IMMERSION

Symphony for Winds, Percussion,
and Pre-recorded Soundscape.

Composed by Alex Shapiro

2010; Total duration: 23:00.
Three movement work.
86 pages, 9" x 12".
Published by Activist Music LLC (ASCAP).

Grade 4 and beyond (DEPTH and BENEATH) and Grade 5 (SURFACE).

Each movement can also be programmed separately. Click the title for more info:

DEPTH (7:43)
SURFACE (3:55)
BENEATH (10:10)

Click here to order

QUICK LINKS

Program Note:

IMMERSION brings listeners on a sonic journey into a private, aquatic realm. Beneath the surface of the ocean is a world of liquid beauty and grace hidden from our eyes and from our imagination. Even in this habitat of life and hope, exquisite creatures remain vulnerable to events triggered from beyond their fragile sanctuary. Follow your ears and your heart to the depths of a place we sometimes forget to look.

PROGRAM BIO for Alex Shapiro

To download each movement separately, email Alex for the guest access code, then click below. Scores are for perusal only, NOT for performance.

IMMERSION is a three-movement symphony that can be presented as one longer piece, or modularly, in any combination of movements together or separately. Depth, and Beneath, are moderate in tempo, while Surface is very fast and percussive, and even suitable as an encore.

The sea has been a constant in my life: I have always lived on or next to the water. From my upbringing by the rivers flanking Manhattan, to my earlier adult life on the Pacific ocean in Malibu and Santa Barbara, living on the beach as well as on a sailboat, to my current existence on the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest where I can kayak from my home in the San Juan Islands to outlying atolls, I’ve spent a lot of time observing water and water-based life.

My studio on San Juan Island is in a largely glass house built on the very edge of the sea with an enormous view across the Salish Sea from the San Juans to the U.S. mainland, and as I composed Immersion, the ocean and its fascinating wildlife were my constant companions. Had I not been a musician, I might have become a marine biologist, and my interest in these sciences is reflected by my participation on the Advancement Board of University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories, a preeminent marine science research center. I have a deeply fortunate life, to be a composer with an inner view to working scientists, and most of all, to have a window to the daily lives of wild creatures whose private existence is often beneath the surface, in the depth of the sea. I seek to share this private world, through music.

Immersion would not have been possible without the endless support, enthusiasm and collaborative work of Jerry Luckhardt, whose vision and assistance are deeply appreciated.

Alex appears in three of director Michael Stillwater's
documentary films: Shining Night,
Beyond the Fear of Singing,
and In Search of the Great Song.
Click below to watch a short excerpt from the latter,
scored with the whale song track from BENEATH
and filmed at Alex's home on San Juan Island, WA.:

Want to hear how Alex found the perfect whale for this piece? Click here to read a short interview with her, on the blog The Natural World.

Enjoy this video of Lt. Col. Don Schofield USAF conducting DEPTH at Armstrong State University, with the 2015 - 2016 GMEA District 1 - 11-12 Honor Band, on February 6, 2016 (music begins at 2:10):

Where do composers get their inspiration? You can see more of Alex's photos, including the sequence of the life-and-death sea lion vs. octopus smack down as described by Alex in the Classical Discoveries interview, on this page of her blog, Notes from the Kelp.

"There are less than a handful of [electroacoustic] pieces in the repertoire, and nothing like this one. Alex has a unique voice in music that I find stunningly beautiful and connected.

--Jerry Luckhardt, Conductor, University of Minnesota Symphonic Band; 2011.

The video and lighting effects for the premiere of "Immersion"
at University of Minnesota.

Enjoy videos of each movement of IMMERSION, performed by the Washington State University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Danh Pham on a concert devoted to Shapiro's music during her residency as guest composer for the Festival of Contemporary Art Music on February 9, 2013.

DEPTH: movement 1 of IMMERSION.

SURFACE: movement 2 of IMMERSION.

BENEATH: movement 3 of IMMERSION.

You can also enjoy a setting of SURFACE that, while still related to being underwater, has nothing to do with sea life! This video that Alex shot is scored with a recording of the live premiere of SURFACE, performed by the University of Minnesota Symphonic Band, conducted by Jerry Luckhardt at Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapoli, MN, February 2011.

Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, etc. are wonderful tools for affordably bringing Alex into your rehearsal, without having to book a plane flight! She has a great time coaching students, and the difference between their musicianship at the beginning of the session and by the time it ends, is remarkable.

Alex can tell the ensemble about how the piece was created and engage them in conversation, and even show them how her digital project studio works! It's also easy to arrange to have her say hello to the audience during a concert, via a custom video. Webhearsals connect musicians to the real person-- and the stories-- behind the notes on the music stands. Get in touch with Alex-- her contact info is at the bottom of this page.

To see some examples of webhearsals, and the view Alex loves to share from her desk, click here.

Alex was an early adopter of online "webhearsals"! Here's one from December 2012 with Alex in her studio on Washington's San Juan Island, and band director Mary Bauer and the Mt. Mansfield Union High School Band far across the continent in Vermont.

The marching bass drums and toms can be substituted with concert drums. The composer wanted to bridge the two worlds just a little bit, and bring an aspect of the marching arts onto the concert stage. Want to see what five marching bass drums look like in the percussion section? Here's the setup from The Ohio State University premiere:

Alex has written an extensive two-part article about electroacoustic band music and the uses of multimedia in the concert world. The essay, titled The e-Frontier: Music, Multimedia, Education, and Audiences in the Digital World echoes the presentations she has given at the 2013 Midwest Clinic, the 2014 TMEA convention, and countless other seminars, and appears in the June and September 2014 issues of the magazine of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, WASBE World. The pdf is offered here with the very kind permission of the organization.

Click here for the full .pdf file

The premiere of "Immersion" at University of Minnesota,
Jerry Luckhardt, conducting.

Want to know how Alex found the perfect whale for this piece? Click here to read a short interview with her, on the blog The Natural World.

The VERY best way to reach Alex is through email, by clicking here

All photographs by Alex Shapiro (which gives you some idea
of what inspires this music!).

Head on over to THIS PAGE for an overview of Alex's wind band pieces. You can listen to each one, read all about it via a link, and if desired, request a free pdf perusal score. Have fun!