Gerald "Shep" Shapiro Papers (AMS.1L.2014.004)

Biographical / Historical

Gerald M. Shapiro was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and attended public schools there. He received the Bachelor of Music degree with distinction from the Eastman School of Music in 1964 and continued with graduate work at Mills College, where he received an M.A. in 1967, the University of California at Davis, and the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique in Paris, France; where he studied under a Fulbright grant. His principal teachers of composition during this period were Darius Milhaud, Mort Subotnick, Karlheinze Stockhausen, and Nadia Boulanger. In 1967 he accepted a position at Brown University where he remains currently as professor of Music and Acting Chair. Recent works have included PHOENIX and PRAYER FOR THE GREAT FAMILY written for the British vocal ensemble, Electric Phoenix; MOUNT HOPE IN AUTUMN premiered by the R.I. Philharmonic Orchestra, PIANO TRIO #1 commissioned by the N.E.A. for the Yuval Trio from Israel, IN TIMES SHADOW for the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, STRING QUARTET #2 for the Mondriaan Quartet of Holland, DANCE SUITE #3 for the Verdehr Trio, FOUR LOVE SONGS for the Wesleyan University Chorus, TRIO FOR SAXOPHONES AND PIANO for the Trio Saxiana of Paris, and FROM THE LOG OF THE ALICE, commissioned by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra for a premiere in December of 2006.