Alexander Bernstein, a San Francisco native, began piano lessons at age 7, later moving to Walla Walla, Washington where he studied for nine years. Alexander received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Harvard University in May 2010 where he studied privately with both Patricia Zander and Stephen Drury of the New England Conservatory.  He completed a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate Degree in Piano Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin under the tutelage of John O'Conor in 2012 and 2020, respectively.  He also completed an Artist Diploma at Shenandoah Conservatory in 2016.

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After making his symphonic debut in 1999, Alexander has performed concerti with orchestras in the US and Europe, most recently including performances of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3 with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland and the Shenandoah University Symphony Orchestra in Virginia.  He has given solo recitals in the US, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy and Romania.

 

Alexander is an avid devotee of new music, studying and premiering works of living composers as well as Berio, Ligeti, Ives, and Cage.  In September 2015 he recorded a solo CD of works by the Irish composer Ryan Molloy. 

 

In September 2023, he and his wife, Tara McNeill, released a duo album of all original music called 'Across the Atlantic'.  Inspired by the sea that had often separated them, this album consists of compositions that fuse virtuosic classical playing with traditional Irish flair.  They have performed their duo concert in the Staller Center, New York, Virginia and Belfast.

 

Alexander has had much success in competitions, recently winning 2nd Prize and the RTE Lyric Fm Special Prize in the 2015 Dublin International Piano Competition, 3rd Prize in the 2015 Verona International Piano Competition, and 3rd Prize in the 2015 Gian Battista Viotti International Piano Competition.  He also received 1st Prize in the 2011 Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year Competition.

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Alexander has recently been appointed as a full-time faculty member of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Ireland.  Prior to that, from 2020 to 2024 he was a full-time professor of piano at Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA, USA.