Articulate, passionate and entertaining, Alex Shapiro has become one of the Pacific coast's most familiar concert music composers, and in step with her success she has earned a reputation as an inspiring speaker on the new music scene and beyond. Alex was among the earliest music professionals to use the power of the internet to build a thriving career, and is an engaging lecturer on the topic of new media as it relates to people in all professions.

Alex's enthusiasm for encouraging others is spurred by positive changes she made in her own life. Growing up in Manhattan and studying composition at the Juilliard School, Alex was trained in the concert music world, but wrote jazz, theater, and pop songs as well. Thanks to her broad musical interests, she spent the first fifteen years of her career composing for film and TV projects in Los Angeles. In the late 1990's Alex rediscovered her love of chamber music and, despite having no recent experience in the concert music world, made the bold choice to pursue that less likely career path full time.

Her decision turned out to be a wise one: now performed and broadcast weekly across the U.S. and internationally, Alex's award-winning, expressive music has been recorded by many artists around the globe and is available on over twenty CDs. Through her example, Alex Shapiro offers a clear message that people thrive when they follow their passion.

With her expertise in groundbreaking uses of new media, Alex is in demand as a speaker and essayist, and is a consultant to online students from around the world. Once again defying traditional wisdom, in 2007 she moved from Los Angeles to the beautiful, remote, bridge-less San Juan Islands off the northern coast of Washington State. Thanks to the internet, Alex's career has never been busier, and her music is now as likely to be composed in a kayak as it is at a piano.

Enjoy 5 minutes of motivating excerpts from two of Alex's recent speaking engagements:

When Alex was asked to write an article about composing music for the online magazine NewMusicBox, she described three distinctly nonmusical concepts behind anyone's ability to promote their work: a sense of self worth, an abundant attitude, and a connection to the joy of what they do. Read her thoughts that apply to anyone in any business, in All the Things You Are: Five Suggestions for Composing Your Happiness:

Alex Shapiro weighs in on the paradigm-shifting premises in Tara Hunt's book The Whuffie Factor, with a post on the professional relationships we create with new social network technology.

Click here to read more of Alex's published articles

Click here to read more of Alex's published essays

Click here to listen to more of Alex's broadcast interviews

Speaker, ASCAP Composer Career Workshop,
Los Angeles, CA, 2010

Keynote Speaker, Soroptimist International Luncheon,
Friday Harbor, WA, 2010

Speaker, NETMCDO Annual Conference,
New York, NY, 2010

Speaker, Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute,
Minneapolis, MN, 2009

Speaker, ASCAP Composer Career Workshop,
University of Chicago, IL, 2009

Speaker, ASCAP Composer Career Workshop,
Philadelphia, PA, 2009

Panelist, FCC hearing on broadband access,
Washington, D.C., 2009

Speaker, Making Music Work workshops,
St. Paul, MN, 2009

Speaker, Chamber Music America Conference,
New York City, NY, 2006, 2009

Speaker, ASCAP "I Create Music" Expo,
Los Angeles, CA, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Moderator, Composers Salon series,
American Composers Forum of Los Angeles, 2000- present; conducted live interviews with over 100 composers

Speaker, Moderator, National Performing Arts Convention,
Denver, CO, 2008

Guest, WITF-FM Harrisburg, PA, Composing Thoughts
with John Clare, 2008

Guest, Second Life Cable TV Network,
Music Academy Online, 2008, 2009

Featured artist, ASCAP Audio Portrait, 2008

Featured Guest Speaker, Center for Cultural Innovation,
Los Angeles, CA, 2007

Guest, KCSN-FM Los Angeles, CA, The Audition Booth
with Martin Perlich, 2007

Moderator, Composer to Composer interviews,
American Composer Forum of Los Angeles,
at Walt Walt Disney Concert Hall with Gavin Bryars (2003), Steve Reich (2004), Don Davis (2005), Billy Childs (2005), Christopher Rouse (2007)

Keynote Speaker, Society of Composers, Inc.
National Conference, Tempe, AZ, 2006

Featured Guest, American Music Makers,
one-hour U.S. syndicated Public Radio show, 2006

Moderator, New Music Festival, Santa Clara University,
Santa Clara, CA, 2006

Featured Guest, My Auditions,
interactive month-long web chat, 2006

Speaker, Voices on the Edge: Women in New Music Festival,
Cal State University, Fullerton, CA, 2006

Presenter, Mladi Chamber series concert,
Los Angeles, CA, 2005, 2006

Speaker, Los Angeles Philharmonic, First Nights series,
Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2004

Guest, WGDR-FM Vermont
Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar, 2004

Moderator, Music Business Chops Workshop,
Los Angeles, CA,2004

Guest, NPR, Theme and Variations
with Will Everett, 2004

Moderator, The Virtuoso Soloist in Film Music,
presented by The Society of Composers & Lyricists
Paramount Pictures Studio, Los Angeles, CA, 2004

Moderator, Launching Your Film Scoring Career,
presented by The Society of Composers & Lyricists and The American Composers Forum of Los Angeles,
Los Angeles, CA, 2004

Guest, KXLU-FM Los Angeles, CA,
Trilogy, 2000

Speaker, Business Tools for Composers workshop,
The American Composers Forum, Los Angeles, CA, 2003

Speaker, The International Alliance of Women in Music
International Congress, London, England, 1997

Guest, KPFK-FM Los Angeles, CA, For the Record
with Samm Brown, 1997

Speaker, GrammyÆ in the Schools, National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS),
Los Angeles, CA, 1995

Speaker, The Film Music Society,
Los Angeles, CA, 1994

Guest, KPFK-FM Los Angeles Music of the Americas
with Jeannie Pool, Los Angeles, CA, 1996

Speaker, Moderator, The Society of Composers & Lyricists,
Los Angeles, CA, 1993-2005

Capital University, Guest Lecturer, 2010

Cornish College of the Arts, Guest Lecturer, 2008, 2009

University of Puget Sound, Guest Lecturer, 2009

McNally Smith College, Guest Lecturer, 2009

University of California, Santa Barbara, Guest Lecturer, 2005, 2006, 2009

University of Washington, Friday Harbor Laboratories, Guest Lecturer, 2008

University of Minnesota, Guest Lecturer, 2008

Spring Street International School, Guest Lecturer, 2008

University of Arizona, Tempe, Guest Lecturer, Conference Keynote Speaker, 2006

Manhattan School of Music, Guest Lecturer, 2005

The Walden School, Guest Lecturer, 2004

American Composers Forum of Los Angeles, Master Class, 2003

California Institute of the Arts, Guest Lecturer, 2003

Sierra College, Master Class, 2003

Santa Clara University, Master Class, 2003

California State University Sacramento, Master Class, 2003

California State University, Fullerton, Master Class, 2002

Fullerton College, Guest Lecturer, 2002

Los Angeles High School of the Arts Master Class, 2001, 2002

The best way to reach Alex Shapiro is through email,
by clicking here

You can also leave a voice message or a fax at:
(270) 916-0093.

Please visit the other pages of this website to experience Alex in her natural musical habitat! The links below lead to pages with MP3s and much more info.