Winner of a 2005 award from the Music Teachers National Association.

Bioplasm has been featured on many radio shows across the U.S., including WNYC-FM's New Sounds program, hosted by John Schaefer in New York City, and KUSC-FM's program, Modern Masterpieces, hosted by Alan Chapman in Los Angeles.

"The final work was Bioplasm, by Los Angeles composer Alex Shapiro, which flirts with theatricality and runs an eclectic gamut of styles, beginning with the pseudo-ritualistic entry of the quartet onto the stage, rhythmically clicking the keys of their instruments and blowing short, sharp breaths into the finger-holes. Later, there are passages that seem to evoke a more "tropical" mood and one episode of vocalizing along with the sound of the flutes, before the quasi-Andean music of the opening returns.

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

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

"I am especially taken with the Shapiro "Bioplasm," a slightly bizarre but attractive new piece. I hope other flutists play it too."

------—Christopher L. Chaffee, American Record Guide

"From the evidence of their new CD Above and Beyond, with its commissioned works (especially Alex Shapiro's "Bioplasm"), the LA Flute Quartet seems poised to become the "Kronos" of the flute!"

------—Martin Perlich, KCSN-FM radio, Los Angeles

"The use of bass flute as percussion is not to be missed. A welcomed addition to anyone's collection of woodwind music. Especially delightful for flute aficionados."

------—Laura Brodian KMZT-FM radio, Los Angeles

"Perhaps my favorite piece for listening is Bioplasm, which I first heard on Kalvos & Damian several years ago. This piece explores flute techniques (including noises, voices and multiphonics) in a tightly wrought architecture that feels leisurely and attractive on its surface. That's what I like about Bioplasm, for quartet of flutes (bass, alto, soprano and piccolo): It doesn't make experimentation into hard work... Bioplasm approaches the music with (dare I say it) a film composer's ear. In other words, I am not conscious of the music so much as the sensation."

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

"Bioplasm, [Alex's] twelve-minute long flute quartet... jumps into a kettle of primordial soup, dabbling and splashing in agitated rhythms, cloudy ambiances, dense textures and open outcries. The flutes combine into a mysterious surface area, all undulation, ripples and bubbles, obscuring the individual melodic lines into a surreal sort of audioplankton."

------—Tobias Fischer, Tokafi

"[Bioplasm is] an eerie and curiously haunting tone poem written for flute quartet ó 2 C flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 bass flutes, and 1 piccolo ó that incorporates some uncommon flute techniques such as percussive pitched key clicks and pitch bending (the latter sounding just as the words suggest, and both new to this writer) as well as vocalizations by the players while theyíre playing (no, we have no idea how thatís done, but weíre assured that no overdubbing was employed, and that none of the four flutists were harmed in the making of the recording), that requires more than one listening to appreciate fully in all its details."

------—A.C. Douglas, Sounds & Fury

"A percussion honorable mention has to be given to "Bioplasm," written for flute quartet. Here the flutes are used as percussion instruments, creating a "throbbing pulse of life" with their keys and air stream. Later the players are called upon to sing, sometimes with what sounds like a multiphonic effect."

------—Tom Morgan, Percussive Notes