Biography
Exposed to rock 'n roll at a young age, Alexander was only 9 when he lost both
his eyebrows setting off homemade pyrotechnics for his big brother's band.
It was love at first...light? He quickly formed his first rock band, The Nodes, and
frequently opened for Gambler (EMI America), his brother's rock band in Chicago.
After hearing Luciano Pavarotti sing at Ravinia, Alex was so inspired that he
auditioned and won a scholarship to study opera at the Mannes Conservatory of Music
in New York City. He kept his hand in pop music by flying back and forth to LA to sing
back-up at the Roxy and record with his brother at the famous Warner Bros. Studios in
L.A. and Sun Studios in Memphis.
After graduating form Mannes, he moved to LA where he received a full scholarship from
UCLA to continue his studies in opera. While there he also played guitar for a few gigs
with the Tokens, (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) and wrote songs with his brother
for Wrestle Rock!
Soon after that Alex moved to Europe to study with Pavarotti's teacher, Arrigo Pola, and
the renowned operatic tenor, Gianni Raimondi. He was a semi finalist in the International
Enrico Caruso voice competition for young tenors in Milan.
Alex has performed at the Berlin Philharmonic with the St Hedwigs Orchester, the
Collegium Orchester, the Hohenfels Orchester, and a live radio broadcast for Radio
Brandenburg Berlin. Alex has had numerous solo concerts in LA, Chicago and
Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center. His opera roles to date include Rodolfo
in La Boheme, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Canio in Pagliacci and Nemorino in
L' Elisir D'Amore, to name a few.
While in Europe, Alex was offered a publishing contract for many of his
rock/dance tunes with Warner Chappell/Touch & Go Music. He then decided to return
to America and work on fusing his two passions; rock and opera. Northwestern gave
him yet another full scholarship to do his Masters in Voice, and he received stunning
reviews for his role as Tony Candolino in Master Class by Terrence McNally.
Alex appeared in both the Chicago production, directed by Peter Amster, and the
Columbia Artists production in Toronto with Elizabeth Ashley, directed by
Leonard Foglia.
In the midst of this, Alex began working on his new style of music. Writing this music
inspired him to create his one-man show, Holdin' On, which premiered at the Laurie
Beechman Theater on 42nd st. in NYC. It has since been performed to great acclaim and
SRO houses Off Broadway at the Zipper Theater and the Belt Theater, as well as theaters
in New Jersey and LA. It is now under consideration by several theaters around the
country and is being directed and dramaturged by Lynn Thomson, dramaturg of the
Broadway hit RENT, on and Off Broadway.
Alex and his music are unique in that he is truly a crossover artist. He has lived in both
worlds and unites the fans of both of these genres with his magnetic personality and the
innovative music he writes.