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We have transformed the event from an exhibition into a festival, making it more musical, gastronomic and educational. We have also completely changed the format of the target audience. In that year — schoolchildren, students and young professionals. So we have focused on educational and entertainment portion of the event.
We have really made the most of the scale of the venue — more than 8,000 square meters. We have placed a panoramic cinema about The Russian Far East, a VR-zone, an interactive museum of The Far Eastern capitals, a photo exhibition, a section «Study and work in the far East» and three lecture halls where famous speakers performed.
- The rules of life — motivational workshops from famous and successful people, such as Sergey Minaev (russian writer, journalist, known for his scandalous novels «ДухLess», «Media Sapiens»), Peter Bankov (painter and creative director of DesignDepot) and many others;
- Anatomy of success — panel discussions on the global transformation of the economy, culture, science, education, political and social processes;
- Practices that achieve — workshops and master-classes aimed at the development of creative abilities.
Food and music
It was truly delicious festival. 11 regions of The Russian Far East have brought ingredients and recipes of the brightest dishes of local cuisine. You could try a Burger with venison or crab, Sakhalin trumpeter, wok with scallop and a lot of other things. The chef Dmitry Shurshakov and the Executive Director of «Seven» restaurant Anatoly Petrenko took part in development of the menu and preparation of dishes.
The Russian Far East is not only about authentic food and nature, but also authentic music with its unique style and sound. In each of the three days of The Festival in the music-hall have been performing 8 famous far-eastern bands.


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A famous underground graffiti writer gives a tell all on graffiti in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A famous underground graffiti writer gives a tell all on graffiti in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Rolling through the heat of Puerto Rico in Exor's ride. The streets are filled with graffiti. On the corners of San Juan stand police with bullet proof vests and machine guns. Exor, a dope graff writer whose work is now well known throughout the island, navigates us through thick city heat. His graffiti is a source of controversy, and inspiration. It's underground art, brought to the streets of San Juan.
Exor: I need a lighter.
Maria: You need a lighter. (Click of the lighter.) Do want to
go by Exor. Si? Okay. Interviewing Exor. Rapping with Exor. Rapping about some real vida.
Exor: So this is the life in Puerto Rico. Very hot….Esta canijo. So we gotta get chill.
(Flick of a lighter.)
Maria: To begin with, that beat where you mixed in John Lennon and rapped about graffiti is dope.
Exor: I was talking about not only graffiti, but the entire hip hop scene here in Puerto Rico. It was about how hip hop can become a cliché, can become a fashion too. And I am looking for a real hip hop movement that says something about what is really happening. As all the arts are means of communication.
I think we gotta be more alert right now because we think that our colonial system is gonna be forever, but we gotta think about what's gonna be after this. I think a lot of people have said art has died, art is dead. Colonialism theorists talk about, there is no collective action really happening. I think that's a good truth. That is a real truth. But okay we got that, so let's make it collective and do some interaction with our society, because hip hop is not only aesthetics as people say. You know, being hip hop doesn't mean got boots and all that shit, that's fashion shit. Boots and big t-shirts blah blah blah hats, baseball hats. What the fuck is all that? That's not hip hop.
I am not hip hop. I live hip hop.
Maria: There is hella graffiti on this island. It's to get up. It's also for advertisements. And so your rap was also about bringing graffiti to a revolutionary level.
Exor: Yah, because graffiti has been always a violent part, the violent part of hip hop, the visual representation of how violent can a message be….Murals are an ambitious thing. You've got huge spaces covered by people writing, making some letters, free styles, wild styles, whatever and the walls are a surface space where all classes can interact. You know, it's not a museum, it's not a gallery. It is the city that has the art on it by people. That doesn't have to be part of academy or institutions. That's why I can say graffiti is a very individualistic thing. But also it is a very primitive reaction. That self representation. You can get a tag and you are creating a persona.
You are creating a character, a new identity. An identity that you will be advertising.
Maria: And you can choose to have many identities if you want to as well.
Exor: Yah. There are so many graffiti writers with three names that are taggin it up. For example here, Bik is Ismo too and he is known as both tags. He has made exhibitions with both tags. He uses, like a duality. Ismo is the final part of all the words that are referring to a movement. Like surrealism. Abstractionism… Realism. All that movements in Spanish finish like instead ism, ismo.
Maria: So that's how he got his tag.
Exor: Yah, so like nacionalismo. Nationalism. In Spanish it's nacionalismo. So he got that… it's a tricky word. When I got Exor as a tag. As my tag….It got some meaning but it was not the same later because I think that you are always changing your identity when you do something new, so it's not the same as when you started tagging and later when you are some years in the scene… Exor can mean a lot of things at different times in my life.
I can tell you….It is like Exorcism… I was more militant about graffiti. I was thinking that graffiti exorcized the city. Graffiti is that kind of monster. That is protecting the city too… Like a guardian. It's protective. It's something that tells us that people that are] are concerned about the space of others. It's a breakdown of the private property. Yah, it's a crime because the law that is the institution law says so, but you can think different too… Graffiti is a tool.
It is not bad to be illegal. And I think illegal things can influence the legal things. An illegal phenomenon like murals can stimulate our societies for good. Because the power defines it as illegal it doesn't mean that you cannot use it as a tool to say something against it.
Graffiti is a powerful tool to communicate. It's collective in that kind of way. A wall or any surface can become a public forum of written ideas and any expression. It is a direct speaking for what you want. It is very raw. What you want to say is raw cuz when you do it illegal, you are knowing you are taking a risk and you are knowing the police can catch you if they see you. So it's a generic name to protect your identity.
Maria: We were talking about the journalist who was saying that graff could become legalized and you were talking about why you wouldn't want it to become legal.
Exor: She was telling me that here in Puerto Rico some…have been interested to…say that they are trying to help graffiti here, by giving spaces…They go with this statement, they say that "Graffiti writers are really artists, the thing is that "We" have to guide them… and here they are permitted to be and they are artists and we are going to give them spaces to paint and have no problems with the police. We are protecting them." Fuck them. Yah… That was a good forum. I say that. I can say that….because graffiti is becoming something…there is social concern about graffiti. But you cannot say that institutions are making graffiti a bigger movement, instead of saying that they may kill the power of its messages by selling it as an accepted thing. It is in its own way. It has been in the family from institutions….
Graffiti crews are not registered. ..it has not to be registered in the department of states. By the other way there are some exceptions in the art world and advertisings.
Maria: They're outside of the law.
Exor: Well you have graffiti artists that are really mainstream, artists like Banksy for example. Yah, you can see also graffiti artists living in the artist way because they have become part of the academy. That's not bad either. That's good. Sort of a kind of different ways to direct graffiti.
Maria: But to have it become legalized then it would become controlled in some way I think.
Exor: Yah, because it is institutionalized.… If tagging is not illegal no more….The state is becoming apparently flexible, but there is a plan behind to construct social expression. Like different ways [of] saying, showing our own images.… I don't know how to say this…advertisement doesn't possess art. Art doesn't possess advertisement, but they are gonna be always interacting. And graffiti is a way of being advertised because graffiti writers advertise their tag names. Their alter-ego bombs. The other thing is that some other graffiti writers paint advertisements too, like for example, that's one of my jobs. And I think that's the way graffiti is accepted by institutions mostly. That's bullshit. It's not the same one thing or another.
Maria: You bring your graffiti to a revolutionary level. Even when writers are just getting up, tagging their name, claiming some space that action is good cuz it challenges our conceptions of what private property is. It lets 'em know we're out here. An army of the masses. You bring it to a revolutionary level with the images….Like the piece you did in the projects.
Exor: The projects of what…ah…the Filiberto Ojeda Rios mural? …We (Bik, that one I was telling you about, Ismo…. Rimx, Son and I, Exor) met and did a few sketches with a couple of images as references and clear ideas of what we wanted to express about the matter of Filiberto as a revolutionary and his ugly assassination. We were able to paint thanks to the support and help of the community leader, Tito Román.
(We drive by a wall bombed with bright colors and our conversation is distracted momentarily by the graff.)
Exor: It's a good production.
Lordette: What do you think of that tho?
Exor: It's good.
Maria: Your style is mas harcoroso.
Exor: Harcoroso. The thing is that people do murals that are very bright in styles and all that. And I like it a lot. I had problems with those graffiti writers before.
Maria: They tagged it out?
Exor: They got problems with me. I like to make things clear. I like to get respect. I just show it up when I was painting. Now they are respecting me. Because I don't talk any shit in the streets. I paint… You got a lot of guys that are always talking about themselves or their crews. But they don't talking about the shit that's happening here. And I am dedicated to know about this…not only about me. I have to know about the place I live in and its history. Also hip hop history here.
The hip hop movement here. I'm not traditionalist but some graffiti murals are commercial, or look like it; very sophisticated….all around the wall different ways graffiti is. It looks like an advertisement. They have a lot of technique. It is good. But they don't have any political concerns or interests. So that's why I can tell you that.
We also have not only political graffiti. A lot of manifestations here of graffiti.…it is the people that do that kind of graffiti are concerned I can say more or less are concerned with the people that do a lot of different ways; the political way. We got a lot of stencils here, some good art shit and some good politic shit too.
Maria: Like the graffiti you were just talking about with the four of you that did that piece of Filiberto.
Exor: ¿Qué pasó?
Maria: You were telling me about it and I interrupted you.
Exor: Yah it was a guy that lived there. He was an activist of the college at my college. His name is Tito Roma: "Tito Manuela". His nickname originally comes from the name of the project he lives, which is called Manuel A. Perez.
Maria: And the other piece with the machine guns that was also in the projects?
Exor: It was painted over by the police. Because of the Filiberto mural. They got like nuts. They were ordering to erase all the murals in Puerto Rico… all the island because of the Filiberto Mural. The one that stills up.
Maria: Cuz they got hella rude-like with that piece.
Exor: And they mixed together the one that I did, that was very different. Because Filiberto is a political symbol here. I was painting not politic symbols. I was painting gangsters that were killed by drugs and all that. I was painting other kinds of portraits. I was doing gangster portraits with some machine guns and all that.
Maria: Cuz that's what they asked you for.
Exor: Yeah. They asked me for it. And that kind of portraits with machine guns and all that I did it because they deserved it. I cannot tell them that's bad… that's not my context, but we share the same violence, the one I live daily around my neighborhood. So I cannot mess with their context.
But you know what, they're doing a very stupid thing. Because the newspaper is the thing that all Puerto Ricans see in the morning and you got machine guns on the front pages maybe a lot of days in the week. Yo. So they're fighting against…it is like saying that violence is only part of the caserios and barrios and that is not true – we all are…. Capitalism is dying. Capitalism is dying.
Graffiti can make you feel afraid. Scared. Cuz it is like a bunch of written screams in a wall. ….Graffiti writers are like shamans….purifying the city. Purificando.
(Car rolls to a stop.)
Maria: What do you dream for Puerto Rico?
Exor: What I want in Puerto Rico…I was talking about the dependent economy and all that I was talking about that we got already our own identity, and I know it is a very ambiguous identity and we cannot be all our life, like having discussions about it. We have to decide right now. I want to see it free from the United States. Free by itself too. Free in its own economy. Free in its own definitions. In its own territory. Its own people.
Vamos. Vamos. Vamos.

subset: commoncrawl


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From our Correspondent
MANGALDAI, Feb 13: In a significant achievement, the Darrang Police led by newly-joined Superintendent of Police Sreejith Thiraviam, arrested three hardcore poachers who were involved in the killing of a rhino in broad daylight in Orang tiol Park (ONP) on January 28, that too during the visit of Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal in Darrang district.
The arrested three poachers have been identified as Abdul Wahed, Abdul Rahman and Jakir Hussain The police also recovered one .303 rifle used in the poaching. Addressing a press meet at the office of the Superintendent of Police here on Monday, Superintendent of Police informed the media persons that the team of Dhula and Shyampur Police Station on February 11 arrested the poachers from village Rowmari Chapori adjacent to ONP and recovered the rifle which was concealed under water in the pond of Jakir Hussain. Till date the police have arrested a total of six poachers while two are likely to be arrested soon.
Expressing satisfaction over the prompt initiative of the Officer in-charge of Dhula and Shyampur Police Station mely Sub Inspector Ranjit Hazarika and Sub Inspector Kartik Barua, the Superintendent of Police accompanied by Additiol Superintendent of Police Suman Chakravorty said that the police headquarters would be appraised of these achievements and urged to accord DGP's commendation. He also sought all cooperation from the conscious circles and the media persons of the district in ensuring full safety and protection of the one-horned rhino.


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Jane ShermanCambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 277 pagesISBN: 0-521-79961-9
Using film (on video or DVD), television and webcasts in the language classroom is commonly recognised as valuable, as is the use of any authentic material, but teachers are often unsure of how to use the material effectively, tending to use it occasionally and as an entertaining departure from routine activities.
Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom, then, is a welcome guide to using such material, providing a rationale, a categorisation of types of material available, and a wide variety of activities which can be used again and again with new and different clips, sequences or whole features.Notwithstanding the title, the book applies to the use of all visual formats, and examines both drama and non-fiction. In the first category full- length feature films, other forms of video drama including sitcoms and soap operas, and short drama clips and comedy sketches are discussed, while documentaries, news, talk and game shows and sports programmes are considered in the second.
Of greatest value, however, is the collection of more than 150 activities, preceded by a useful section on comprehending video. Each activity has a clear aim, a minimum level is stated, materials and preparation are described, and an easy-to-follow procedure is outlined. Variations are often suggested.
Inevitably, teachers using this book will need to take into account how well their learners have been trained and how often they have been exposed to this kind of activity, since video based activities involve listening, watching and often writing or performing a task at the same time and the difficulty of seemingly straightforward tasks is often underestimated. However, teachers should not be discouraged by the apparent difficulty of authentic material since it is the task rather than the text which needs to be appropriate to the level. This book provides appropriate tasks and should encourage teachers to make video part of their regular teaching repertoire. An extremely useful addition to any resource collection.
183 February/March 2005


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Now showing items 1-2 of 2
Querying in Packs: Trustworthy Data Management in Ad Hoc Networks
(Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 2006-06-09)
We describe a trust-based data management framework enabling mobile devices to access the distributed computation, storage, and sensory resources available in pervasive computing environments. Available resources include ...
Collaborative Joins in a Pervasive Computing Environment
Locating and obtaining context sensitive information in a mobile environment has always been a challenge. This is especially true for pervasive computing environments where in addition to limited computing and battery resources, ...


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A Glimpse of Rural Luxury in Lakshman Sagar, Rajasthan
While many hotels around the world may disappoint you with the reality versus what is displayed on their websites, the Lakshman Sagar is not one of them. It is an old time hunting lodge that has been converted to a modern day 5 Star resort offering luxury and opulence at its best.
You will be mesmerized at the grandeur of this 19th Century hunting lodge which was owned by the then Thakur of Raipur. The place was built to host noble families and royalties of the bygone era. The first things that will catch your eyes is the glistening pink Zanana Tower, i.e. women's tower in the property with a lush green lawn surrounding it.
Also Read: History of Palace on Wheels train
The counterpart Mardana Tower which is the men's tower has been transformed into a breezy blue and white, sprawling dining space, with a charming kitchen tucked below it. And a swimming pool has been carved into the rock plateau behind the Zanana tower, filling the area with sparkling waters and serene scenes, like ones taken from a the pages of a fairy tale.
Explore More: Interior Photo Gallery of Palace on Wheels
One side of the pool is lined with day beds that are shaded with day beds, while beautifully constructed 12 mud and stone guest cottages line the property that spreads over a massive 32 acres of land, covered in verdant greenery. The hotel has been constructed to blend the old with the new in a seamless manner that the compliments each other.
Local products have been used for the interior and exterior decor throwing light on the rich culture and heritage of the land. There are interesting features everywhere you look in the property, even some of the light fixtures are made with painted milk cans and diesel truck filters.
Suggested Read: Palace on Wheels Route
The property houses 12 spacious cottages, each of 900 square feet with independent bedrooms, living rooms, dining spaces, fireplaces, stone baths with rain shower heads and private plunge pools overlooking the lake.
The rugs and cushions offer a burst of color in the rooms that is quintessential of Rajasthan. The earthy beige mud walls form a stark contrast against the colorful decor of the interiors in each cottage.
View More Accomodations: Palace on Wheels cabins
Before planning your trip to Rajasthan, you can also check out the Palace on Wheels train schedule.
But that is not all, guests at the property are offered unique facilities like fresh plunger coffee in the fridge, some incense cones perched on top of a table in the living rooms and a handful of fresh Neem twigs for brushing teeth in the bathroom. Apart from the usual human guests the property has other interesting occupants too, like peacocks that roam free in the lawns and owls that hoot at night.
The room tariffs at the Lakshman Sagar are quite worth the money for what they offer compared to the prices. A cottage would cost you INR 13,500 per night which includes all meals as well as in-house activities like cooking classes, nature walks and more. Alcohol would be charged additionally as per order, but unlike most hotels Lakshman Sagar has kept the prices reasonable and lower than most other mini bar menus at metro cities.
Suggested Read: Palace on Wheels General Information
The hotel is poised to offer an authentic taste of Rajasthan to its guest. While the menu keeps changing, there is an interesting array of options that include several local delicacies for the guests to choose from. The organic vegetable garden at forefront of the property supplies most of the produces for cooking.
Have a Look on Palace on Wheels train restaurants
A must do activity at the hotel is to simply sit back and relax and enjoy the sunset with your favorite cocktail in hand at the top of the Zanana Tower. The way up the tower is dotted with interesting spaces like the writer's alcove, dining rooms, and a bubbling fountain, each dressed in hues of white, pink and blue. The light during the sunset paints the property at its picture perfect best.
An interesting feature of the Lakshman Sagar hotel is the fact that despite being a luxury resort, it still focuses on offering its guests with a taste of real rural Rajasthan and livelihood of the village surrounding the property. They offer a field breakfast experience, where you are driven on a Jeep to the nearby village.
There a local village household welcomes you with laid out day beds overlooking green crop fields. The lady of the house prepares a home cooked meal of whole wheat Parathas over a fire and as you eat you watch over the simple village life transcend coexisting with nature.
There are whole host of fun activities for every kind of person at the Lakshman Sagar. While many choose to simply stay put and relax at the peaceful property, you can also take regular nature walks around the neighboring fields and villages.
There henna plantations, brick making plants where they are handmade, Raipur Fort and the town itself is close by. One can indulge in bird watching, or visit the wildlife sanctuary, partake in horse safaris, do yoga and meditation, go fishing and last but not the least take massages.
Spacial Offer: Avail Flat 25% OFF on Super deluxe cabins
How to Reach
The closest airport to Lakshman Sagar is located at Jodhpur, the town is 2 hours away from Ajmer and lies 10 km off the NH 14 towards Jodhpur from Pali. The nearest rail head is at Haripur railway station, located merely 3 km away. Conveniently located between the tourism spots of Marwar and Mewar makes it easily accessible via road from Jodhpur.
Also Read: 8 Trains from Delhi to Udaipur to See the Rich Culture of Rajasthan
If you want to add luxury element than you also choose The Palace on Wheels India which offers world-class facilities onboard the train.
More Details about luxury train:
Have FAQ's in Mind: CLICK HERE
Visit Official Website, for the online booking of Palace on Wheels.
For those with a thirst for simple living and rural beauty this place is a must visit, where you will be in close contact to nature and village life, without having to sacrifice modern day comforts. It is a relaxing destination for those who seek to get away from the busy hustle of city lives and refocus their energies.
Further Read:


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In 2012, the Kony 2012 Campaign became the most watched human rights video to date, garnering over 100 million views in just six days. The Campaign relied on easily digestible narratives that encouraged an imperialistic military-legal response to the Lord's Resistance Army's use of child soldiers in Uganda. Drawing on Mutua's (2001) framework of savages, victims and saviours, this article analyses the Kony 2012 phenomenon to illustrate how a digital campaign can validate and reproduce subjectivities and structures of domination rather than stimulate sustainable reform-based change. The article critically reflects on the use of digital technology by the Kony 2012 campaign and considers the potential for 'slacktivism' and 'clicktivism'.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/plugins/themes/jcjtheme/images/article_image.png
International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 2016-03-01 5 1
Kony 2012: Intervention Narratives and the Saviour Subject
Except where otherwise noted, content in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Published: 2016-03-01
Pages:98 to 112
Section: Articles
2 citation(s) in Scopus
1 citation(s) in Web of Science
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Total Abstract Views: 1718 Total Unknown Downloads: 327 Total PDF Downloads: 1296


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Celebrations Getaways Contest in May 2017 features three member inns known for their superior amenities, gourmet cuisine, and stellar Southern hospitality. Each month NCBBI features three member Inns, does three drawings, and provides the three winners gift certificates, whose values are $250, $150, and $100 – respectively first, second, and third prize awards. In May 2017, the FREE CELEBRATION GETAWAYS drawings are for stays at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast, Mast Farm Inn, and The Cedars Davidson.
These certificates may be used at the winner's choice at any one of these three NCBBI member Inns featured this month. Winners can use their gift certificate towards their stay to celebrate a special birthday or anniversary, or for any other occasion.
Each month's sweepstakes starts on the first of the month (this month's begins on May 1st), with drawings on the 21st of that same month. Gift certificates remain valid for use anytime within 12 months of their issue date.
From the mountains to the sea, North Carolina has it all: natural beauty, history, arts & crafts, music, restaurants, and wineries. Guests at NCBBI member bed and breakfasts and inns can be assured of the highest standards in quality, safety, housekeeping, food service, comfort and hospitality.
Featured in Our State Magazine as one of North Carolina's best botanical B&Bs, Big Mill Bed and Breakfast has 200 acres to roam. You can walk through the landscaped gardens with gorgeous flowers like the zinnias pictured above, explore the original farm outbuildings, and wander through scenic woodlands. Shaded by stately, ninety-year-old pecan trees that were planted by the owner's parents, this Williamston Bed and Breakfast is in the original farmstead that has been in the family since 1920.
Minutes from major highways, this is a perfect stopover to the Outer Banks. Big Mill Bed and Breakfast offers wireless internet, first floor rooms, and a private location with commanding lake views. Big Mill hosts elegant weddings at this romantic getaway. Special extended stay rates are available.
The Mast Farm Inn of Valle Crucis is an historic farmhouse (hosting guests since the 1800's) with cottage and cabin lodging, invigorating retreats and workshops, and memorable elopements, weddings, and honeymoons. The Mast Farm Inn has received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award the last five years and, in 2015, was inducted into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame. Mast Farm Inn is a member of the upscale Select Registry properties as well as the elite Historic Hotels of America.
Guests of Mast Farm Inn can go fly fishing, fresh water canoeing, Blue Ridge Trail walking and biking as well as other scenic outdoor activities. Over Yonder is a new destination restaurant and bar located a few hundred yards from the Mast Farm Inn that was co-founded in 2014 with Mast Farm Inn and is now designed, owned, and managed by the award-winning Executive Chef Andrew Long. This is located across from the Original Mast General Store.
A short walk from downtown, The Cedars Davison, a newly renovated modern bed & breakfast, is the perfect place for guests and business travelers to relax while enjoying the beautiful gardens and natural surroundings. Inside, you will find stylish elegance and beautifully appointed guest rooms that include a refrigerator, flat-screen TV, and complimentary Wi-Fi. Browse the owners extensive library, relax on the front porch in a rocking chair, or take a stroll into town to one of the many shops or restaurants.
The Cedars Davidson offers a Culinary Package (that includes a gourmet dinner that the guests help prepare), an Anniversary Package (that includes fresh flowers and a bottle of chilled champagne), and a Theater Package (which includes tickets to a current production from the Davidson Community players and a bottle of wine).
Best wishes to all who enter this May Celebrations Getaways Contest which begins May 1st. 3 lucky winners announced May 21st!


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Join me for our exciting webinar that could truly change the course of your career!
Just register right NOW and reserve your seat... it's 100% FREE! AND...
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put this on Facebook and Twitter. I guarantee your friends and colleagues will thank you for it if they attend.
- Presenter: Tom Antion
(Encore with Tom on Live Answering All Your Questions)
- Webinar: "How to Make a Fortune Speaking at Fundraisers"
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During this Webinar you will learn How To:
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Keeping Up With The Kardashians spoilers: Scott Disick threatens to beat up Kourtney's boyfriend Younes Bendjima
Scott previously screamed at Kourtney when she told him she had been pictured out on a date with the young model
SCOTT Disick threatens to "beat up" Kourtney Kardashian's new boyfriend Younes Bendjima in a teaser clip for the next episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
In a recent episode Scott hit the roof when Kourtney called him to reveal she'd been on a date with the young model.
However, things get even nastier in the upcoming instalment as Scott sent Kourtney a number of aggressive text messages.
Reading aloud Kourtney says: "He's like 'Your little friend is going to get beat up'."
Kim was shocked and said: "It's not a good look for Scott. This is not going to end well."
Scott, 36, is currently dating 19-year-old Sofia Richie and the pair couldn't keep their hands off each other on a romantic trip to Venice.
It comes as Kourtney becomes increasingly worried about Scott's health after receiving a number of worried phone calls from his pals.
The 38-year-old even wondered if he'd make it to his next birthday before adding: "I don't want the kids to see him like this".
"I'm trying to break the cycle of always being there," she said.
"We've been in the same pattern, even though we're not together, for 10 years plus and if there was something I could do to help Scott – help his situation or his addiction – I would do it in a heartbeat, but I've learned that it's beyond my control and I've accepted that."
Kim went to check on Scott and he insisted he was fine - after commenting that he could see her breasts through her top.
He said: "You can tell Kourtney have a good weekend and rest assure I'm fine."
Meanwhile, also in the episode the girls head to Santa Barbara on a bonding trip where Kourtney and Kendall covered themselves in mud.
The girls "strengthened" their relationship after Kourtney said her half-sister "hated" her.
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(and... speaker... essayist.
activist... naturalist photo-blogger.
fun person.)
"[Shapiro's music is] enough to give one hope for the contemporary music scene."
All Music Guide
Quick links on this page
A note for this time of COVID-19:
A number of Ms. Shapiro's wind band pieces can already be effectively performed with reduced ensemble personnel, thanks to the power of their accompaniment tracks. These tracks and their versions with a click, make it easy for musicians to practice, and if desired, record their parts at home.
Additionally, Alex is currently adapting several of her solo and duo professional level electroacoustic works for grades 2,3, and 4. Email Alex for specific information and requests!
Interact! Become one of Alex's online friends
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Alex Shapiro's unique music career is a happy, multifaceted one, in which she spends her time:
Composing a lot of music (mostly for chamber ensembles and symphonic wind bands, often paired with prerecorded audio soundscapes)
Speaking at events, residencies, and conferences around the world and virtually
Participating on advocacy boards and committees
Writing articles and essays
Photo-blogging wildlife from the remote island on which she creates!
Get a sense of Alex, as she responds to the question, "What kind of composer are you?" in this 50-second excerpt from a 2010 interview, below:
Latest recordings:
A [non-performing!] pianist herself, Alex has always loved composing for the instrument. Pianist Adam Marks has 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!
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.
Flutist Tessa Brinckman released a beautiful CD single on World Oceans Day, June 8, 2020, of Alex's electroacoustic duet for contrabass flute and Pacific Humpback whale, BELOW. Click HERE to see an excerpt from the mesmerizing video created for the project by Diana Lehr.
Latest mix:
When conductor Stephen Squires led the Fox Valley Orchestra in Aurora, Illinois in a performance of BENEATH, he also recorded the ensemble so that Alex could mix the track in her studio. Venture to the depths of the sea with the plaintive song of a Humpback whale as your guide, and listen to this orchestra's beautiful recording!
Latest 2020 publication:
Joining 11 of her peers, Alex co-founded the Creative Repertoire Initiative to encourage composers to create adaptable works for ensembles with varying personnel and rehearsal circumstances.
For this world in constant flux, Alex's latest electroacoustic work, PASSAGES, offers a calming, centering, meditative, and encouraging outlook for any combination of instruments. Each cellular phrase sounds beautiful whether stacked or exposed, and played with any of the chords in the accompaniment track. It's never quite the same piece twice, because musicians make random choices from a selection of melodies and rhythms of varying difficulty. The music is especially well suited for musicians recording themselves during distance learning sessions, and even for soloists wishing to improvise!
Stream an excerpt from the accompaniment track:
Stream the entire live recording (3:00):
Alex has many more electroacoustic large ensemble commissions being delivered between now and 2023. More details on these will be coming shortly!
Latest 2020 premiere:
Alex has just finished an unusual, sound design-heavy electroacoustic concert opener for wind band, ASCENT. It was scheduled to be performed by the University of Hawai'i Wind Ensemble conducted by lead commissioner Jeffrey Boeckman at the CBDNA Western/Northwestern Division Conference in Tacoma, WA on March 19, 2020, but we all know what happened to this and every other conference across the world that month. The work was commissioned by 25 ensembles from the U.S. and Canada.
Also featured at the conference on March 20th would have been Alex's band work MOMENT, performed by the University of Alberta Symphonic Wind Ensemble conducted by Angela Schroeder, and a presentation on large ensemble multimedia works and social activism that Alex was looking forward to giving, with University of British Columbia Director of Bands Rob Taylor, and University of Puget Sound Director of Bands Gerard Morris.
Nonetheless, right before all the concert cancellations, the University of Hawai'i Wind Ensemble was able to perform ASCENT a couple of times for their local island audiences. You can hear the fantastic job they did for the Honolulu premiere by clicking on the links below.
And, CBDNA launched a YouTube series and kicked it off with Alex's presentation, which you can view below. Where there's an internet connection, there's a way!
Latest unusual project:
COVID-19 has brought many challenges to university music programs, but in the face of limitations there are also positive opportunities. Rather than try to make something as precious as live ensemble performance exist in a format not yet designed for it, Alex gave some thought to what an online connection for students in band and orchestra can uniquely provide.
At the invitation of the University of Washington's Director of Bands Timothy Salzman, Alex came up with a syllabus for the students that reflects our current reality. Click here to read the article about the successful project, Putting the E- in E-nsemble.
If you would like to see the syllabus, just email Alex and she'll be happy to get it to you. She's available as a consultant, or to help you customize the course for your students and to Zoom in to work with them!
Latest choral premiere:
Alex has composed an emotional electroacoustic work for SATB choir, titled O DEATH ROCK ME ASLEEP. The dramatic piece is set to a moving text penned by Anne Boleyn while imprisoned in the Tower of London as she awaited her beheading. Commissioned by Suzi Digby and The Golden Bridge, the new work premiered in Beverly Hills, CA. on September 7, 2019.
Click here to listen to, or watch,
Latest 2019 delivered commission:
Band director Jim Mobley loves the fresh genre of electroacoustic wind band music, and believes that there should be more such pieces in the repertoire— especially for younger musicians to perform. He put together the N-BEAM consortium, which over the course of three years, has supported the addition of three new Grade 2.5 EA works to the concert band world. Composers Daniel Montoya Jr. and Benjamin Taylor wrote their pieces-- TECHNO BLADE, and AXE TO GRIND, respectively-- for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Alex has just delivered OFF THE EDGE, to its 35 commissioning ensembles.
Have a listen to Alex's pop-EDM approach to music for middle schoolers, as performed in March 2020 by the Center Grove Middle School Central Band in Greenwood, Indiana, conducted by Samuel Fritz. Play it loudly!
The first round of N-BEAM has been so successful that Jim Mobley and the three composers have agreed to launch N-BEAM 2.0! Three new pieces will roll out between 2020 and 2023. Interested in being a participant in this unique and wonderful adventure? Click here:
Want to witness just how ridiculous three composers and a band director can be under the glare of conference floor lights at the Midwest Clinic? Click here:
Latest press:
Sheet Music Plus features Alex and her career in a wide-ranging piece for its September 2019 Take Note blog. Read about the connection between music, activism, multimedia, and yes, even Beethoven, by clicking here.
Minnesota Public Radio's Your Classical division created a Top Ten list of wind band composers, to expand the public's knowledge of the genre. Alex [randomly!] came in at #2 after Sousa. You can peruse the list by clicking here.
Latest 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.
Latest 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.
Latest 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.
Latest 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.
Latest international workshops:
Alex was in Tokyo, Japan in late May 2019 for meetings with her colleagues on the Executive Committee of The International Council Of Music Authors (CIAM)— the writers council of CISAC.
While there, she and several CIAM ExCo members gave a workshop hosted by Japan's collective management society JASRAC, for an auditorium of Japanese music creators, addressing local and international copyright issues.
In January 2019 during the CIAM ExCo meetings in Cabo Verde, Africa, Alex participated in career and copyright workshops with her CIAM ExCo writer colleagues.
In November 2018 in Mexico City, Alex was with her writer colleagues on the CIAM ExCo at the Annual CIAM Congress in Mexico City. She moderated a panel discussion with music creators from Australia, Europe, Canada, and South America, discussing not only the problems of far-reaching biases, but the solutions. Also in attendance were ASCAP President and Chairman Paull Williams, and ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews.
Alex again joined her international writer colleagues on the CIAM ExCo at the May 2018 CISAC General Assembly meeting in Warsaw, Poland, at which she spoke on a panel addressing gender inequity issues throughout the music industry. You can read about it by clicking here.
CIAM addresses issues ranging from global copyright and royalty payment improvements, to transfer of value, fair trade music, blockchain potential, and much more, in an effort to advance the wellbeing of music creators around the world.
Clinician, December 19-22 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.
Electroacoustic sextet and band piece:
Alex's unusual piece for low winds, TRAIN OF THOUGHT, was commissioned by Paul Kile for the Cochran Chamber Commissioning Project, and premiered in Edina, Minnesota on May 22, 2016. Click the title to read the story behind the music. It gives new meaning to the term, "audio track"!
Kile joins conductor Adam Campagna and several other participants in a consortium that has commissioned Alex to create a version of the piece for full symphonic wind band. The new work, titled TRAINS OF THOUGHT, has begun its participant premieres, starting off with the University of Puget Sound Wind Ensemble performing on March 3, 2018, conducted by Gerard Morris.
Even more new electroacoustic wind band works:
One year after leading a consortium of seven schools that commissioned Alex's now-familiar 12-tone Afro-Cuban-grooved TIGHT SQUEEZE (just like Schoenberg!), Composers & Schools in Concert partnered again with Alex on a new piece with an emphasis on visual multimedia, titled LIGHTS OUT. A consortium of 19 schools around the U.S. interacted with Alex via Skype, as she solicited creative visual ideas from the musicians for their Spring 2015 premieres, as well as for inclusion in the published score to inspire other bands. Wanna get a sense of what they all came up with? Click here!
In February 2016, Alex delivered a third CSIC-led electroacoustic wind band piece for an 18-member consortium, and the new work, titled MOMENT, premiered throughout Spring 2016 around the U.S. You can read about the enivronmental awareness behind the very emotional music here:
And, March 2016 brought with it an unusual minimalist piece for musicians of all ages titled ROCK MUSIC, commissioned by Patrick Marsh Middle School Band and its adventurous conductor Chris Gleason. The piece, which addresses glacial melting and climate change and includes many extended techniques not heard on the demo below, premiered in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on May 10, 2016. You can read about it-- and see a video!-- here:
Listen to LIGHTS OUT:
Listen to MOMENT:
Listen to ROCK MUSIC:
If you're interested in participating in future consortia,
March 2020: Beloved band director Charlie Menghini launched a new podcast series of conversations with composers, conductors, and educators, Band Talk with Charlie Menghini and Friends, and Alex was the first of his guests for Episode 2. Click the icon at right to have a listen.
March 2018: Alex really enjoyed talking with Mark J. Connor as a guest on his popular podcast, Everything Band. Covering everything from career to clarinet-playing gerbils (!), it was a far-ranging chat! Click the icon at right to have a listen.
January 2016: Alex spent the better part of an afternoon chatting about the business and philosophical aspects of a happy composing career, with composer and The Portfolio Composer podcast host Garrett Hope (pictured at right). Their wide-ranging conversation over drinks in Alex's San Juan Island, WA living room, is posted in two March 2016 parts, and you can hear it below:
May 2017 and April 2016: In May 2017, Alex returned to MPP to join co-hosts Dennis Tobenski and mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen for a discussion about the wide range of creative commissioning techniques available to performers and composers. Want to hear Alex's Plan A,B,C,D and beyond? Click here:
The previous April, Alex was the inaugural guest for composer Tobenski's new series, Music Publishing Podcast. Despite some technical issues with a Hangout connection that apparently had Alex reaching for her snorkel, she and Dennis had an excellent conversation about the business of being a busy composer. You can stream it in the background while doing something mindless above the mean tide line, by clicking here.
Composers Datebook is a daily two-minute syndicated radio program produced by American Public Media in association with the American Composers Forum. The series highlights moments in music history of the past and the present, and its February 11, 2017 and 2020 segments feature Alex Shapiro and the anniversary of the premiere of her sonata for tuba and piano titled Music for Two Big Instruments. You can listen to the amusing description by clicking here and then clicking the "play" arrow at the top of the page
You can listen to more interviews with Alex here.
Alex appears in two of director Michael Stillwater's documentary films: Shining Night, and In Search of the Great Song. Click below to listen to a short excerpt from the latter, filmed at Alex's home on San Juan Island, WA. and scored with her piece BELOW. Alex shares her thoughts about how the sea inspires her muses.
Alex was asked to contribute her thoughts to NewMusicBox's April 2016 series about music and money, and delivered a piece titled Let's Make a List, that many college professors are already making required reading for their composition students. In it, Alex offers a detailed road map to point music-makers toward the many revenue streams that can be generated from their copyrights. You can read the essay-- and add to the comment thread with your own suggestions-- by clicking here.
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.
April 26, 2017, in Washington, D.C.: Alex returned to Capitol Hill where each spring, members of the Board of Directors of ASCAP and writer members who are strong copyright advocates meet with Senators, members of Congress, and their aides, to keep the message of fair compensation for music creators front and center. Known as "Stand with Songwriters" Advocacy Day, the office visits are preceded by an inspiring evening concert at the Library of Congress called, "We Write the Songs," where policy makers enjoy performances by some of the world's top ASCAP creators.
Over the years Alex has spoken with many Representatives, including Joaquin Castro (D-TX), pictured here in May 2016 with Alex and ASCAP board President and Chairman Paul Williams.
April 13-15, 2017, in Hollywood: The 12th annual ASCAP EXPO brought artists from every genre together for an inspiring conference of workshops, panels, performances and networking at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. Alex spoke on a panel titled "Getting Credit Where Credit is Due," addressing the need for accurate attribution across all genres and in all uses of digital media, alongside songwriter and performer Aloe Blacc, songwriter and fellow ASCAP Board member Desmond Child, attorney and panel moderator Dina LaPolt, and Auddly founder Niclas Molinder (pictured L-R). You can read about the animated discussion-- which included comments from Pandora's head of publisher licensing Adam Parness during the Q&A by clicking here.
At the 2016 EXPO, Alex gave a lively presentation on a panel about creative uses of multimedia in concert music, titled "Seeing Music: Multimedia Concerts for a Visual World." Pictured L-R: Composer Veronika Krausas, Alex, visualists Candace Reckinger and Michael Patterson, and ASCAP VP of Concert Music Cia Toscanini.
December 14, 2016, in New York City: The ASCAP Foundation Awards event honors emerging and distinguished music creators from a broad array of genres, and Alex was honored to present the Life in Music Award to her friend and renowned composer Morten Lauridsen. For information, click here
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.
May 16-19, 2019: Alex was in residence at Mt. San Antonio College, rehearsing her music with its band led by conductor Dr. Gregory Whitmore. Whitmore is also the conductor of the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble, which performed two of Alex's most popular works, TIGHT SQUEEZE and PAPER CUT at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa.
January 19-21, 2018: Alex was at Shenandoah University, working with the composition students and enjoying performances of three of her works: her trio CIRCUS OF FLEAS, as well as MOMENT and TIGHT SQUEEZE, conducted by Tim Robblee.
April 10-11, 2017: Alex was at University of Minnesota, speaking with the conducting students as well as the instrumentalists.
February 25-26, 2017: Alex returned to The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, to work with composition students as well as with Jeffrey Boeckman and the University of Hawai'i Wind Ensemble, which performed two of Alex's works: HOMECOMING, and MOMENT. Click HERE for more info.
December 7, 2016: Alex was a guest speaker and gave her multimedia presentation on electroacoustic wind band music to the composition students at Columbia College.
December 6, 2016: Alex came to Chicago to work with the musicians at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. In addition to lectures and private lessons all day, the evening featured a concert conducted by Stephen Squires that included three of Alex's wind band works: BENEATH, LIQUID COMPASS, and LIGHTS OUT. For info, click HERE.
November 11-13, 2016: Alex was the Composer-in-Residence at University of Montana, in Missoula, and her visit included two concerts featuring three of her recent wind band works: ROCK MUSIC, MOMENT, and LIQUID COMPASS, conducted by James Smart and Parker Bixby. For more info, click HERE.
August 2-11, 2016: Alex joined composer and Festival founder Anne Guzzo to be the Composer-in-Residence for the inaugural year of The Wyoming Festival. Bringing visiting composers together with world-class performers including violinist Holly Mulcahy, the Festival included two concerts held in Grand Teton National Park at the Craig Thomas Visitor Center Auditorium, and the UW-NPS AMK Ranch research station.
July 23-24, 2016, in Vancouver, B.C.: Alex was the guest composer at the 4th Annual UBC Wind Conducting Symposium, held at The University of British Columbia School of Music. Conductor and host Rob Taylor chose electroacoustic wind band music as the focus for the Symposium, and Alex gave an in-depth presentation on conducting and producing electroacoustic music and multimedia concerts. To top it off, Rob set up an "electroacoustic petting zoo," allowing any of the 45 conductors in attendance to come up to the podium, don a set of headphones, get comfortable with a click track, and conduct one of Alex's wind band pieces!
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.
June, September, 2014: Alex's brain is about 8,000 words lighter: she's written an extensive two-part article echoing the clinic presentations on new media in the band world that she gave at The 2013 Midwest Clinic and the 2014 Texas Music Educators Association Conference. The essay, titled The e-Frontier: Music, Multimedia, Education, and Audiences in the Digital World, appears in the June and September 2014 issues of the magazine of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, WASBE World.
Read the full article, offered with the kind permission of WASBE.
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.
November, 2017: Alex Shapiro became ASCAP's elected 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. CIAM members convene several times a year in cities around the world to address the many ways to fiercely protect the rights of composers, authors and copyright holders so that they're properly remunerated for the commercial uses of their work. The Council also takes an active role in advising newly established collective rights societies. Working with advocates in countries whose creators have not had the benefit of essential rights like copyright protection and royalty distribution, CIAM shares information about best practices to help them serve their members.
November, 2016: Alex is honored to have been elected to the Board of Directors of The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, which provides financial support for myriad composers and musicians seeking assistance in launching recording and performance projects, and handles permissions for uses of Copland's music. Click here to peruse the site!
March, 2015: Alex was elected by the membership to the Board of Directors of ASCAP, to serve as the Symphonic & Concert writer representative. She began serving in this capacity in April 2014 when she was elected by the board to fill the mid-term vacancy of the seat previously held for over twenty years by the late, esteemed composer Stephen Paulus.
July, 2015: New Music USA is a major national arts advocacy organization which provides over $1 million each year in grant support for the creation and performance of new work and community building throughout the country. Alex was an inaugural co-chair of its Program Council, an advisory committee of people working in the field, and continues to serve as a member.
October, 2015: Alex is very pleased to serve as a member of the Columbia College Chicago Music Department Advisory Panel, exploring what contemporary education should offer to students to best prepare them for productive, happy careers.
December, 2015: Composers Now is an important organization that celebrates the diverse music of living composers, and Alex is delighted to have joined its Distinguished Mentors Council. Click here to learn about the February 2016 Festival, as well as other upcoming events across New York City throughout the year!
December, 2015: Alex was elected to the Board of Directors of The ASCAP Foundation, which provides funding for a remarkably broad scope of composers and performers working in nearly every genre. Click here to peruse the site!
May 10, 2014: Commemorating the 140th anniversary of Carthage College's wind band, LIQUID COMPASS takes the musicians and the audience on a journey across the sea, and spans the mystical and the triumphant. The piece migrates to different places, but never loses its bearings in pursuit of a musical true north.
Featuring the live resonance of water dripping into metal bowls, this piece is not only electro-acoustic, but electro-aquatic! LIQUID COMPASS allows electricity and water to mix safely!
Enjoy a live performance by the Central Washington University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Lewis Norfleet:
August, 2013: REMEMBRANCE, Alex's emotional work for string orchestra, was very beautifully brought to an audience for the first time on August 6, 2013 in Washington D.C., by the U.S. Army Strings conducted by Major Tod. A. Addison.
Click here if you'd like to read about the evolution of the piece.
February 8, 2013: KETTLE BREW was premiered by its co-composer David Jarvis at Washington State University, during Alex's visit as the guest composer for WSU's Festival of Contemporary Art Music. The electroacoustic piece is the result of a very fun collaboration that brings the words "funk timpani" and "lounge chill" together for [we're guessing] the first time. Click here to read the story of how this happened.
February, 2012: PERPETUAL SPARK, Alex's latest chamber sextet, was heard in six Chicago-area concerts throughout February and into March, premiered by familiar partners to her musical crimes, Fifth House Ensemble,which recorded the work fall 2013 for their 2014 CD, Excelsior, produced by Judith Sherman, on Cedille Records. Featured as WQXR's Q2 Album of the Week in New York City, and one of Rhapsody's Top Ten Classical Albums for Sept. 2014, the track and what WQXR calls its "luminous energy" has been getting wide airplay across the U.S.
Dedicated to the late Mara Bershad, this piece for flute/piccolo, violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano, originally came to life as SPARK for solo piano, premiered by Teresa McCollough at Roulette in New York City in November 2011. You can enjoy Teresa's performance of SPARK at the 22-minute mark of the first stream, along with all the concert selections, from the archival page made available by Roulette, here.
Listen to excerpts of PERPETUAL SPARK from Fifth House Ensemble's live premiere performance at the Chicago Cultural Center:
A bit later:
Read about
Flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano. Performed live in New York City April 2011, by Lunatics at Large.
|Listen to excerpts
Earlier in the piece
Later in the piece
|Want to hear exactly how Alex's island environment influences her music? Click on the excerpts, or listen to it stream in its entirety, below.
Read about
Symphony for winds, percussion and digital audio. Live premiere February 2011 in Minneapolis by the University of Minnesota Symphonic Band, Jerry Luckhardt, conductor.
|Listen to excerpts
Mov't 1: Depth
Mov't 2: Surface
Mov't 3: Beneath, clip 1
Mov't 3: Beneath, clip 2
Enjoy the live premiere performance, February 16, 2011, by the University of Minnesota Symphonic Wind Band, Jerry Luckhardt, conductor. Recorded by Minnesota Public Radio; Produced by Alex Shapiro.
Listen to Alex describe IMMERSION, and hear the full symphony:
|The Innova Recordings release of Alex's album, Notes from the Kelp, is a collection of eight of Alex's representative chamber works. To read about the music and hear excerpts, click here
Add some algae to your life and buy a copy:
Or, download and enjoy all the tracks right now:
Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano
New American Piano Music:
Sonata for Piano
Music for Hammers & Sticks:
At the Abyss
Coast to Coast:
Music for Two Big Instruments
Above and Beyond:
Saxtronic Soundscape:
Desert Tide
Solo Rumores:
An Robert Schumann:
Slowly, searching
La Discordantia:
2017 NAfME Northwest:
Liquid Compass
Jenni Scott:
Shiny Kiss
Trio Chromos:
Below: Music for Low Flutes:
The Dreams of Birds:
Garrison Piano Competition:
60 x 60 2005:
Alex Shapiro:
Notes from the Kelp
Midwest Clinic:
Paper Cut
Water Crossing
Midwest Clinic:
Tight Squeeze
Californian Concert:
For My Father
Delicate Balance:
Water Crossing
Perpetual Spark
250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven:
Chord History
Double or Nothing:
Beck and Call:
Of Breath & Touch
Everything Beautiful:
Liquid Compass
Tight Squeeze
Alex Shapiro/Adam Marks:
|Jan 3
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Warrensburg, Missouri
|Jan 12
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
St. Louis, Missouri
|Jan 13
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
River Falls, Wisconsin
|Jan 21
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Arkansas City, Kansas
|Jan 21
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Sycamore, Illinois
|Jan 24
|ROCK MUSIC (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, rocks)
Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Quebec, Canada
|Jan 25
|ROCK MUSIC (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, rocks)
Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Quebec, Canada
|Jan 30
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Cincinnati, Ohio
|Feb 1
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Mulhouse, France
|Feb 1
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Stone Mountain, Georgia
|Feb 4
|DEEP (contrabassoon, prerecorded soundscape)
Redlands, California
|Feb 6
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Des Moines, Iowa
|Feb 7
|LIQUID COMPASS (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
|Feb 8
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Diekirch, Luxembourg
|Feb 10
|MUSIC FOR TWO BIG INSTRUMENTS (tuba, piano)
Potsdam, New York
|Feb 13
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Davenport, Iowa
|Feb 22
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Murray, Kentucky
|Feb 23
|ASCENT PREMIERE! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Puhi, Hawai'i
|Feb 24
|ASCENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Puhi, Hawai'i
|Feb 26
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Dumont, New Jersey
|Feb 26
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Cincinnati, Ohio
|Feb 27
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Glassboro, New Jersey
|Feb 29
|RE:PAIR (flute, oboe)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
|Mar 1
|ASCENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Honolulu, Hawai'i
|Mar 1
|TRAINS OF THOUGHT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
|Mar 2
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Odessa, Texas
|Mar 3
|HOMECOMING (wind band)
Liberty, Missouri
|Mar 3
|DESERT STORY (clarinet, bassoon, piano)
Guanajuato, GTO, Mexico
|Mar 4
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Aspen, Colorado
|Mar 4
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Breese, Illinois
|Mar 4
|TRAIN OF THOUGHT (French horn, bass clarinet, bari sax, trombone, euphonium, tuba)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
|Mar 5
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Aiken, South Carolina
|Mar 5
|DESERT STORY (clarinet, bassoon, piano)
Guanajuato, GTO, Mexico
|Mar 5
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Bowling Green, Kentucky
|Mar 5
|ASCENT Co-Commissioner PREMIERE! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
San Antonio, Texas
|Mar 7
|MOMENT and TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Dallas, Texas
|Mar 7
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
|Mar 7
|DESERT TIDE (soprano saxophone, prerecorded soundscape)
Redlands, California
|Mar 7
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Athens, Georgia
|Mar 8
|DESERT STORY (clarinet, bassoon, piano)
Marfil, GTO, Mexico
|Mar 8
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
San Luis Obispo, California
|Mar 8
|DESERT TIDE (soprano saxophone, prerecorded soundscape)
Tempe, Arizona
|Mar 10
|OFF THE EDGE Co-Commissioner preview (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Greenwood, Indiana
|Mar 11
|LIQUID COMPASS premiere of version with pipe organ! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Kansas City, Missouri
|Mar 12
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Ledyard, Connecticut
|Mar 12
|ROCK MUSIC (wind band, rocks, prerecorded soundscape)
|Mar 12
|MOMENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Turlock, California
|Mar 12
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
|Mar 13
|OFF THE EDGE Co-Commissioner PREMIERE! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Greenwood, Indiana
|Mar 14
|RE:PAIR (clarinet, bassoon)
Muncie, Indiana
And.... we all know what happened next. The listings below represent just a handful of the 100 or so performances that would have taken place between March and June, 2020. Everyone: stay healthy!
|Mar 15
|ASCENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Bellevue, Washington
|Mar 18
|ASCENT PREMIERE! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Silverdale, Washington
|Mar 18
|MOMENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Tacoma, Washington
|Mar 19
|ASCENT PREMIERE! (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Tacoma, Washington
|Mar 21
|DESERT STORY (clarinet, bassoon, piano)
Guanajuato, GTO, Mexico
|Mar 29
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Greenville, Pennsylvania
|Apr 3
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
San Francisco, California
|Apr 5
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Stamford, Connecticut
|Apr 16
|MOMENT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Denton, Texas
|Apr 18
|ARCANA PLANET (piano, prerecorded soundscape)
Cullowhee, North Carolina
|Apr 19
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
|Apr 22
|LIQUID COMPASS (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Marietta, Ohio
|Apr 23
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Durham, Connecticut
|Apr 25
|HOMECOMING (wind band)
West Lafayette, Indiana
|Apr 30
|HOMECOMING (wind band)
Tipton, Indiana
|Apr 30
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Stafford, Virginia
|May 2
|TRAINS OF THOUGHT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Council Bluffs, Iowa
|May 3
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
|May 4
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Kohler, Wisconsin
|May 7
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Sussex, New Jersey
|May 7
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Lacey, Washington
|May 8
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
St. Paul, Minnesota
|May 9
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
|May 12
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Kingston, Pennsylvania
|May 14
|TRAINS OF THOUGHT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
|May 19
|PAPER CUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape, printer paper)
Berwick, Maine
|May 27
|TIGHT SQUEEZE (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
|June 4
|LIGHTS OUT (wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Nepean, Ontario, Canada
|June 7
|HOMECOMING (wind band)
Renton, Washington
|June 9
|OFF THE EDGE (Consortium PREMIERE! wind band, prerecorded soundscape)
Seattle, Washington
Alex called upon her 15 years working in commercial music in Hollywood, and got into the team spirit with the Clemson University Tiger Band! In 2015 she was commissioned by band director Mark Spede to create the audio track to which Clemson University edited a video for the Jumbotron screens in its 85,000 seat Memorial stadium. The video-- which you can see below-- has played during every football game since September 2015, as the 290 musicians of the Tiger Marching Band pour out on to the field to perform. Go Tigers-- the 2016 National Champions!
Here's what it looked and sounded like on January 9, 2017, as the Clemson University Tiger Band entered the field at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida for the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship:
Shapiro has tremendous technical skills, a deep connection to nature, and an engaging and articulate personality that has gotten her multifariously involved in the new-classical-music world
She gets more performances than any one person could attend, and despite her nature wonderland shes socially inclined
Speaking as an artist: hear Alex's response when asked to describe how she composes, in this :60 excerpt from a June 2010 interview she gave to Carey Nadeau from the American Composers Forum:
Speaking as an advocate: Alex became one of 12 writer and 12 publisher members of ASCAP's board of directors in 2014. Since most of the 640,000 members haven't met their representatives, ASCAP launched a series of "meet the board" videos in 2017. Here's Alex's:
Offering challenging thoughts on the new digital paradigm, the internet, free speech and the meaning of net neutrality to all artists, a number of Alex's articles have been published in essays for the online magazine NewMusicBox:
Read The Economy of Exposure: Publicity as Payment? here
Read What I Learned About My Tiny Business From Paramount Pictures here
Read As Important as the Printing Press: Net Neutrality and Artists' Freedom here
Greg Sandow is the author of an insightful blog on the future of classical music, and invited Alex to be a guest blogger in March 2013. Click here to see what she has to say about the fun of living in the middle of nowhere and being in the center of everywhere, in an essay titled E-ing there
SoundNotion.tv is a weekly online series for, and by, music-makers, and Alex was the guest for their April 14, 2013 episode. Click here to stream or download Alex's concepts of how all composers can use the 21st Century tools available to them no matter where they live, as well as her thoughts on issues of self worth that artists of all genders face, on this podcast titled Out There
On February 15, 2012, Alex was the in-studio guest on Marvin Rosen's radio show broadcast from Princeton University, Classical Discoveries. Want some background sound while you're doing other things? Click at right, and hear the entire MP3 stream of their exceptionally wide-spanning, lively two-and-a-half hour conversation, including seven of Alex's diverse works. Here's what Marvin has to say about it on his blog, Marvin the Cat.
Alex's music is the soundtrack for REFLECTION, a short video created by artist Grimanesa Amoros. The video was premiered in December 2011 at the International Streaming Festival, Sixth Edition at the Hague in the Netherlands, and is included in Amoros's 2013 Video Retrospective in Lima, Peru. An excerpt of the video can be seen here
Alex is the author of "Releasing a Student's Inner Composer," one of the chapters in the 2013 book, "Musicianship: Composing in Band and Orchestra." The book, edited by Clint Randles and David Stringham, is published by GIA Publications.
In a segment filmed at her San Juan Island home, Alex is featured speaking about composer Morten Lauridsen at the opening of a beautiful film about his life and music, titled Shining Night. 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 in conjunction with the release of the DVD. You can enjoy a trailer of the film here.
Alex also appears in a longer segment at the opening Stillwater's 2015 documentary, In Search of the Great Song, which is the winner of the award for Best Documentary from the 2016 Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder, CO. Alex speaks about the many inspirations for her music that are found in the natural world surrounding her, as BELOW, in which she features a Humpback whale song, plays as the underscore.
In Michael Stillwater's third film, Beyond the Fear of Singing, Alex talks about non-musicians freely embracing the freedom of expression.
You can enjoy previews of all three beautiful documentaries here.
Visitors to Alex's blog know she's rarely without her camera, and her photos have been used for other people's CD covers and websites. Alex is one of the winners of the 2012 IMA Marine Life Photography Contest, hosted by the San Juan Islands Museum of Art and judged by the legendary Ernest Brooks II. Alex's photo of a Bald Eagle headed straight toward her hung in the museum throughout the summer, alongside Brooks's stunning Silver Seas exhibit. That bird also spent the summer of 2013 hanging in Seattle's Museum of Flight, as a selection for its Spirit of Flight exhibit. The photo, Incoming!, (also a first prize winner at the 2012 San Juan County Fair!) can be viewed slightly larger, by clicking on the bird.
The best thing about composers' websites is that they're sonic business cards! Click the MP3 icon to hear an excerpt. Click the title to learn more about it. Alex's education and career have allowed her voice to be expressed in music for...
Alex calls herself a pan-genre composer, with a penchant for organically spanning across idioms, often within a single piece. One of the most welcoming sonic worlds for her unique voice has been that of symphonic wind band, for which she's been composing electroacoustic works unlike anything else in the repertoire.
How did this mostly-chamber music composer get into writing for symphonic band? Listen to Alex describe how it happened, in this two-minute excerpt from an interview she gave to Carey Nadeau from the American Composers Forum in June 2010.
Alex sailing in the San Juan Islands, October 2011
Alex really enjoys interacting with students and faculty during rehearsals and guest artist residencies. But when budgets and schedules and, oh, y'know, global pandemics don't allow for travel, Zoom, Skype, Webex, Google Hangouts or anything similar have become the next best thing.
A composer's live feedback is valuable, and musicians get an additional smile when Alex turns her camera around to show them a source of her inspiration: the sea at her feet on Washington State's remote San Juan Island, with the occasional Bald Eagle or Orca whale gliding past.
A Jan. 2012 Skypehearsal with Alex in her studio on San Juan Island, and guest conductor Jerry Luckhardt on the podium at Oregon State University, rehearsing BENEATH.
A December 2012 Skypehearsal with Alex in her studio on San Juan Island, and band director Mary Bauer and Mt. Mansfield Union High School in Vermont,rehearsing PAPER CUT.
Private mentoring:
Alex Shapiro has a private teaching studio for those wishing to study composition and/or business skills with her online. She offers instruction in the many ways to use one's web presence to generate income, as well as specific consultations in music copying, publishing, promotion, and other necessary professional skills for today's composers.
A familiar guest lecturer at universities and conservatories, Alex is available to speak to music and business school classes.
Alex sailing a 65' racing sloop in Jamaica, January 2011
Alex speaks at many events and motivates people in and outside of the music world. Whether discussing music-making, the new digital paradigm, the philosophy of self worth, or the importance of a sense of humor, Alex is an engaging and encouraging presenter who's been referred to by more than a few people as "the Anthony Robbins of contemporary music, but a lot shorter."
Interact! Become one of Alex's online friends
and share your world with her.
Internet networking sites have brought many wonderful collaborations and commissions to Alex's virtual doorstep. Enjoy watching one of her online friends, artist Simon Kenevan, make a pastel study for his painting 'Afternoon Sun,' to her Phos Hilaron:
Alex loves hearing from visitors, so don't be shy if you'd like to send her an email. To join the mailing list for concert information and news of Alex Shapiro CD releases, click here
Your contact information will not be shared with anyone for any reason, even if sharks surround Alex's kayak and demand it. Promise!
Perhaps the best way to get to know Alex's music, is to get to know Alex through the personal offerings on her blog, Notes from the Kelp. Thousands of visitors join her on explorations of the San Juan Islands and beyond, using Alex's award-winning essays, photographs and music (and her sense of humor) as their guide.
Scroll down this page to share life through Alex's eyes-- and ears.
My compositions are a very personal expression, but I also write to give musicians pieces which they'll really enjoy playing, and to offer audiences music which will speak to them directly and emotionally. As with the sea which surrounds me here on San Juan Island, there's an ebb and flood to this happy relationship. I compose music because I have to, without expectation that others will resonate with it, yet with the hope that many might. My art is a tidepool, inviting others to enter and... with luck, thrive.
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, and ideally, my work will show you not only a glimpse of me, but a reflection of yourself.
The intimacy of the magic triangle of composer, musicians and audience is what draws me to compose. In the midst of writing, I love exploring and balancing the voice of each instrument within a group, whether a small chamber ensemble or a symphonic band. When I have the opportunity to rehearse one of my pieces with players, it's exciting to be part of the volley of interpretations and personalities. Music lives through the art of others.
Finally, when the new piece is performed, the triangle between me, the musicians and the audience is complete. A musical idea which was formerly a personal impression has now become a public gesture.
I compose
A major inspiration for my music has been the gorgeous coastal areas in which I've lived; water seems to be an inescapable theme in my life. I grew up in Manhattan, overlooking first the East River, then later, living by the Hudson. At 21, I moved to southern California and spent most of my 24 years there at the shore in Malibu and even afloat on the water itself, living part-time on a sailboat in Santa Barbara.
Now, it's the serenity of Washington State's remote San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea that makes my muses so happy. When I'm not composing, I'm marveling at the abundant shoreline life and tidepools directly in front of my house. This connection to the natural world has become as necessary to me now as urban life was to me years ago.
I've developed a little hobby of capturing in photographs the creatures and the small, yet remarkable moments that define my daily life here. This website is riddled with them, and you can experience more of this joy with me via my blog, Notes From the Kelp
When I'm not composing,
No composer writes in a vacuum; our output is the result of musical history. My own voice is inspired by the chromaticism and angularity of Alban Berg and Anton Webern, the lyricism of Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel and Bill Evans, and the rhythms of Middle Eastern and African cultures. With luck, the notes come out sounding something like... Shapiro. You can listen to brief samples of all my recent pieces on the pages of this website and draw your own opinion.
I'm convinced that there has never been a better time to be a composer. There are no longer stylistic boundaries limiting our expression, and thanks to tools such as websites like this, we can share our explorations with the world, regardless of where we choose to live. I get a lot of joy from encouraging my peers to take full advantage of the freedom and power artists now possess.
|Traditionally, a composer's catalog of pieces is viewed by instrumentation, and you'll find such a listing on the WORKS page of this site. But I think that the music itself and the emotions it elicits are the best indicator of what a writer has to say, and so I put together the DIAL-A-MOOD page to offer a quick sampling of a variety of styles. It's almost as interactive as I am.
Ideally, my music
So, there's a bit about me and what motivates my work as a composer. If you'd like to read a little more on my thoughts about composers, listeners and life in general, my musings continue here
© 2000-2020 by Alex Shapiro. All nature photos by Alex Shapiro (like 'em?). All rights reserved to design and content.