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Biography Michael Gordon Shapiro lives in Los Angeles, where he writes orchestral and contemporary music for film, television, and video games.
Michael's breakthrough opportunity came shortly after his graduation from the University of Southern California, when was recommended by composer and director John Ottman (Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects) to score the political thriller feature The F-Zone. Only twenty-five at the time, Michael wrote for and conducted a full union studio orchestra including numerous A-list session players. His work led him to a string of subsequent feature film projects, including Home Room (starring Victor Garber and Erika Christensen) and Against Time (starring Robert Loggia and Craig T. Nelson). Michael's music has also been heard in programming on Fox, F/X, Bravo, Nickelodeon, and elsewhere.
Michael soon expanded his work into the burgeoning field of game music, incorporating his cinematic style into the technically demanding medium of interactive scoring. He has scored projects for Vivendi, Bethesda Softworks, Valve, XiCat Interactive, and other prominent game companies.
In 2009 MIchael composed his first major concert work, Identity - Zhonshan Zuang, a concerto for orchestra and guzheng (Chinese zither). Incorporating themes by Chinese composer/producer Victor Cheng, Identity blended the Western symphonic tradition with elements of Chinese folk music. In 2010 the work had its premieres both in the United States and China, and is now being prepared for additional concerts domestically and abroad.
A graduate of the prestigious film scoring program at the University of Southern California, Michael has a graduate degree in music composition from New York University and a degree in cognitive science from Carnegie Mellon. He has studied privately with Hollywood veteran Jack Smalley, and with Larry Bell at the New England Conservatory. Michael is also a graduate of the ASCAP Film Scoring Seminar, and his work was chosen for inclusion in ASCAP's The Ear promotional CD series.
Outside his media scoring work, Michael has written several award-winning ten-minute musicals. His theater music has been performed in the U.S., as well as in the U.K. and Australia.
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