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. Performances of these and older works have been included on programs in the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the New York Summer Festival at Lincoln Center, the Grand Teton Festival in Wyoming, the Montanea Festival in Leukerbad, Switzerland, the Adolph Sax and Saxophones en Fete festivals in Paris, France, and the De Stem Festival in Amsterdam, Holland. Other performances have taken place at Brown University, Wesleyan University, Rice University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, the Fresno Philharmonic, and the Monday Evening Concerts at the Los Angeles County Museum. His music is published by Editions Billaudot in Paris, and available on the Naxos and Neuma Record labels.
