Notes from the Kelp

Alex Shapiro

Innova 683

1: SLIPPING

2006; for violin, harpsichord and very mixed percussion 9:34

2: BIOPLASM

2004; for flute quartet: 2 bass flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 C flutes, 1 piccolo 11:56

3-5: CURRENT EVENTS

2003; for string quintet: 2 violins, 2 violas, 1 cello (15:35)

3: Surge 4:18

4: Ebb 7:36

5: Rip 3:41

6: FOR MY FATHER

1996; for solo piano 5:26

7-9: AT THE ABYSS

2003; for piano, marimba, vibraphone and percussion (13:48)

7: Observe 6:39

8: Reflect 4:20

9: Act 2:49

10: PHOS HILARON

1999; for flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano 2:34

11: MUSIC FOR TWO BIG INSTRUMENTS

2000; for tuba and piano 6:42

12: DEEP

2004; for contrabassoon and electronics 7:35

1: SLIPPING

(2006; for violin, harpsichord and very mixed percussion; 9:34)

When violinist Robin Lorentz commissioned this piece as a gift for her friend and partner in musical crimes, harpsichordist Kathleen McIntosh, I thought it would be fun to offer the two of them something that would be unexpected at the close of their otherwise respectable programs. Thinking about the traditional, serious sounding music that usually defines the harpsichord repertoire, I decided to give the instrument every kind of music to play, with the one exception of the baroque style to which harpsichordists are so often tethered. Since violins are standard across the globe, I converted the harpsichord into many other plectrum instruments such as dulcimer, koto, mandolin, oud, guitar and bouzouki. Throw in some Cuban montuno rhythms and Argentine tango for a little variety, and suddenly it’s a world tour for anyone with attention deficit disorder.

Robin Lorentz, violin

Kathleen McIntosh, harpsichord

Dan Morris, percussion

Produced by Alex Shapiro & John Steinmetz.

Recorded January 2006 at Citrus Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

and July 2006 at Dino Falls Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Recorded, edited and mixed by Mike Aarvold.

Assistant recording engineer: Mike Sherlock.

Special thanks to the hilariously inspiring Robin Lorentz who commissioned “Slipping” and its close, non-percussive relative, “Slip” and to Jack Loeffler for recording “Slip” at his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 2003.

2: BIOPLASM

(2004; for flute quartet: 2 bass flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 C flutes, 1 piccolo; 11:56)

I named this piece “Bioplasm” because “Gurgling Up From the Primordial Sludge” seemed a bit long for a title. Bioplasm is the stuff of life, the germinal matter that’s essential for living beings to generate. This is a squishy piece: rather than exploit the individual voice of each flute, I wanted to create an organism from the four flutists that oozes across the sonic floor as a unified entity, sometimes slowly, sometimes at a quick pace, but always as one, like a Slinky toy. The blend of homogenous sound with four flutes can be a throbbing pulse of life; add to this four human voices, and it’s an eight part choir of plasma, looking for life to begin. Everything heard here is performed live with no overdubs. No flutists were harmed in the making of this recording.

The Los Angeles Flute Quartet:

Colleen Carroll, Eileen Holt Helwig,

Lisa-Maree Amos, Peter Sheridan

Produced by Alex Shapiro & John Steinmetz.

Recorded March, 2004 at Citrus Studios, Glendora CA.

Recorded, edited and mixed by Mike Aarvold.

Assistant recording engineer: Mike Sherlock.

Appears on the 2005 CD, “Above and Beyond,” LAFQ 0605.

Special thanks to The California Association of Professional Music Teachers which commissioned Bioplasm, and to The Los Angeles Flute Quartet for their enthusiastic support, generosity, and sense of adventure.

3-5: CURRENT EVENTS

(2003; for string quintet: 2 violins, 2 violas, 1 cello; total dur. 15:35)

3: Surge (4:18)

4: Ebb (7:36)

5: Rip (3:41)

Current Events ponders the ocean’s tides as well as waves of a more internal, emotional nature. Living very near the water, communing with tide pools has been a constant in my life: if I weren’t a musician I might well have become a marine biologist. As our above-sea level world continues on its restless and sometimes frightening path, I walk to the ocean for truth and a mirror. Staring into the water I seek out life forms that encounter their own dramas, good and bad, with each wave. I wonder how, like us, they endure.

The power of a storm surge creates a much higher tide level than predicted under normal weather conditions. In the case of this first movement, the storm to which the music refers is as related to world events as it is to oceanic ones.

Ebb tides expose the shoreline at its most private, and reveal creatures usually hidden under deeper waters. The music of this second movement addresses loss, grief and uncertainty, as life’s own protective tides occasionally pull away and leave us equally naked and vulnerable.

Dangerous rip currents are unexpected and challenging, pulling objects, human and otherwise, involuntarily away from shore. As with so many things in life, such threats can be overcome by calm and measured action.

Like the ocean’s currents, change in life is constant. It’s how we adapt to the flow that makes all the difference.

Miwako Watanabe, Connie Kupka, violins

Victoria Miskolczy, David Walther, violas

David Speltz, cello

Produced by Alex Shapiro & John Steinmetz.

Recorded June 2003 at Citrus Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Recorded, edited and mixed by Rich Breen; additional editing by Mike Aarvold.

Assistant recording engineer: Mike Sherlock.

Special thanks to Mark Carlson and his marvelous Pacific Serenades concert series which commissioned Current Events, and to The American Music Center and The American Composers Forum of Los Angeles for additional funding.

6: FOR MY FATHER

(1996; for solo piano; 5:26)

For My Father is a movement from my larger piano work, Piano Suite No. 1: The Resonance of Childhood. As some notes fall downward and others struggle against that decline, the music reflects my experience of watching a brilliant and beloved parent’s irreversible descent into dementia. Echoing the personal journey of viewing my father’s essence evaporate over seven years, this elegiac piece ends with the quiet, resolute acceptance of loss.

Susanne Kessel, piano

Co-produced by Dieter Oehms and Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln.

Recorded July 2006, KvB Funkhaus Köln.

Recording Producer: Stephan Schmidt.

Sound Engineers: Dirk Franken, Bardo Kox.

“For My Father” appears here with permission from Oehms Classics, with special thanks to my brilliant friend Susanne Kessel. This recording is featured on the 2006 CD, “Californian Concert,” Oehms Classics/WDR 534.

7-9: AT THE ABYSS

(2003; for piano, marimba, vibraphone and percussion; total dur. 13:48)

7: Observe (6:39)

8: Reflect (4:20)

9: Act (2:49)

During the time I composed this music, too many sad, threatening and violent events throughout the world offered proof of the fragility of humans and of our planet. Politically. Ecologically. Ethically. I titled this piece “At the Abyss” because as members of a species which remains too savage for its ultimate survival, we’re staring directly into a crevasse that is our future. We are poised to plummet to its depths if we do not react accordingly.

Observe, Reflect, Act: akin to my three-step approach to life... and to hope. In this instance, I’m observing the world, and stepping back to reflect on it in grief while accepting that there’s only so much that will change. Finally, I realize that the least one can do is... act. In one way or another.

Teresa McCollough, piano; Thomas Burritt, marimba and vibraphone; Peggy Benkeser, percussion

Produced by Teresa McCollough & Alex Shapiro.

Recorded June 2004 at The Center of Performing Arts Recital Hall, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara CA.

Recorded, edited and mixed by Tom Carr.

Production assistance: Trevor Hunter and Dustin Callahan.

Edited and mixed at The Annex, Menlo Park, CA.

“At the Abyss” appears here with permission from Teresa McCollough, an indefatigable champion of living composers. This recording is featured on the 2005 CD, “Music for Hammers and Sticks,” Innova 630. Special thanks to Teresa McCollough and Santa Clara University for commissioning “At the Abyss.”

10: PHOS HILARON

(1999; for flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano; 2:34)

Phos Hilaron is one of six movements from Evensong Suite, a chamber work commissioned by St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Los Angeles for their May Evensong service. The title translates to “gracious light,” and the music celebrates the serenity and beauty of the setting sun.

Brice Martin, flute; Charles Boito, clarinet; Carolyn Beck, bassoon; Frank Basile, piano

Produced by Alex Shapiro.

Recorded June 1999 at Sunburst Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Recorded by Bob Wayne.

Edited and mixed by Bruce Hanifan.

Special thanks to St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Mar Vista, CA. and Frank Basile, who trusted an Ethical Culturist composer of Jewish, Catholic and Methodist descent and commissioned “Evensong Suite” for their church service.

11: MUSIC FOR TWO BIG INSTRUMENTS

(2000; for tuba and piano; 6:42)

Whenever I mentioned to non-musician friends that I was composing a work for tuba and piano, the response was usually one of surprise and barely muffled laughter. The exclamation, “Tuba, eh? What a funny instrument!” was often accompanied by exaggerated hand and mouth gestures that somewhat resembled a trout attempting to inflate a balloon. I knew I had my work cut out for me. Thus, the arrival of “Music for Two Big Instruments,” born of my desire to create good PR for a sometimes beleaguered and misunderstood instrument. While everyone’s familiar with tubas and “oom-pah-pah,” less is known of the F tuba’s agility or gorgeous lyrical qualities. Thus, here are two contrasting themes, one up-tempo and the other nearly a jazz ballad, to showcase just how beautiful and diverse this great instrument really is.

Alan Baer, tuba; Bradley Haag, piano

Produced by Baer Tracks Music, aka the delightful Alan and Noreen Baer.

Recorded May 2005 at Gerald Daniel Recital Hall, California State University, Long Beach

Recorded, edited and mixed by Sonny Ausman.

“Music for Two Big Instruments” appears here with permission from Alan Baer. This recording is featured on the 2005 CD, “Coast to Coast,” Baer Tracks Music BTM 001.

Special thanks to Norman Pearson and Cynthia Bauhof-Williams, who commissioned “Music for Two Big Instruments,” and to the American Composers Forum of Los Angeles for additional funding.

12: DEEP

(2004; for contrabassoon and electronics; 7:35)

Performed beautifully here by Leslie Lashinsky, Deep was commissioned by Carolyn Beck, who has been the inspiration for much of my bassoon music. I was touched by her excitement when a gorgeous new contrabassoon, affectionately named Moby, came into her life. Listening to the profound resonance of the tones the two of them made together led me to recall the depths of the translucent sea that had recently enveloped my body on a visit to Belize. The lower I sank, the more beauty that greeted my eyes. The flat color of the surface had hidden the truth below.

Leslie Lashinsky, contrabassoon

Dan Morris, additional percussion

Electronic track realized, produced and recorded by Alex Shapiro

Produced by Alex Shapiro.

Recorded, edited and mixed by Bruce Hanifan.

Percussion recorded by Dan Morris and Alex Shapiro December, 2004 at Dino Falls Studio, Los Angeles, CA.

Contrabassoon recorded December, 2006 at Hanifan Productions, Los Angeles, CA.

Special thanks to Carolyn Beck, who commissioned “Deep.”

MUSICIANS

Robin Lorentz was the premiere violinist of the acclaimed California Ear Unit for 25 years. A versatile instrumentalist, Ms. Lorentz’ solo violin playing has been featured in major motion pictures and television series. She has been a featured performer on tour with composers Terry Riley and John Luther Adams, gave the world premiere of John Adams’s “Road Movies” at the Kennedy Center, and has served as concertmaster on the LA Philharmonic Green Umbrella series and the Ojai Music Festival.

Harpsichordists often get stuck musically somewhere before 1800, but not Kathleen McIntosh! She loves Baroque music, to be sure, and plays in festivals and concerts all over the U.S. and abroad. But among her greatest joys is playing new music, and she has premiered new works by Tomiko Kohjiba, John Steinmetz, Melinda Wagner, Alex Shapiro and Augusta Read Thomas among many others. She is also part of McFish www.mcfishduo.com.

Dan Morris started out playing in rock bands before developing an interest in world music, jazz and the avant-garde. He built a successful career performing on albums and TV/film soundtracks, and has been featured on more than 45 recordings. Dan has toured the world with a number of musicians/bands, including the Smashing Pumpkins, Noe Venable and Rufus Wainwright. Recently Dan has been composing for multimedia and dance. His passion and talents are currently being utilized in video game sound and music at Activision Publishing. www.musicandthebird.com.

Passionate flute players driven to dynamic performances, excited by new music, and committed to authenticity, the Los Angeles Flute Quartet is a mix of solo and ensemble players who have appeared with orchestras throughout the country. Ensemble members Lisa-Maree Amos, Peter Sheridan, Colleen Carroll and Eileen Holt-Helwig broadcast frequently, and can be heard on soundtracks of numerous award-winning films and CD recordings. Dedicated to promoting new music for flute quartet, the ensemble commissions new works for multiple flutes, many of which are now published. LAFQ has appeared at the National Flute Association Conventions, American Composers Forum-LA, Music Teachers National Association, and Composers Inc. Concert Series. Their album ‘Above and Beyond’ continues to be featured on radio stations nationwide. 

Originally from Tokyo, violinist Miwako Watanabe was a frequent soloist with the Munich Bach Orchestra under Karl Richter and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Neville Marriner. She was a member of the Sequoia Quartet, and later founded the Francesco Trio, both of which were winners of the Walter Naumburg Chamber Music Award. Ms. Watanabe performs in Japan as a member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra and the Saito Kinen Orchestra. In Los Angeles, she appears regularly as the Concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay and performs with Pacific Serenades and on the South Bay Chamber Music series.

Violinist Connie Kupka has served as Principal Violinist for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival, and has appeared as soloist with the South Bay Symphony and Colorado Chamber Orchestra. She augments her Los Angeles orchestral activities with chamber music performances with the South Bay Chamber Music series and Monday Evening Concerts and is also active in motion picture studio orchestras. Ms. Kupka has participated summer chamber music festivals, including those in Santa Fe, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and the Ojai Music Festival.

Australian born Victoria Miskolczy is Associate Principal Violist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (since 1989) and a regular member of the Pasadena Symphony (since 1988). She has also performed with the Oregon Bach Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival and in the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney (Australia), Pacific and Long Beach Orchestras. Ms. Miskolczy has performed solo recitals and chamber music throughout the United States and Canada, and as a commercial musician, has played on hundreds of motion picture sound track scores .

Upon graduating from USC in 1999 as a student of Donald McInnes, violist David Walther joined the Debussy Trio and soon after became a founding member of the New Hollywood String Quartet. Both groups are critically acclaimed and have toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. In addition to being a chamber musician, Walther works as a studio musician in the motion picture industry.

Cellist David Speltz helped form the Arriaga String Quartet, and with the Musical Offering ensemble, he performed at the Library of Congress, and Lincoln Center, recording on the Nonesuch label. He is familiar to audiences at many of Los Angeles’ chamber music series, and was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra during Sir Neville Marriner’s tenure and principal cellist of the California Chamber Symphony for eight seasons. In 1989 he was invited by Helmuth Rilling to serve as principal cellist of the Bachakademie in Stuttgart, Germany. David also regularly plays on Hollywood film music sessions.

Pianist Susanne Kessel, a resident of Bonn, Germany, is well known for unusual concert and CD programs that passionately engage audiences. Exploring many diverse styles, her playing is highly experimental and innovative. Ms. Kessel has given solo recitals on radio and television, produced her own radio features for the WDR Köln, and has worked as a musician or as music coach for several movies. She has given concert-hall piano performances and concert tours in Europe and the USA. www.susanne-kessel.de/

Pianist Teresa McCollough has commissioned, premiered, and performed many new compositions by today’s emerging and established composers including Alvin Singleton, Lou Harrison, Joan Tower, Alex Shapiro, Belinda Reynolds, Zhou Long, Charles Griffin, David Rakowski, Tomas Svoboda, Henry Martin, George Crumb, and others. She has appeared as a soloist and with ensembles and orchestras on four continents and in international festivals around the world. www.teresamccollough.com

Percussionist Peggy Benkeser has been a catalyst for new music in Atlanta since her arrival from Illinois in 1985. As co-founder and artistic director of Thamyris, New Music Group she commissioned and premiered over 85 new compositions from composers including Alvin Singleton and Steven Mackey. Ms. Benkeser performs with “Music for Hammers and Sticks” and is a full-time teaching artist at the Cliff Valley School in Atlanta, GA.

Thomas Burritt is currently principal percussionist with the Barbwire New Music Ensemble, and has recorded for guitarist Eric Johnson and recording artist David Byrne. Burritt’s first solo CD: “All Times Identical - New American Music for Solo Marimba” was released in November or 2006 and is available at GoFishmusic.com. He is currently Associate Professor of Percussion and Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is a clinician for LLC/Malletech Instruments, Malletech Mallets and Zildjian Cymbals. www.thomasburritt.com

Carolyn Beck is the Principal Bassoonist with the Redlands Symphony and the San Bernardino Symphony, and performs with studio and other orchestras in the Los Angeles area. She was formerly principal bassoonist of the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Orchesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain. Her solo CD “Beck and Call” came out on Crystal Records in 2005 and is available at crystalrecords.com

Brice Martin is an active studio musician, and plays for film, TV and commercial soundtracks. He has a large collection of exotic winds from around the world that he specializes in. He has played for ”Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” the Grammy Awards Orchestra, ”Star Trek: Voyager,” and the ”Wonderful World of Disney.” Brice is also a composer and has written music for film and television. www.martinsmusicstudio.com

Charles Boito has been active in the Los Angeles musical scene for over 30 years. Graduating from the USC and Yale schools of music he is well known for his participation in local chamber music and symphonic groups as well as having performed on hundreds of feature films and TV series. His bass clarinet playing for all of the Star Trek franchises gives him the distinction of being “the world’s most recorded contra bass clarinetist”. He is currently working on the Fox TV series Family Guy and American Dad.

Frank Basile has been Director of Music at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Mar Vista, California since 1989. He has served as conductor of the Yale Bach Society, the USC Early Music Ensemble, and the Burbank Chorale. Frank is currently on the faculty of Campbell Hall School (Episcopal), serves on the Commission on Music and Liturgy for the Diocese of Los Angeles, and is a faculty member in the Leadership Program for Musicians in Small Parishes. He is an award-winning musical director in Los Angeles, having performed in numerous local and world premieres and revivals.

Alan Baer joined the New York Philharmonic in 2004, as Principal Tuba. He was formerly principal tuba with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. His other performing credits include recordings with The Cleveland Orchestra led by Vladimir Ashkenazy, performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Peninsula Music Festival of Wisconsin, New Orleans Symphony, Los Angeles Concert Orchestra, and Ojai Festival Orchestra. He performs as a featured soloist, touring much of Europe. www.baertracksmusic.com

Pianist Bradley Haag has won numerous prizes for performance including the Clara Rolland Piano Competition, the Theodore Presser Scholar Award, and the Armstrong Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Performance. As a prizewinner at the Artists International auditions in New York, Haag gave his New York recital debut in January of 1999, performing in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and lauded by the New York Concert Review Board. Brad has also appeared as a concerto soloist with the Soloists of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Contrabassoonist Leslie Lashinsky plays lots of low notes. She has toured the world with orchestras led by Zubin Mehta, Leonard Bernstein and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and has played bassoon and contrabassoon on many motion picture soundtracks, including Jurassic Park, The Lion King, The Matrix, The Chronicles of Narnia and Spiderman 3. Leslie is a multimedia artist and has taught at Art Center College of Design and Pepperdine University.

For more information about all of these musicians, please visit the companion site for this CD:

www.notesfromthekelp.com

About Alex Shapiro:

Alex Shapiro has become one of the Pacific coast’s best-known composers of acoustic and electroacoustic chamber music. Published by Activist Music, her works are heard weekly in concerts and broadcasts around the world, and can be found on CDs from record labels including Cambria Master Recordings, Innova Recordings, Crystal Records, DC Records, Centaur Records, and Oehms Classics. Educated at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music as a student of Ursula Mamlok and John Corigliano, Ms. Shapiro’s honors and awards include those from The American Music Center, ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, Mu Phi Epsilon, The California Arts Council and The MacDowell Colony. An ardent believer in community involvement, Alex is a familiar speaker at many music events and the recent President of the American Composers Forum of Los Angeles. She has been an officer on the boards of national music organizations including NACUSA, The College Music Society, and The Society of Composers & Lyricists, as well as having served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Having lived for many years in Malibu, California, Alex now resides in Washington’s San Juan Islands. When she’s not at sea or exploring the tide pools, Alex procrastinates on her next piece by updating her website, www.alexshapiro.org, and her blog, www.notesfromthekelp.com.

From Alex:

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.

Notes from the Kelp represents a decade’s worth of the joy I get from communicating. All of the music you hear in this collection was composed in Malibu, California, with the Pacific Ocean undulating in the background and framing my life with beauty and endless things to explore. Immersed in the tides’ shifting daily rhythms, when I’m not writing music I’m often in or on the water, communing with sea life and with my inner voices. And as you can hear in these pieces, there are a lot of diverse voices that keep me company! I suppose composing is a form of socially acceptable insanity.

The variety of mood, sound and color in these tracks makes me smile. A wide swath of emotion and truth are offered here, from the silly and weird to the dark and introspective. If music mirrors a composer’s personality, then you’ll know a lot about me through these pieces. As you listen, my hope is that like tide-pools, they show you not only a glimpse of my world, but a reflection of yours.

As you read this, I now live in another natural seaside paradise in Washington’s magical San Juan Islands. The notes I scribble these days are also from the kelp, and from a deep, watery place that a kid who grew up in Manhattan for her first 21 years could never have imagined becoming so meaningful in her life.

I’m very grateful for each of the 23 fabulous musicians who have brought the chaos from inside my head out into the air for these tracks. I’m lucky to count many of them as friends who are as much fun to socialize with over bottles of wine as they are to create magic with in a recording session or live performance. In particular, I have especially invaluable, real, and deeply appreciated personal friendships with four of the players you hear on this disc. In order of their appearance: Robin Lorentz, Dan Morris, Teresa McCollough, and Carolyn Beck are people I count among my dear buddies, the kind of pals you could call at 3 in the morning if your car broke down in the middle of nowhere. Not only would they rescue me, but they’d sound great doing it.

My co-producer on three of these tracks, John Steinmetz, is a gifted composer and bassoonist, and here you can enjoy the brilliance of his ears and his gentle spirit as he made the recording sessions for Slipping, Bioplasm and Current Events a joy. His friendship and kindness know no bounds. Another longtime pal, composer Bruce Hanifan, did the marvelous recording of Leslie Lashinky’s formidable contrabassoon, and mastered this entire disc. Kudos go to engineer Mike Aarvold, who defined the winning combination of patience and positive attitude, making the hours of recording and editing a delight with his talented ears, relaxed vibe and excellent coffee. Without Paul Chepikian there’d be no photos of my happy, kelp-infested existence; I count him among my closest — and most visually gifted — friends.

Composing is a very solitary pursuit during the note alignment process, and a very public activity once a piece is finished. Sincere thanks go to my friends who offered love and support, a small sample of whom include: Gernot Wolfgang, Adrienne Albert, Kubi Uner, ASCAP’s Frances Richard and Cia Toscanini, Eleanor Academia, Christine Clark, Larry Karush, Bronwen Jones, Mike Lang, Valerie Berman, Jon Burlingame, Steve Winogradsky, Alvin Singleton, Laura Koplewitz, and Philip Blackburn.

Almost every piece on this CD was composed after I met one person who changed my life and brought out the best in me through his unconditional love: my husband Charles. This disc, like so many other things I accomplish on any given day, is dedicated to him.

Enjoy, and feel free to drop me an email to continue the communication.

Cover design and photographs by Paul Chepikian.

All works on this CD composed by Alex Shapiro and published by Activist Music (ASCAP).

All scores, parts and CDs available from Activist Music at www.activistmusic.com

For the full kelp experience as seen through Alex’s eyes, visit her blog and the companion site for this CD:

www.notesfromthekelp.com

For more information about Alex Shapiro that you can possibly imagine, go to

www.alexshapiro.org

To contact Alex, send an email to hello@alexshapiro.org

Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.

Philip Blackburn: Director, design

Chris Campbell: Operations manager www.innova.mu