August 2020:

A [non-performing!] pianist herself, Alex has always loved composing for the instrument. Pianist Adam Marks recorded all of Alex's solo piano works for a gorgeous album on innova Recordings titled ARCANA. The collection was released on August 28, 2020, and if you visit the dedicated page for the [slightly unusual] project, you can read about it and enjoy preview excerpts, and videos!

The March-April 2021 issue of American Record Guide includes a glowing review of the entire album, penned by Stephanie Ann Boyd, who concludes with, "This disc is a triumph and I highly recommend spending time with the work of these two artists." Click HERE to read the entire review of ARCANA on Ms. Boyd's website.

Activist Music has published a collection of Alex Shapiro's solo piano works, available at a discounted rate as a set of .pdf downloads. Ranging from short offerings to those with multiple movements, these idiomatic pieces reveal an especially personal musical world. For complete information about the published collection, click HERE.

Some 2019 clinics:

Alex was a clinician for the 2019 British Columbia Music Educators' Association Conference in Vancouver, Canada on October 25 and 26. She gave two presentations: one about the power of musicians to use their art to effect change, titled Activism of the Musical Heart: Raising Awareness by Connecting All Those Dots. The other was an exploration into the new tools available to composers and musicians, titled The e-Frontier: Electroacoustic Music, Multimedia, Education, and Audiences in the Digital World. Alex also joined University of Victoria Director of Bands Steven Capaldo for a clinic about diversity and inclusion in concert programming.

In lieu of presenting a similar presentation at the COVID-cancelled CBDNA Western/Northwestern Division Conference in March 2020 in Tacoma, WA., in June 2020 Alex gave the talk online in a Zoominar, and invited conductors Rob Taylor (University of British Columbia), Gerard Morris (University of Puget Sound) and composer Steven Bryant to join her.

An exhibit:

From June to September 2019, the San Juan Islands Museum of Art featured a stunning exhibit titled DEEP DIVE, which uses artworks in many media to raise awareness of the sea and its creatures in an increasingly precarious environment. Four of Alex's works: BENEATH, DEPTH, BELOW, and DEEP, played continuously on a loop, accompanying the message and its creative expressions.

A longform interview:

The second edition of Spain's wind band publication Estudios Bandisticos features a lengthy interview that Alex gave to Camila Fernández over breakfast at Lincoln Center in New York City. To read what Alex had to say in this wide-ranging conversation, click here.

A 2018 article:

In September 2018, the online music magazine NewMusicBox published Alex's latest article, Dissing the Competition. In it she exposes the myriad problems with some pay-to-enter composer competitions, and lists many better ways emerging writers can spend their money. To read it, click here.

Clinician, December 2018, in Chicago, Illinois:

Joining composer Jennifer Jolley, and conductors Jeffrey Boeckman, Courtney Snyder, Chester Bryant Phillips, and Jacob Wallace, Alex participated in a presentation at the 2018 Midwest Clinic titled, "Bridging the Gender Gap: Developing Strategies for Creating Equity in Ensemble Programming."

Speaking and presenting, December 12, 2018, in New York City, NY:

Alex and fellow ASCAP Board member Marcus Miller gave a talk to the winners of the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Award, prior to the awards ceremony at which the duo acknowledged the receipents. Alex was also pleased to present composer Melinda Wagner with the ASCAP Foundation Masters Award.

Panelist, May 8, 2018, in Hollywood, California:

Partnering with fellow ASCAP Board members Desmond Child and Michelle Lewis plus producer Deputy, Alex spoke on an entertaining panel titled Welcome to Splitsville, U.S.A.: Where co-writers live together in harmony forever... like our songs. The quartet demonstrated the importance of accurate songwriting agreements to ensure payment. Click to read about the panel here.

2018 award:

Alex was one of two honorees at the 2018 Friday Harbor Film Festival. She has been given the Local Hero Award for her activism through music, as an arts advocacy speaker and as a composer who often pairs her music with her wildlife photography to raise environmental awareness.

Captain Paul Watson, a co-founder of both Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, received the Film Festival's Andrew V. McLaglen Lifetime Achievement Award for his many decades of powerful environmental activism in defense of whales and all other sea life.

2018 featured Composer:

Alex was the featured composer for May 2018 on the website of international distributor Theodore Front Musical Literature, Inc., which has carried the entire Activist Music caltalog since 1999.

2018 bassoon CD:

Bassoonist Cayla Bellamy has made a beautiful recording of Alex's work for solo bassoon and electronics, DEEP. The track appears on Bellamy's 2018 CD, Double or Nothing, and is also available on iTunes.

Listen to an excerpt:

November 7-9, 2017, in Tokyo, Japan: Alex was elected to be ASCAP's representative on the Executive Committee of The International Council Of Music Authors (CIAM)— the writers council of CISAC, a global network of authors' societies that represents four million creators in 121 countries. She spoke on a panel titled, "The Future of Collective Management."

June 7-10, 2017, in Lisbon, Portugal: Alex was invited to represent the writer members of ASCAP at the Executive Committee meetings for CIAM, the International Council Of Music Authors. The Council was formed by CISAC, the global collective of performing rights societies, and is comprised of creator members of performing rights music organizations around the world.

German pianist Susanne Kessel released the first 2-CD set of her five-year project, 250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven, on Obst. You can read more about the project below, and more about the CD, which includes Alex's poignant CHORD HISTORY, here

Listen to an excerpt:

Over the past decade, Susanne Kessel has recorded and toured with two of Alex's short solo piano works, FOR MY FATHER, and SLOWLY, SEARCHING. On October 6 2014, Kessel once again recorded a new short work of Alex's, CHORD HISTORY, on the gorgeous Steinway at WDR Radio in Cologne, Germany, for a CD released on Obst in July 2016.

The piece is a small part of Kessel's wide-ranging 2014-2020 CD project and tour, 250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven, celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, with whom Kessel shares a Bonn, Germany heritage (though definitely not his reportedly sour personality). It's included in Volume 1, a 152 page book of the first 25 pieces in the series, published by Editions Musica Ferrum.

You can learn more about CHORD HISTORY here.

Listen to an excerpt:

November 4-6, 2016, in Friday Harbor: Alex handled the Q&A sessions with the Friday Harbor Film Festival audiences for four screenings of two documentary films in which she and her music appear: SHINING NIGHT, and IN SEARCH OF THE GREAT SONG, both directed by Michael Stillwater. For information, click here!

April 24, 2016, in Los Angeles: Alex (pictured on the left) was back in the saddle at the Los Angeles Composer Salon series that she co-founded in 2000 with composer Kubilay Uner (pictured second from right). She co-moderated the celebratory 60th event at Tuttomedia Studios in Venice, CA. with Giovanna Imbesi, pictured at right, and a stellar lineup of guests including L-R: Billy Childs, Gloria Cheng, and Deborah Lurie.

June 15, 2015, in New York City: Alex had the honor of inducting pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame at this annual event celebrating reknowned as well as up-and-coming artists. New Orleans pianist Davell Crawford accepted the award on behalf of Morton.

May 21, 2015, in New York City: The 2015 ASCAP Concert Music Awards were held at Merkin Hall, and Alex was among the presenters honoring winners of the Morton Gould Young Composer Award, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in music, Julia Wolfe. Flanking Alex are composers Julia Wolfe and Dan Welcher.

May 13, 2015: Each spring, members of the Board of Directors of ASCAP and a few other copyright advocates visit Senators, members of Congress, and their aides, to keep the message of fair compensation for music creators front and center. This year, the Songwriter Equity Act was at the core of ASCAP's discussions on Capitol Hill. Alex spoke with five Representatives, including Joaquin Castro (D-TX), pictured here with Alex and ASCAP board President and Chairman Paul Williams.

April 26, 2015: Alex was back in the saddle at the Los Angeles Composer Salon series that she co-founded in 2000 with composer Kubilay Uner. She co-moderated the 56th event at Tuttomedia Studios in Venice, CA. with Giovanna Imbesi, and interviewed colleague Laura Karpman about her recent work.

February 6, 2015: Alex and attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick, gave another in their ASCAP Composer Career Workshop series, this time at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The 4-hour in-depth seminar on business skills for music-makers was open to the public and the room was packed with enthusiastic and talented composers seeking to hone their business skills. For details about the workshop, please click here.

January 22, 2015: Alex was a guest lecturer at The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, speaking to the composition department, and giving a masterclass.

Two of Alex's electroacoustic wind band pieces, PAPER CUT, and TIGHT SQUEEZE, are featured in the educational book/CD series, Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Volume 10, edited by Eugene Migliaro Corporon and released by GIA Publications December 2014.

You can learn more about this book/CD set here.

December 5-7, 2014: Alex was the Composer-in-Residence for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) 2014 Winter Conference in Rochester, New York. Performances included her electroacoustic concert wind band piece, TIGHT SQUEEZE, performed by the 150-member NY All-State Symphonic Band conducted by Steve Peterson, along with acoustic and electroacoustic chamber works.

December 3, 2014: Alex visited New York State University at Fredonia as a guest of its Ethos New Music Society, to work with the composition students and encourage them to become plumbers, instead. Just kidding.

November 12-13, 2014: Alex returned to Western Washington University in Bellingham to coach its wonderful wind symphony, conducted by Christopher Bianco. They gave the west coast premiere of Alex's newest work for electroacoustic band, LIQUID COMPASS, on November 13, at 8:00 p.m. Alex also coached the WWU Symphonic Band as they prepared their December performance of PAPER CUT, conducted by Zachary Smith.

May 22, 2014: Alex was pleased to be among the presenters once again at the 15th Annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards, held at Merkin Hall.

Honorees included composers Maria Schneider and Paola Prestini, publisher and attorney James M. Kendrick, John Nuechterlein and the American Composers Forum, and ASCAP's former longertime VP and Director of Symphonic & Concert music, Frances Richard, as well as the winners of The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.

May 5-10 2014: Carthage College's band, conducted by James Ripley, premiered the electroacoustic (and electro-aquatic!) symphonic band work titled LIQUID COMPASS, that they commissioned in commemoration of the 140th anniversary of their ensemble-- among the oldest in the United States. Alex was there to work with the musicians and celebrate the school's history.

Click to listen to Carthage's full recording:

Alex and conductor James Ripley were guests on The Morning Show with Gregory Berg on Wisconsin's public radio station WGTD-FM. They covered a lot of ground, and some ocean, too, as they delved into the making of LIQUID COMPASS and the world of composing. The broadcast starts at 2:25 in, and continues for 45 minutes.

Click the icon to enjoy an animated conversation:

April 21-27, 2014: The ASCAP EXPO celebrated its 9th year, bringing roughly 2500 music makers from all genres together in L.A. for several days of workshops, performances and networking. Alex was delighted to interview distinguished composer and friend Morten Lauridsen, as he presented an engaging overview of his life and music.

That same week, Morten was also a featured presenter at the 52nd Los Angeles Composer Salon, moderated by Alex at Tuttomedia Studios in Venice, CA. Co-founded by Alex and composers Kubi Uner and Giovanna Imbesi and now in its 13th year, the Salon series is a private gathering of professional music artists who meet quarterly to interact with peers in all genres of art music.

April 8-10, 2014: Alex was in residence at St. George's School to lecture and rehearse during Arts Week, and present PAPER CUT with director Dean Markel and the concert wind band.

March 9-11, 2014: Alex was in residence at UMKC to give masterclasses at the School of Music, and to join composer Paul Rudy on the ArtSounds intermedia series at University of Missouri-Kansas City. The duo, each not only a composer, but an avid nature photographer, jointly presented an evening of electronic music paired with their images that juxtapose the seascapes and landscapes they love... and, hear. Click on the poster for full info.

February 12-15 2014: On the heels of the Midwest Clinic, Alex was honored to also be a clinician at the 2014 Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) in San Antonio, Texas. Joined by band directors Miller Asbill and Robert Sloan as well as composer Steven Bryant, the discussion, titled, The e-Frontier: Using New Media in Education and Performance, discussed electroacoustic band music, as well as the myriad uses of intermedia and social networks for engaging students and audiences.

December 18-21 2013: Alex was a guest speaker at the 2013 Midwest Clinic, presenting a workshop titled, The e-Frontier: Music, Multimedia, Education, and Audiences in the Digital World. Geared for educators, conductors and composers, the discussion addressed electroacoustic band music, new digital technologies, social networking and multimedia in the classroom and concert venue.

A standing-room crowd of 600 attendees packed the room, and Alex was the lead clinician, joined by five distinguished panelists: conductors Craig Kirchhoff, Jerry Luckhardt, Miller Asbill, and Peter Guenther, plus composer Steven Bryant.

December 20, 2013: The VanderCook College of Music Symphonic Band, conducted by Charles Menghini gave a rousing performance at The Midwest Clinic of Alex's latest electroacoustic band work, TIGHT SQUEEZE.

Feeling rowdy? Click to hear it:

November 24, 2013: Alex returned to Western Washington University, to work with students and faculty and give an extended ASCAP Composer Career Workshop exploring publishing, copyright, web presence and many other topics that can help artists thrive. The four-hour session was recorded, and can be viewed here

September 26-29 2013: Alex was in Chicago for Fifth House Ensemble's recording session of her sextet, PERPETUAL SPARK, produced by Judith Sherman for the group's Spring 2014 release on Cedille Records.

Here's an excerpt:

June 5-6, 2013: On June 6, Southern Oregon University band director Cynthia Hutton conducted Alex's electroacoustic symphonic band works IMMERSION, and PAPER CUT, during Alex's residency at the school. The previous day, five of Alex's chamber works were performed during her lecture presentation. Folks came to Ashland for the Shakespeare, but stayed for the electric whale! Click here for more info

May 23, 2013: Alex enjoyed speaking to the audience at the San Juan Island Community Theatre to introduce the Pacific Northwest premiere of TIGHT SQUEEZE, performed by the Friday Harbor High School Band under the baton of Matthew Frost.

May 17, 2013: Alex was one of the presenters at the ASCAP Concert Music Awards at Merkin Hall, at which Tania Leon, Jon Deak and Steve Smith were honored.

February 6-9, 2013: During her visit as the Composer-in-Residence for Washington State University's Festival of Contemporary Art Music (FOCAM), Alex's new work, KETTLE BREW, for timpani, percussion and electronics on which she collaborated with percussionist David Jarvis, was premiered by Jarvis during a schedule of concerts that included one dedicated to her chamber and symphonic wind band music:

2/8, 3 p.m.:
KETTLE BREW (timpani, percussion, digital audio)

2/9, 8 p.m.:
PIANO TRIO NO. 1: ELEGY (violin, cello, piano)
RE:PAIR (flute and oboe)
OF BREATH AND TOUCH (bassoon and piano)
TRANSPLANT (pipe organ)
IMMERSION (symphonic wind band and prerecorded soundscape)

January 28-29, 2013: Alex was a guest at Western Washington University, giving a masterclass at the Composers Forum, and one-on-one composition lessons.

December 16-22, 2012: Alex was at The Midwest Clinic, popping in and out of the BandQuest Booth, signing copies of PAPER CUT, and passing along her sampler CD, Band Chick, featuring Alex's works for, you guessed it, concert wind band.

Late 2012:
September 18-20
October 11-16
December 11-16

2013:
February 11-14
February 26-March 1
May 12-18
June 9-12

Alex is in Manhattan regularly for a variety of board, committee, and client meetings.

Alex, Ed Harsh (NMUSA), Fran Richard (ASCAP), Barbara Petersen (BMI), Joe Walker (NMUSA, Roulette)

October 15, 2012: Alex joined attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick, and composer Stephen Paulus as the trio conducted another in their ASCAP Composer Career Workshop series, this time at Yale University. For details about the workshop, click here.

September 24-27, 2012: Alex was the Composer-in-Residence for University of Wyoming's New Frontiers Festival of New Music.

July 27, 2012: Conductor H. Robert Reynolds led the musicians of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in a performance of Depth, for winds, percussion and digital audio, at Ozawa Hall, 8 p.m. Click on the poster for details.

June 4-6, 2012: When Alex drove up to the entrance of Kingston High School for her residency for their performance of Paper Cut, she was given a warm welcome by band director Adam Campagna and the students' efforts, both pictured above, thus making her a rock star-- at least for a few really fun days.

May, 2012: Members of The MacDowell Colony's Board of Directors and National Council (pictured at right) traveled to Cuba on a humanitarian and cultural arts mission, and Alex was invited to join the trip as MacDowell's arts ambassador.

A 2003 MacDowell Fellow and current Board member, Alex met with cultural organizations, patrons, and Cuban artists of all disciplines, discussing the value of the artist residencies the Colony provides, and encouraging international participation.

Alex's poignant photo essay on the experience, Cuba, Not Yet Libre, can be found on her blog, here

March 14-17, 2012: Alex attended the College Band Directors National Association, Western/Northwestern Division Conference in Reno, where conductor Chris Chapman and the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble performed her work for symphonic wind band and prerecorded soundscape, Beneath, from the Immersion suite.

February 15-March 2, 2012: Alex was the in-studio guest on Marvin Rosen's celebrated new music radio show, Classical Discoveries. Archived audio of their exceptionally wide-spanning, entertaining, conversation will be posted here soon. Here's what Marvin has to say about it on his delightful blog, Marvin the Cat.

February 13-16
March 3-7
June 10-13
September 18-22
December 11-13, 2012

Alex is in Manhattan regularly for a variety of board and client meetings, speaking engagements, and for premieres like the one for Spark, performed at Roulette on November 17, 2011 by Teresa McCollough.

February 7, 2012: Alex is honored to be a very small part of a beautiful film titled Shining Night, about the life and music of composer Morten Lauridsen. Winner of Best Documentary at the 2012 Washington, D.C. Independent Film Festival, the film was directed by Michael Stillwater, and has been screening at festivals in the U.S. and Europe prior to the wide release of the DVD. You can enjoy a trailer of the film here

Shining Night is an official selection of the American Documentary Film Festival, and a special prelude screening event was held at the Camelot Theater in Palm Springs, California, on February 7, 2012. Alex, Morten Lauridsen and filmmaker Michael Stillwater were in attendance. Click here for more info

February 5, 2012: Alex was back in the saddle at the popular Composer Salon series that she co-founded in 2000 with composer Kubilay Uner. She moderated the 43rd Salon, which included a milestone 150th composer guest since the series began. Indie opera company The Industry, virtuoso pipa player Jie Ma, and television/game/film composer Bear McCreary, presented their recent work to a room of music-making peers in an intimate loft recording studio in Venice, CA.

Pictured at right is a 2007 Salon that included Pulitzer winning composer Steven Stucky, plus Tony award winning actor Alice Ripley performing the music of Michael Roth. Additional photos from past Composer Salons can be found on host Giovanna Imbesi's Tuttomedia Studio website.

January 5, 2012: Alex returned for the third year in a row to speak at the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, where she joined composers Aaron Jay Kernis, Steven Stucky, Stephen Paulus and Frankk J. Oteri for a panel discussion about composer's careers titled, Connecting with Your Communities.

November 18, 2011: Alex was on Vashon Island, to attend a performance of her new Intermezzo for Cello and Piano, performed by Rowena Hammill and Cristina Valdes as part of the Vashon Chamber Music Series.

Listen to an excerpt of the duo's live performance of Intermezzo: 

September 19-22
October 24-28
November 15-18
December 4-8, 2011

Alex was in Manhattan for a variety of board and client meetings, speaking engagements, and for premieres like the one for Spark, performed at Roulette on November 17, 2011 by Teresa McCollough.

Listen to an excerpt of McCollough's live premiere performance of Spark: 

November 6-8, 2011: Alex was a featured guest composer-in-residence at the Aries Festival 2011: New Music at Colorado State, at Colorado State University, where her chamber work Desert Thoughts and one of her newest electroacoustic symphonic wind band pieces, Surface, were performed. Alex is pictured to the right with CSU conductor Christopher Nicholas.

Listen to an excerpt of the Minnesota University Symphonic Band's live performance of Surface: 

Alex also presented another ASCAP Composer Career Workshop with composer colleague Stephen Paulus during her visit, and they also gave composition master classes and joined in panel discussions about musical entrepreneurship.

October 17, 2011: Alex joined attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick and composer Stephen Paulus as the trio conducted an ASCAP Composer Career Workshop at the USC Thornton School of Music. For details about the workshop, click here.

October 6, 2011: Alex joined composers Hummie Mann and Jeff Tolbert in Seattle, as a judge at the awards dinner for the Local Sightings Film Festival, sponsored by the Northwest Film Forum. For information about the festival, click here.

June, 2011 and 2012: The renowned Friday Harbor Laboratories hosted a great evening of dinner and music called Jazz at the Labs, and raised funds to benefit its K-12 Science Outreach Program, connecting young people with the same squishy marine life that gets Alex so excited on her blog! Alex serves on the Labs' advancement board, and time with her in her studio was one of the items successfully auctioned off that evening. two years in a row.

Even though the event is over, you can still participate: if you donate $200 to this important educational program, you'll receive a personalized copy of Alex's Notes From the Kelp CD, and best of all, an invitation to her remote waterfront studio, where you can hear what she's working on and see the wildlife that swims and wriggles in front of her while she composes-- including migrating pods of Orca whales! Alex is known to be adept at opening bottles of wine, too, so consider making a donation to this great cause by sending an email to this address

May 19-21, 2011: Alex was the featured composer at the Vashon Island Chamber Music Festival, where two of her string quartets, Introspect, and Five Squared, were beautifully performed in a bucolic setting just outside of Seattle by the Odeon Quartet.

Listen to an excerpt from
the Odeon Quartet's live performance of
Introspect: 

Listen to an excerpt from
the Odeon Quartet's live performance of
Five Squared: 

May 23-24, 2011: Alex was in Manhattan to be one of the presenters of awards to young composers at the ASCAP Concert Music Awards. Also that week was a board meeting of The MacDowell Colony, and a MacDowell benefit dinner celebrating its new Board Chairman, author Michael Chabon, who takes the helm following journalist Robert MacNeil's 17 years of leadership for the organization.

May 2, 2011: Alex was in New York to attend the American Music Center Awards, honoring composer John Harbison, the ensemble So Percussion, Copland House, and the Walden School, and also to attend the AMC board meeting prior to the organization's merger with Meet the Composer, forming New Music USA.

March 30, 2011: Alex joined attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick and composer Stephen Paulus as the trio conducted a day-long ASCAP Composer Career Workshop at ASCAP's offices at Lincoln Center. This event preceeded the 2011 ASCAP New York Sessions held across town the following day at the 92nd Street Y (from which Alex is proud to announce she earned her nursery school and kindergarten diplomas, back when she was a little shorter). For details about the workshop, click here.

April 28, 2011: Alex joined attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick and composer Stephen Paulus as the trio gave another seminar in their ASCAP Composer Career Workshop series, as part of the 2011 ASCAP I Create Music EXPO, now in its sixth year. For details about the workshop, click here.

Jim Kendrick, Alex Shapiro, Cia Toscanini, Stephen Paulus.

March 23-26, 2011: Alex attended the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) conference held at the University of Washington, with University of Minnesota conductors Craig Kirchhoff (Paper Cut recording) and Jerry Luckhardt (Immersion premiere). CBDNA's outgoing president is Tom Duffy, who is the director of bands at Yale, where Immersion will have its East coast premiere in the 2012-2013 season.

March 1-4, 2011: Alex was the composer-in-residence for the biannual Athena Festival at Murray State University, celebrating women in music. She gave lectures, keynote speeches, workshops and lessons, and her music was beautifully performed on the chamber music concert.

February 23, 2011: Alex was at The Ohio State University, for a premiere of her newest electroacoustic symphonic wind band work, Immersion, conducted by Dr. Milton Allen and co-commissioned by OSU. Read about this multimedia, multi-movement piece here.

February 21 and 27, 2011: Exactly a year after her February 2009 residency, Alex worked again with composition students at Capital University, where Tony Zilincik conducted Alex's symphonic band piece, Homecoming, on Sunday, February 27.

February 16, 2011: Alex was at the University of Minnesota, for the premiere of her newest electroacoustic symphonic wind band work, Immersion, conducted by Jerry Luckhardt. The premiere was recorded live by Minnesota Public Radio and will be broadcast Fall 2011. Read about this unusual multimedia, multi-movement work and listen to excerpts, here.

On February 18, 2011: Alex was at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Mid-Winter Clinic at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where the Owatonna 9th Grade Band gave a gorgeous multimedia performance of her BandQuest commission, Paper Cut, conducted by Peter Guenther. You can watch their highly inventive black-lite performance here:

On December 12th 2010, Chicago's classical music station WFMT broadcast an hour-long interview with Symphonic Voyages founder Eric Stassen, hosted by Steve Robinson. They discussed Symphonic Voyages, and the conversation included recordings of two works that were performed on the Celebrity cruise ship Mercury: Alex Shapiro's dectet Archipelago, recorded live at its world premiere performance by Chicago's Fifth House Ensemble, and Cho-Liang Lin’s superb CBS/Sony recording of Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 4, accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra and Raymond Leppard.

April 23, 2010: Alex joined composers Kubilay Uner, Avner Dorman, and Mateo Messina, (pictured L-R with ASCAP's Cia Toscanini) on an exciting panel exploring creative entrepreneurship and collaboration, at the 2010 ASCAP EXPO, April 23rd at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, California.

April 19, 22, 2010: Joined by composers Mark Watters and Stephen Paulus, and attorney and publisher Jim Kendrick, Alex gave an ASCAP Composer Career Workshop at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, California, on the heels of one she did with Paulus and Kendrick at San Diego State University that same week.

April 25, 2010: On Sunday April 25th, Alex moderated the 36th L.A. Composer Salon in Venice, California, featuring composer/conductor Mark Watters, composer/pianist Alan Steinberger and composer/violinist Lili Haydn.

December 14-18, 2010: Alex was at the American Composers Forum BandQuest® booth at the enormous Midwest Clinic, where both she and the scores and recording of her 2010 BandQuest piece, Paper Cut, were on display.

On November 2, 2010 at St. Peter's Church in New York City, Alex gave a composer workshop about career-building, hosted by Chamber Music America. Titled, You Are the Art, You Are the Product: Making Your Music Available to the World, Alex led a broad discussion of the business, digital, and psychological tools a composer needs in order to create a viable, income-producing career.

On October 29, 2010, Alex was at the University of Minnesota, where the U of M Symphonic Wind Band recorded her BandQuest commission, Paper Cut, with Craig Kirchhoff, conducting.

On October 27, 2010, Alex spoke on a panel discussion about international careers titled, Building Bridges with Communities and the World, as part of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute.

June 22, 2010: Alex's work for violin and electronics, Vista, was featured at the Wet Ink new music festival concert in Grass Valley, CA, as part of the Music in the Mountains SummerFest series.

February 9-12, 2010: Alex was the Composer-in-Residence for the NOW Music Festival hosted by Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

Capital University faculty artists presented a concert of her chamber, electro-acoustic and jazz compositions on Thursday, February 11.

Throughout the week, Alex gave masterclasses, lectures and private lessons. In addition to talking to the music students about their art and their careers, she also gave two lectures to Capital University's business students about leadership and entrepreneurship in the digital age. It was an exciting week!

January 27, 2010: Alex was the keynote speaker at the January 27th luncheon of Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor, at which she delivered a 45-minute motivational talk. For more info on Alex's presentations to audiences outside of the arts, click here

Listen:  1.    2. 

November 15, 2009: Fifth House Ensemble premiered Alex's acoustic chamber work, Archipelago, for string quartet, double bass and woodwind quintet in the Chicago suburb of Lockport, Illinois. Alex was there to introduce the piece, which was commissioned by the Norton Building Concert Series with the assistance of funding from The MacArthur Foundation. The ensemble performed the work again on February 21st in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Read about it here.

September 17, 2009: Alex was the sole artist testifying on an FCC panel hearing about broadband access. You ca read her testimony, televised on C-SPAN, here.

Also on the panel were Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of Motion Picture Association of America; Frederick Huntsberry, COO of Paramount Pictures; Michael Bracy, policy director of Future of Music Coalition; Chuck Slocum, assistant executive director of the Writers Guild of America; Mike Carroll, Professor of Law, American University; Gigi Sohn, attorney and founder of Public Knowledge; Patrick Ross, executive director of Copyright Alliance; and Kathy Garmezy, assistant executive director of the Directors Guild of America. The proceedings can be viewed here

Alex addresses the audience at the premiere of Homecoming

March 30, 2008: Homecoming was premiered in Newport News, Virginia, with a second performance at Fort Monroe on May 2.

The concert wind band piece was commissioned by the United States Army for its acclaimed TRADOC Band of Fort Monroe, VA., led by Commander and conductor, Major Tod A. Addison.

Listen: