Alex Shapiro has become one of the Pacific coast's most familiar composers of chamber music. Her name is synonymous with passionate music and a deep connection to the sea which surrounds her. Notes From the Kelp is a collection of eight of Alex's representative works.

Scroll down this page to read about each of the pieces on the new disc and hear excerpts. Visit other pages of this website, linked above and below, to learn more about Alex's life and music.

Click on a title to read about the track and hear an excerpt:

for solo piano.

Fantastic reviews!

To read the liner notes for this album, click here:

"...flat-out fun... it's enough to give one hope for the contemporary music scene."

To read the All Music Guide review of this CD,
click here

"[Alex Shapiro] is one of America's most interesting new composers... It takes a lot of courage to leave the window to your heart this open."

To read the Tokafi review of this CD,
click here

"If one was forced to chose one adjective to characterize all these chamber works, that adjective would be, beautiful."

To read the Sounds & Fury review of this CD,
click here

"Considered as a whole, this outstanding recording presents an engaging collection of pieces that consistently demonstrate the composer's expert craftsmanship and clearly defined voice. Never rambling, Shapiro packs telling emotional explorations into concise formal structures that allow the audience to savor each moment. Notes from the Kelp is highly recommended not only as an enjoyable and varied listening experience, but also as a source of accessible and important new works by one of the most gifted composers active today. "

To read the IAWM Journal review of this CD,
click here

"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."

To read the Percussive Notes review of this CD,
click here

"Alex Shapiro’s music doesn’t need to be categorized; it should be listened to on its own terms."

To read the Sequenza21 review of this CD,
click here

"a wide spectrum of emotion in music that is both alluring and unforgettable... music of powerful impact... [Shapiro] uses instrumental partnerships one may never have imagined possible – and they work. These compositions embrace a transcendental dialectic that probes questions of life."

To read The Triangle review of this CD,
click here

"...Ms. Shapiro handles a wide variety of instruments and idioms with style and expression... I am sure just about everyone will find something to like on the program."

To read the Listen 101 review of this CD,
click here

"Alex's architectural mastery comes into play... she does not waste notes. All are purposeful and directed... [her] work is notable. She handles each instrument as if it were her instrument. "

To read Dennis Bathory-Kitsz's review of this CD,
click here

"[Notes from the Kelp] is a brilliant new record. This is just such a beautiful new record: it's not just cute, it's not just charming and innovative, it's BEAUTIFUL."

To hear KCSN-FM Los Angeles host Martin Perlich talk about this CD,
click here

Listed on Robert Gable's blog aworks as one of his 10 Best CDs of 2007.

Enjoy a lovely article composer and guitarist Don Rath penned for his March 2010 blog.

Notes From the Kelp

One-sheet from Innova Recordings:

Can a composer be happy and live a balanced life filled with music, social activism and marine biology? Alex Shapiro gives us proof that such a beautiful existence is possible, and the sonic result spans an unusually wide swath of emotions.

Shapiro's world is one of heart-wrenching lyricism and gut-wrenching demons. Whether her music is blatantly funny or stunningly introspective, it reaches out and attaches itself to the listener as a starfish might glom onto a rock. You won't want it to let go.

Raw perception and truth are offered here, and Alex doesn't mince notes. Her rhythms and melodies may either make you reach for your psychiatrist's phone number, or a snorkel. If music mirrors a composer's personality, then you'll know a lot about this one through these diverse pieces. As you listen, like the kelp-rich tide pools encircling Alex's toes, this music will show you not only a glimpse of her world, but a reflection of yours.

Alex is a seductive communicator, and "Notes from the Kelp" is a collection of chamber music representing a decade's worth of her passionate messages. Born and raised in Manhattan, she migrated to the Pacific Ocean many years ago and has never left. The eight works on this disc were composed in Malibu, California, and well-behaved muses now convene at her home in Washington's San Juan Islands.

Alex's favorite way to procrastinate from writing the next piece has been to assist the next person. Throughout her composing career she's been an officer on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations ranging from the usual contemporary music suspects to the ACLU, and she's well known in sunny So Cal as an even sunnier host for new music events.

Alex Shapiro's music has been recorded for many commercially released CDs in the United States and in Europe, but "Notes from the Kelp" is the first album comprised entirely of her works.

Hear Alex Shapiro's comments about several tracks from Notes from the Kelp, in response to questions from the producer of Behind the Beat, Steven Rosenfeld. The interview is featured on ASCAP Audio Portraits.

Commentary from Alex Shapiro:

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.

I compose to communicate.

As you read this, I now live in another natural seaside paradise in Washington's magical San Juan Islands. The notes I scribble these days are also from the kelp, and from a deep, watery place that a kid who grew up in Manhattan for her first 21 years could never have imagined becoming so meaningful in her life.

–Alex Shapiro, summer 2007

Alex's music has been featured on many albums from around the world,
and Notes From the Kelp is the first disc comprised entirely of her works.

The album features 24 fabulous musicians who brought this music to life,
each listed here. Visit this page for their bios:

Leslie Lashinsky
Robin Lorentz
Brice Martin
Teresa McCollough
Kathleen McIntosh
Victoria Miskolczy
Dan Morris
Alex Shapiro
Peter Sheridan
David Speltz
David Walther
Miwako Watanabe

Amazon.com reviews from listeners:

Well deserved release, March 30, 2010

The first time I found Ms. Shapiro's music was one short piano piece in a truly wonderful Ms. Kessel's CD (always a class by itself in programming). I was so touched, I wrote to Alex and discovered a wonderful human being and a truly wholesome and sensitive artist. It has been a while since and now here it is, a CD fully devoted to her work. She remains beautiful, as her music. It is not easy to write accesible, sensitive and yet deep music nowadays; but she knows how to. Kudos (again!)

By L. Ackerman "CD Explorer" (Ashburn, VA, USA)

Accessible contemporary music, November 1, 2008

This recording showcases Alex Shapiro's eclectic style, and knowledge of her craft. "Notes from the Kelp" includes a spectrum of works with quite different "characters" and styles. The recording showcases Ms. Shapiro's broad range of compositional ability. I think my favorite works on this CD are "Current Events" , and "At the Abyss" not only because the multiple movements cover such an emotional range but are still connected. I really like the beautiful melodies of "Phos Hilaron" and the pure, massive soundscape of "Deep". I'd love to hear the complete "Evensong Suite". I found "For My Father" both beautiful and poignant.

I'm always impressed with the way some composers and writers can express deep personal feelings through their work, baring their souls, so to speak. Ms. Shapiro clearly has that ability. "Bioplasm" is a tour de force for flutes that works well and is impressively performed. Perhaps the most "unusual" piece on the recording is "Slipping" for violin and harpsichord. It clearly breaks any stereotypes one might have about "harpsichord music"!

I love that the CD is bursting with so many great musical ideas! Listening to the samples will provide you with a small taste of Alex Shapiro's world. Buying the CD will give you a full helping. Highly recommended.

By Lotus-Seven (The mountains of Illinois)

The music of Notes From the Kelp

Starting off the album is an unusual, comedic piece titled Slipping, a commission from violinist Robin Lorentz of the California EAR Unit for her duets with her recital partner, harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh. The duet version of the piece, Slip, has become a standing ovation staple of the duo's concerts; using the harpsichord as any plectrum instrument other than a harpsichord, the music touches upon a wide range of global musical styles, and the result is a world tour for anyone with attention deficit disorder. For this recording, Alex added the talents of percussionist Dan Morris to heighten the effect with idiomatic drumming from around the globe.

"I was quite taken aback and, of course, amused by Slipping... it's a lot of fun and quite unexpected. I can't think of any other recent work that does this."

---—Barry Schrader, composer

"A thoroughly delightful frolic."

---— A.C. Douglas, Sounds & Fury

"Perhaps my favorite piece for listening is Bioplasm... it doesn't make experimentation into hard work... Bioplasm approaches the music with (dare I say it) a film composer's ear. In other words, I am not conscious of the music so much as the sensation."

-----—Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, composer, host, Kalvos & Damian

"[Bioplasm] was a particular favorite, receiving strong gusts of applause and even shouts of approval. As such, it was a well chosen finale, sending the audience home in an elated mood."

-----—Jules Langert, San Francisco Classical Voice

This recording appears on the Los Angeles Flute Quartet's 2005 CD on LAFQ Records, Above and Beyond.

Listen to excerpts from Bioplasm

pitch bending, end surprise

One of Alex's larger chamber works is her string quintet, Current Events, commissioned by the Pacific Serenades concert series in Los Angeles. The piece was premiered in Los Angeles March 2003 by the same musicians who then recorded it that June, and the Pacific Serenades season during which it appeared was awarded First Prize in the Chamber Music America/ASCAP 2004 Award for Adventurous Programming.

Each of the three movements, Surge, Ebb and Rip, ponders the ocean's tides as well as the waves of a more internal, emotional nature. The piece has enjoyed widespread airplay on over a hundred NPR stations across the U.S., and has been performed by a wide variety of ensembles.

It’s music exceptionally well made... I found it most attractive, especially in a long, beautifully unfolding slow movement.

------— Alan Rich, L.A. Weekly

"The centerpiece of Notes from the Kelp (for us, at any rate) is Current Events... richly dissonant and dark-textured; a dense polytonal chromaticism that’s gorgeously and unabashedly romantic and deeply affecting. If there’s but one work on this CD that all will love, this is it, and were it the only work on the CD, it alone would justify the purchase price."

------— A.C. Douglas, Sounds & Fury

Listen to excerpts from Current Events

Movement 3: Rip

German pianist Susanne Kessel created a unique concert program for a WDR radio production in Germany, featuring short solo piano pieces by numerous composers with immigrant backgrounds who were influenced by their time in California. Kessel also toured with the program in Germany, where she performed on the "New York's MoMA in Berlin: The American Season" special exhibit series, and in Bonn on the annual BeethovenFest series.

Along side of Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Gershwin, Kessel chose only two pieces from living California composers, one of which was For My Father, a movement from Alex's Piano Suite.

"...particularly compelling"

------— David Toub, Sequenza21

"The most serious work on the album, the solo-piano For My Father, depicts the descent into dementia of the composer's father; here again Shapiro is both emotionally immediate and capable of sustaining a structural process over a long stretch."

------— James Manheim, All Music Guide

At the Abyss on stage during rehearsal

"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

"...a spiky, exhilarating, energetic kind of music with a tremendous range of textures and dynamics."

------— Joe McLellan, Classical Music Critic Emeritus of The Washington Post, for RedLudwig.com

At the Abyss also appears on Teresa McCollough's CD for Innova Recordings, Music for Hammers & Sticks. Joining Teresa on the CD are percussionists Tom Burritt and Peggy Benkeser.

Listen to excerpts from At the Abyss

Movement 3: Act

In 1999, Alex was commissioned to compose the music for an Evensong service for St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. Of the six movements of a resulting work titled Evensong Suite, Alex's favorite is the Phos Hilaron, referring to "gracious light." It is included on the album, performed by flutist Brice Martin, clarinetist Charles Boito, bassoonist Carolyn Beck and pianist and St. Bede's music director Frank Basile.

"...subdued in full-frontal music-ness... it's expressed beautifully. "

------— Dennis Bathory-Kitsz

"Phos Hilaron... is a harmonic statement of great purity and simplicity, a circularly drifting cloud of winds and piano."

------— Tobias Fischer, Tokafi

Also appearing on the album is Alex's popular duet for tuba and piano entitled Music for Two Big Instruments, commissioned by Los Angeles Philharmonic principal tubist Norman Pearson and pianist Cynthia Bauhof-Williams and recorded by New York Philharmonic principal tubist Alan Baer, and pianist Bradley Haag. The piece expands audience's popular perception of traditional tuba music by offering soaring, lyrical melodic lines, as well as a few faster-than-often-thought-possible passages.

"Music for Two Big Instruments is brilliantly crafted. It takes commitment to be other than clever, and Alex has it. She treats the tuba exactly like a French horn with an extended lower range, but takes advantage of its power without losing lyricism."

-— Dennis Bathory-Kitsz

"Alex Shapiro’s Music for Two Big Instruments, written for Norm Pearson (tuba player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic)... is a very powerful piece..."

-— Sérgio Carolino, Tuba News

In May 2005, Alan Baer recorded Music for Two Big Instruments with pianist Bradley Haag for Baer's debut CD, Coast to Coast on Baer Tracks Records

Deep is the only electro-acoustic piece featured on Notes from the Kelp, and it is the final track on the album. Alex created an electronic soundscape that submerges listeners in an other-worldly realm, and contrabassoonist Leslie Lashinsky raises notes from the depths of her instrument to transport the piece to an entirely different sonic place than everything which precedes it on the disc. Deep prepares the way for the opening movement, Depth, from Alex's 2011 wind symphony to the sea, Immersion.

"... the most effective piece for contrabassoon and accompaniment I have yet heard.... Shapiro's sound track embraces the listener and creates vivid images of the unique beauty and tranquility of the sea floor."

— Shelly Unger, The Journal of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors

-"...the contrabassoon emerges from a pre-recorded track of electronics evoking the bottom of the sea. The blend of sonorities is ominous and magical."

— The Gramophone

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