Alex Shawver is a composer based in Dallas, Texas. Influences on his compositional style range from the French Impressionists to living American composers associated with Minimalism and post-Minimalism such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams. His instrumental background in both piano and percussion allows him to draw inspiration from both the rich mass of historic keyboard repertoire and the constant invention of new ideas in the percussion paradigm.

Alex has been commissioned and had his music performed by the SMU Meadows Wind Ensemble, Syzygy New Music Ensemble, Meadows Percussion Ensemble, and Bridge the Gap Chamber Players. He holds two M.M. degrees in Composition and Theory Pedagogy from Southern Methodist University where he studied with Dr. Kevin Hanlon, Dr. Rob Frank, and Dr. Lane Harder. He previously studied composition with Dr. Ted Hansen and Dwayne Rice. Alex also holds a B.M. in Piano Pedagogy from Texas A&M – Commerce where he studied piano performance with Dr. Luis Sanchez, piano pedagogy with Libby Vanatta, and percussion with Dr. Brian Zator. Alex began teaching at SMU in Fall of 2019.

Website: alexshawver.com/