Alex Shapiro

Bio:

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A side note to new e-friends: I'm really happy to meet everyone! Things are pretty busy, so please give me a while to be able to respond to messages or add requests. Thanks!

When I’m not crawling around the tide pools where I live, I’m working on becoming a more adept note alignment specialist. I'm best known for the chamber music I compose, and that's been the focus of my career for the past decade, evidence of which resides in the clips on this page. I also get a big smile on my face when I'm writing jazz tunes and rock songs, and if I drink just enough single malt, I might eventually share some of those here, as well.

I’ve been having a very happy and fortunate life as a composer, and there’s a pretty extensive bio on my website which will definitely give you an idea of my background and how I spend a lot of my time. The website is my professional face to the world; MySpace has been an amazingly gratifying and different way to connect with tons of talented colleagues and very cool people. Many of the "friends" listed here are, indeed, true friends in my "real" world. Some I've known for years, and others have become instant simpatico buddies thanks to this networking technology. I'm continually astonished by the power of the web to bring us all together, giving artists a way to reach audiences for our work across the globe. There's never been a better time to be a composer.



It's also a great time to be writing concert music, because a lot of the stylistic walls that used to separate classical, jazz, rock, electronica, etc. have crumbled, as have the expectations that composers are always supposed to be so damned serious. I think artists should be involved with and relevant to the world around them, as activists and as participants. In addition to my website and this page, I publish a pixelsonic blog, Notes From The Kelp, using my snapshots and audio clips to offer an informal portal to the aspects of my life which inspire much of my music. If I weren't a musician I might have become a marine biologist, and I get a lot of pleasure sharing random, usually unimportant observations of my environment.

I’m passionate about a lot of things, and I have a tendency to get involved and delve deeply whenever possible. I love to think, to listen, to learn, and to talk, and I do my best to do them all in the correct order. Sometimes I fail. But I always keep trying.

If you like the four audio clips seen above, there's one more lurking if you scroll down on the player. And best of all, I'm excited that a CD of several of my pieces, titled Notes from the Kelp (just like its companion blog), was released on Innova Recordings, as seen below. Make me smile even more than I do in these photos, and order a copy! I just might get you to smile, too.

Notes from the Kelp A collection of eight of my chamber works, with full versions of the MySpace clips heard above, and much more. To read about the disc and hear excerpts, click here Eat your sea vegetables. And listen to them, too!

Download now! The CDs below are among those that feature my music. Click any of the CD icons for more information, and, for an instant kelp infusion (you know you need one), consider buying a disc for yourself or as a gift! Virtual tourism never sounded this cool.

		Music for Hammers & Sticks: Alex's At the Abyss		New American Piano Music: Alex's Sonata for Piano
		Jenni Scott: Alex's Shiny Kiss		Above and Beyond: Alex's Bioplasm
		Coast to Coast: Alex's Music for Two Big Instruments	..	60x60 2005: Alex's Unhinged
		Trumpet Colors: Alex's Elegy		Saxtronic Soundscape: Alex's Desert Tide
		Beck and Call: Alex's Of Breath and Touch and Deep		Clariphonia: Alex's Trio for Clarinet, Violin & Piano
	..	La Discordantia: Alex's Slip		Californian Concert: Alex's For My Father

Member Since:

August 02, 2005

Members:

Myself and many, many incredibly gifted musicians who bring my music to life.

Influences:

.. Depends what I've had for dinner...

Need more clues? Ok, check out my blog, Notes from the Kelp.

Still want more? Hear what I have to say about life, music, sea anemones and lots of other things, on the public radio show, American MusicMakers. You can listen while you surf around.

Sounds Like:

.. Someone who's been having way too much fun and not enough sleep. Visit my website to listen to lots of audio clips of my music, then you get to tell ME what I sound like.

To give you a clue (and make you verrrryy relaxed), here's a wonderful video that master contrabass clarinetist .. Marco Mazzini created, performing my electro-acoustic work, Deep:

Record Label:

Oehms Classics, Innova, Centaur, Cambria, many...