". . .the program featured the local premiere of Michael Shapiro's second piano sonata, a short (six minutes) work in a new-expressionistic idiom.  Shapiro has a nice feeling for piano sonorities and a good sense of proportion.  He stopped when he was through, something that a lot of composers are not smart enough to do. . ."-Joan Reinthaler, Washington Post

". . .Michael Shapiro's Second Sonata for Piano has accessible ideas which are given at times a neo-impressionist treatment.  It also abounds in huge chords and climaxes, and was splendidly projected by Jerome Rose. . ."-Boris Nelson, The Blade: Toledo, Ohio

". . .Mr. Shapiro is a solid craftsman who music, at its best, is marked by a direct expressivity that is often captivating.  He has an ear for the English language, and three sets of terse, epigrammatic songs showed an unquestionable melodic gift.  Mr. Shapiro writes in an idiom that might be characterized as gently dissonant, eschewing angular vocal leaps and bounds in favor of linear continuity. . ."-Tim Page, The New York Times

". . .But it is in the last movement (of the Yiddish Quartet), imbued with the Jewish love for learning, that Shapiro's feeling for his musical heritage comes best to the fore.  It is interesting to note that, in spite of the frequent injection of dissonance and departure from tonal orthodoxy, Shapiro does not lead us into the typically Jewish modes of the Hassidic 'nigun' or the Klezmer musicians.  His 'Yiddishkeit' remains rooted in the tempered minor of the Bach and of our familiar Western world..."-Simon Weinrib, Berkshire Record