21ST CENTURY MUSIC MAGAZINE

Concert Review

SOUNDESIGN AMBIENT/ELECTRONIC by Andrew Shapiro, Solo Keyboard
BUILD GALLERY, Mission District, San Francisco
August 26, 27 & 28 2000

by Paulette Paulson

Andrew Shapiro's solo keyboard concert Soundesign Ambient/Electronic, was an exciting evening for an enthusiastic audience. After an affable Shapiro greeted the crowd he begun to perform, filling the room with consonant rhythmic pulses that placed the listener in a hypnotic and dance-like mood. I was overwhelmed by warm memories evoked by Shapiro's musical emotion.

According to Shapiro, the title Soundesign represents a desire to create music resembling a fast moving machine, requiring the performer (himself) to follow suit." The piece is comprised of 11 sections (or songs) that, together, form two sets of an intriguing musical experience. The first section named "Letter Two" seems to have set the tone for what was to follow. It began with an interesting two against three rhythmic pattern that took the listener through a static harmonic flow, eventually allowing non-chord tones the chance to leave the listener with feelings of conflict and satisfying resolution.

"Inscriptions End" was the crowd favorite. Melodic thirds rose out of the lower register and swept up into the right hand as block chords playing in a different keys accompanied. This created an interesting and active musical environment where a moderate groove was supported by Shapiro's seamless playing. This seemlessness continued in "Reverie," as Shapiro maintained a powerful performance that produced a smooth running stream of broken arpeggios and small melodic figurations.

Shapiro finished strongly with "In Back," which started with a two against three rhythm utilizing a bass line and a block chord. The music expanded into a larger space consisting of lines tripping over one another due to the rhythmic dissonance. Shapiro's right hand exploded into sweeping triplet arpeggios in the high register while accompanied by the left hand playing varied repetitions of the block chords that begin the piece.

After an intermission came "Four Clarinet Pieces, Numbers One Through Four." Performed by Shapiro and Rachel Condry on clarinets, it was interesting to hear how Shapiro's language translated itself from the keyboard to the wind instruments. "Unlike the keyboard pieces, pauses in which we breathe together are necessary to give us an ability to play stretches of material that, in order to be effective, require a seamless motion."

The clarinets, with changing tempos, registers and interestingly placed pauses gave these beautiful pieces a pure sound for the brisk arpeggiated figurations and sequences that seem to be the dominant features of Shapiro's musical language. The composer says that "the clarinet is the most important instrument that I play because it has been there for me throughout my entire life. It's where my classical training comes from. When I was eight, I had to play the Eb clarinet because my hands were too small (laughs). My work at the Oberlin Conservatory consisted of classical studies but in a much different way. I was in the composition program. I was listening, score reading, and writing. The program had a much lower emphasis on performance which was too bad because I believe that performance should balance composition."

At 23 years old, Shapiro is a composer that, "[is] trying to work his way through some important musical influences, including the music of Philip Glass." This influence is certainly evident and yet, Shapiro demonstrates a tremendous amount of original energy. In talking about the transformation of style within his compositional personality, Shapiro states that, "These things happen gradually. Two years ago I was trying to figure out how some Second Viennese school stuff, Berg in particular, and, more recently, minimal Glass type work was influencing my work. The two composers seem to be so far from one another and yet there's something similar in the way that the emotion in each of their work strikes me."

It is clear that Shapiro has found a language and approach that enables him to explore and be productive. Currently, Shapiro is engaged with several projects, including a recording of Soundesign and a new string quartet which will be performed this fall in San Francisco. "I'm also going back to writing songs for my ensemble by collaging poetic texts in order to investigate how poetry becomes lyrics and lyrics become songs. The recording project, "Invisible Days," is slated to come out in a recording in early November and will include several performances in the Bay Area.

I am quite interested in hearing more from Andrew Shapiro, a reflective, intelligent and emotionally charged composer. It's always interesting for me to speak with young artists particularly this one. He seems so clear in his purpose and desires. If one has the chance it is definitely worth checking out.

Paulette Paulson is a freelance writer/critic who lives in San Francisco.