ST. LOUIS, MO, February 04, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Jan A. Shapiro with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Shapiro celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Having retired in May 2017 from the Berklee College of Music in Boston after more than three decades on campus, Ms. Shapiro is renowned for her expertise as both a vocalist and voice teacher. In addition to her tenure as a teacher, she chaired the voice department between 1997 and 2010. During this time, Ms. Shapiro took a special interest in jazz vocal history, which she studied intently beginning in the late 1980s with the assistance of 1988-90 National Endowment grant.
She has continued to serve as a professional performing vocalist since 1971 and as a private vocal instructor since 1978. Ms. Shapiro's most recent performance was at Evangeline's in Saint Louis in 2020.
Born into a family of musicians, Ms. Shapiro has long been intrigued by music. Her mother was a timpani player in high school, a longtime pianist and vocalist. Her Grandfather Shapiro was a cantor for a short time in his homeland ,and as young man in America sang in traveling shows. Her grandfather on her mother's side played violin, and her uncle played upright bass. Shapiro studied classical piano as a child through middle school. She studied flute for a brief period and taught herself guitar. She played in her school band, participated in talent shows and musical theater performances, and also sang in her high school chorus. Shapiro began formal voice lessons in her hometown of Festus Mo. at age fifteen. After graduating from high school, Ms. Shapiro attended Mercy Junior College, St. Louis and continued taking private voice lessons in the St. Louis area. By 1971, Shapiro began playing a few small clubs in St. Louis while attending the St. Louis Institute of Music. She eventually sang with a band touring mainly in the midwest and southern states. In 1976 Jan moved to Washington DC to attend Howard University and complete her degree in music. During this time she continued to perform at hotels and nightclubs nearly every night of the week while also pursuing her degree. In 1978, she moved back to St. Louis Mo. Jan was asked to perform and present clinics at Howard University and later in St. Louis at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville Ill. Sometime in 1981, became part time faculty at Fontbonne College and at Southern Illinois University while continuing five to sometimes six nightly performances. In 1985 Jan accepted a full time position at Berklee College of Music, Boston. She excelled as an adjudicator of jazz choir competitions at the University of New Hampshire, at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival and also served as a jazz education consultant for some time.
Some of Ms. Shapiro's most recognizable work has included her four CDs, which include "Read Between the Lines," "Not Commercial!," "Back to Basics" and her most recent, "Piano Bar After Hours." She also collaborated with several former faculty members in 2000, recording an album of Boswell vocal arrangements, titled "Boswellmania!" Apart from her musical contributions, Ms. Shapiro has contributed her expertise as a writer for the 1998 edition of "Jewish Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia "Helen Forrest" and for other various professional publications, some of which have been presented at conferences. In 2016, she authored her first book, titled "So You Want to Sing Jazz: A Guide for Professionals," through Rowman & Littlefield.
Long driven to contribute to her community at large, Ms. Shapiro has volunteered her time on the alumni advisory board for Cambridge College, the advisory board for the Boswell Museum and on the board of directors of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Today, she volunteers her time by teaching students that do not have the luxury of a music education in their schools or private lessons. Ms. Shapiro serves as a volunteer teacher for high school vocalists for the " Heal Center for the Arts" organization and as a volunteer mentor and coach for the Kranzberg Art Foundation 'Music Artists in Residence', both in St. Louis Mo.
Ms. Shapiro attended the Saint Louis Institute of Music. Jan left college and pursued her performing career. She was accepted to Howard University in 1976, and received a Bachelor of Arts in music education cum laude in 1978. While teaching at Berklee, Jan continued to perform in the Boston area, and attended one semester at the New England Conservatory, Boston . In 1988 she attained a Masters in Education at Cambridge College, Boston Ma. In 1995 Ms. Shapiro enrolled in postgraduate coursework at Boston University, speech and communication disorders.
Fortunate to be aligned with several prominent professional organizations throughout her career, Ms. Shapiro has been a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), and the Music Educators National Conference and an adjudicator for the Massachusetts chapter of the International Association Jazz Educators. She has also been active as a member of the American Association of University Women. In retirement, Ms. Shapiro maintains her membership with the Jazz Educators Network. Throughout her academic career, Shapiro has participated in national Jazz Education Conferences as a clinician and presenter, and as an author of jazz research papers.
Well regarded for her various contributions to the field, Ms. Shapiro was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant from 1989 to 1990, which enabled her to research the Boswell Sisters and other early jazz singers. She also received a Duke Ellington Performance Grant in 1996. Recognized for her work, IAJE honored Ms. Shapiro with a Certificate of Appreciation in 1988, 1989, and 1990. Berklee College also bestowed her with a Dean of Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence in 1993 and a Medallion Award in 2005.
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