Alex Shaw

My name is Alex Shaw, currently an MFA-2 in the CalArts World Percussion program. I am a percussionist, vocalist, composer, curator, and arts educator specializing in Afro-Brazilian music traditions. Growing up in southwest Virginia as a child of a Chinese immigrant and a white American southerner, I learned to navigate multiple, layered, and sometimes conflicting cultural spaces in a way that continues to shape my artistic and pedagogical work. I am convinced by and dedicated to the power of the arts and artistic practice as an effective vehicle for social change and transformation. 

I received my B.A. in Biological Anthropology from Swarthmore College in 2000, and moved to Philadelphia, PA following graduation, where I continue to reside today. After teaching for a year in the Philadelphia public school district, I began working as a freelance arts educator, which has led to a spectrum of opportunities to teach, lecture, collaborate, and perform at numerous schools, organizations, and institutions throughout the mid-Atlantic region. I am a rostered artist with several arts organizations including Young Audiences of NJ/Eastern PA and Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education, and I have also served on various panels, and facilitated professional development workshops for music educators and corporate leaders.

For over 15 years I have enjoyed working as an accompanist for several dance companies and universities, and have performed as a member of Philadelphia's award-winning Spoken Hand Percussion Orchestra, as well as Artistic Director of an 11+ piece Brazilian ensemble, Alô Brasil, in addition to other collaborative cultural projects.  Since 2008, I have served the non-profit organization LiveConnections as both a board member and as a lead facilitator for their music education programming. In 2010, I joined music faculty at University of the Arts, and joined Temple University music faculty in 2016.

During my time in Philadelphia, I have presented and produced numerous events and performances, featuring both domestic and international scholars and performing artists.  In 2014, I began my current position as Curator for Intercultural Journeys, a non-profit organization that aims to facilitate cultural understanding through pairing dialogue with the performing arts. In addition to presenting our annual season of concerts and community-based programs, Intercultural Journeys recently received a 2017 project grant from Pew Center for Arts and Heritage for Modupúe | Ibaye: The Philadelphia Yoruba Performance Project, a 2-year community history project exploring Yoruba performance practice and traditions, and their role in shaping Philadelphia's social and cultural landscape.

I have been honored to receive several competitive artist grants, including Arts International’s Artist Exploration Fund (2004) and the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts (2007), and received the Emerging Legacy Award at the UPenn MLK Commemorative Symposium for Social Justice in 2012. 

I invite you to watch "Dia de Praia," a light-hearted, multi-layered music video I co-created in 2012.