coda in the way the last measures of Beethoven’s first Razumovsky quartet do.... a palpable level of motivic economy, confident and easy manner of melodic speech, and clear sense of crafty sophistication. " —David Cleary, New Music Connoisseur September 2003
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"This recital, consisting of music for percussion and piano opens with Alex Shapiro’s wonderfully descriptive At the Abyss. It is the longest work on the program, and is reflective of the composer’s concerns for current social issues including politics and ecology. Well constructed, and full of interesting sounds, the work reminded me of some of the more creative film scoring that I have heard. This is music that conjures images in the mind, and the joy of it all is that those images will vary from listener to listener."
—Kevin Sutton, MusicWeb-International January 2006
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"This is not a "percussion" recording, but it is full of wonderful compositions, several of which make prominent use of percussion. This eclectic group of pieces by Alex Shapiro run the gambit from joyful, almost giddy moods to dark, somber colors that remind one of Bartok or possibly Berg... This inspiring recording is great to listen to regardless if one is a percussionist or not. But "At the Abyss" should be considered by any percussionists looking for great literature to perform."
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"[Alex Shapiro's] Of Bow and Touch is a dramatic work with beautiful bass melodies and an intriguing use of harmony and texture... The piece begins with a striking introduction... The bass enters majestically... Rich quiet harmonies support a lyric bel canto, yet complex rhythms in the melody... A virtuosic cadenza marked "very freely, improvisation is encouraged" further embellishes the melody... Of Bow and Touch is a very effective and accessible work, with artful melodies and inventive use of harmonies and textures."
—Hans Sturm, Bass World, December 2001
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"Sometimes we hear music so much that we don't listen to it; why do we tune out our minds from our ears? It often takes a piece like Paper Cut to reorient ourselves and start listening to music again. As an electro-acoustic piece, Paper Cut is a combination of band instruments, pre-recorded track, and (of course) paper. Shapiro imagined the music as something akin to a film score, and I hear mystery and determination aplenty in the piece. I love this piece for the way it helps us, band and audience alike, remember that we have to listen to the music to appreciate it. So listen up! It isn't every day that you have a chance to hear something new and appreciate the creativity and inspiration behind music. "
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"Listen Up! Don't ask any questions. Simply go to this page, and click on each of the three MP3 excerpts from a composition (a string quintet) titled..., Current Events. It will do wonders for your heart, mind, and soul, and convince those of you who regard the 21st century as a bleak one for worthy new classical music (among whose number I often count myself) that perhaps things are not nearly so bleak as they might at times seem... Needless to say, we're also adding Ms. Shapiro's blog to our exclusive Culture Blogs listing on the sidebar."
––from A.C. Douglas, Sounds & Fury, 4/21/06
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"... a perky and thoroughly delightful duet for flute and oboe by the local composer Alex Shapiro, was brand-new, and Shapiro was on hand to deliver a few words about her piece..."
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"Alex Shapiro’s Music for Two Big Instruments, written for Norm Pearson (tuba player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), is the perfect intro for an excellent CD! It is a very powerful piece..."
—Sergio Carolino, Tuba News, September 2005
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"A month or two back, I ran across notes from the kelp, composer Alex Shapiro's blog, because of referrals to me (thank you, Site Meter!). She had a funny and challenging TAFTO Month contribution last week. And today, I listened to some of her music. You should, too; it is extremely beautiful and interesting..."
––from Lisa Hirsch, Iron Tongue of Midnight, 4/21/06
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"... I loved the dark, deep, almost gothic lyricism of the contrabassoon/pre-recorded track work "Deep," providing us with a truly unique and original composition for contrabassoon."
— The Double Reed, April 2006
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"Gifted with an intuitive musical sense complimented by a warm and expansive personality, Alex Shapiro has achieved success in a field few women have even entered."
—Peggy Hall Kaplan, Malibu Surfside News, October 2000
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"The annual Delius Composition Award Concert always proves to be interesting and entertaining, with wide-ranging stylistic musical offerings. This year, I particularly liked Alex Shapiro's Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano... truly interesting and very lovely..." —Jeff Gower, The Delius Festival Report, April 1999 |
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Some Panels and Adjudication
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The Grammy Awards |
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The Aaron Copland Fund for Music
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The MacDowell Colony
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Local Sightings Film Festival
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Aliénor Prize, International Harpsichord Composition Competition
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SEAMUS Festival
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Meet the Composer Creative Connections Awards
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Music Teachers Association of California Piano Competition
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The McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship Award
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The Cable ACE Awards
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Sacramento State University Graduate Composition Competition
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Contact and Press Kit
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You can even send a fax (what's THAT?) to: (270) 916-0093. |
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To download a .pdf of the complete |
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To download a .pdf of a complete |
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To obtain a |
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To
download a photograph |
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To obtain program notes for any of Ms. Shapiro's works, please click here  |
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©2000-2024 by Alex Shapiro. All rights reserved to design and content.