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Alex Shapiro aligns note after note with the hope that a few of them might actually sound good next to each other. She has become one of the Pacific coast's most familiar composers of acoustic and electroacoustic chamber music, and her expressive, dramatic works are performed and broadcast daily across the U.S. and internationally. Published by Activist Music, her music can be found on over twenty commercially released CDs from record labels around the world.

Born in New York City in 1962 and raised in Manhattan, Alex began composing at age nine. She was educated at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, where she was a composition student of Ursula Mamlok and John Corigliano. Earlier composition studies from age fifteen were with Leo Edwards at Mannes College of Music and with Michael Czajkowski and George Tsontakis at the Aspen Music School. An accomplished pianist, Ms. Shapiro was a student of New York recitalist Marshall Kreisler, and she is an active guitarist as well.

Ms. Shapiro is the recipient of national honors and awards including those from the American Music Center, ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer and Mu Phi Epsilon, and she has been awarded artist fellowships from The California Arts Council and The MacDowell Colony, for which she now serves as an advisor.

An enthusiastic leader in the new music community, Alex is a strong advocate for other artists through her speaking appearances and her published articles. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Music Center, and sits on ASCAP's Symphony & Concert Committee. Alex is the recent President of the Board of Directors of the American Composers Forum of Los Angeles, and has served as an officer on the boards of national music organizations including NACUSA, The College Music Society, and The Society of Composers & Lyricists. Her volunteer activism extends beyond the music world to additional interests, and encompasses three terms she served in the 1990's on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Southern California, including two years as the 30,000-member affiliate's Vice-president. Reflecting an affinity with the ocean that inspires much of her music, Alex is currently a Board member of the University of Washington's renowned marine science research facility, the Friday Harbor Laboratories.

Articulate, passionate and entertaining, Ms. Shapiro appears regularly as a speaker at a wide variety of music events, including NARAS' Grammy® in the Schools, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's First Nights series, IAWM's International Congress of Women in Music, the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver, Colorado, the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, and each of ASCAP's I Create Music Expos in Hollywood. Since 2000 Alex has interviewed over 100 composers as the moderator of the Los Angeles Composer’s Salon series as well as ACF/LA's Composer to Composer series at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and she is a familiar guest lecturer at many colleges and universities. Alex is especially well versed on the uses of digital media for the promotion of artists' careers, and is a speaker for the ASCAP Composer Career Workshop series she helped to create. She recently testified on a Federal Communications Commission panel hearing in Washington, D.C., about broadband access and digital rights issues.

A longtime resident of Malibu, California, Alex now resides on Washington State's San Juan Island. When she's not composing, she procrastinates on her next piece by communing with the sea life that surrounds her, as seen on her music- and photo-filled blog, Notes from the Kelp. For more information than you could possibly need, please visit Alex's engaging website.

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Title	Ensemble Type	Composed	Duration	Media
Archipelago	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2009	11:00:00
Homecoming	Band	2008	08:00:00
Below	Unspecified Instrument(s)	2008	10:22:00
Five Squared	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2008	04:20:00
Luvina	Keyboard	2007	00:05:00
Water Voyage	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2007	00:08:26
Desert Run	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2007	00:10:30
Unabashedly	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2006	00:14:00
Slipping	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2006	00:09:30
Of Wind And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2006	00:10:00
Music For Four Big Instruments	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2006	00:08:00
Just A Minute Of Your Time	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2006	00:01:00
Evolve	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2006	00:07:00
Of String And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2006	00:10:00
Vista	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2005	00:07:30
Chakra Suite	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2005	00:10:30
Unhinged	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2005	00:01:00
Desert Tide	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2005	00:10:00
Elegy	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2004	00:08:00
Plasma	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2004	00:01:00
Bioplasm	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2004	00:12:00
Deep	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2004	00:07:30
At The Abyss	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2003	00:13:00
Current Events	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2003	00:15:00
Water Crossing	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2002	00:10:00
Introspect	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2002	00:07:00
Celebrate!	Chorus, with or without Solo Voices	2002	00:05:00
Re:Pair For Flute And Bassoon	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:07:30
Re:Pair For Two Bassoons	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:07:30
Desert Notes	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:10:00
Desert Passage	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:10:00
Desert Waves	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	2001	00:10:00
Of Wood And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:10:00
Slip	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:09:30
Of Air And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:10:00
Re:pair for Flute and Oboe	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2001	00:07:00
Re:Pair For Two Baroque Flutes	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2000	00:07:00
Of Bow And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2000	00:10:00
Music For Two Big Instruments	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	2000	00:07:00
Journey	Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources	1999	00:07:00
Transplant	Keyboard	1999	00:03:30
Of Breath And Touch	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1999	00:10:00
Shiny Kiss	Solo instrument, non-keyboard	1999	00:04:00
Evensong Suite For Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon And Piano	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1999	00:17:00
Piano Trio No. 1: Elegy	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1999	00:08:00
Intermezzo For Piano	Keyboard	1998	00:03:00
Intermezzo For Clarinet And Piano	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1998	00:03:00
Trio For Clarinet, Violin, And Piano	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1998	00:12:00
Intermezzo For Violin And Harp	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1998	00:03:00
Intermezzo For Clarinet And Harp	Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice	1998	00:03:00
Sonata For Piano	Keyboard	1997	00:16:00
Piano Suite No. 1: The Resonance Of Childhood	Keyboard	1996	00:12:00