Short Bio

Alexander Wu is a composer, pianist, electronic producer, improviser, and programmer based in Baltimore, MD. His music is a constant negotiation between what is possible or present and what is not. In physical, logical, and perceptual extremities, he reconstructs memories, and with these sonic alterations, he captures emotional subtleties that are difficult to access through other mediums. After graduating summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music with a bachelor’s degree in Composition and Electronic Production and Design in 2023, Alexander is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Composition at the Peabody Institute, studying with Dr. Sky Macklay.

Long Bio

Alexander Wu’s music is a constant negotiation between what is possible or present and what is not. He is drawn to the elastic temporalities unique to sound: as time gets compressed or repeated, there comes a moment when it becomes a spatial object. These fascinatingly fragile moments of transformation help Alexander push his music toward the edge of physicality, logic, and perception. In these extremities, he reconstructs memories, and with these sonic alterations, he captures emotional subtleties that are difficult to access through other mediums.

Alexander is currently studying composition with Dr. Sky Macklay, pursuing a master’s degree at the Peabody Institute. In 2023, he graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in both Composition and Electronic Production and Design, with a minor in Creative Coding. During his time at Berklee, he received prestigious awards such as the Jeronimas Kačinskas Composition Award (2023), Max Matthews Computer Music Award (2023), Millican Endowed Scholarship (2023), and Earle Brown Composition Award (2022). His composition mentors at Berklee included Beth Denisch, Gabriele Vanoni, and Marti Epstein.

He has had the privilege of attending masterclasses with esteemed composers such as Chaya Czernowin, Du Yun, Evan Johnson, Julia Wolfe, and Eric Wubbels. His compositions have been performed and recorded by distinguished ensembles including International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, SPLICE Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, and loadbang. In recent years, he has participated in Sō Percussion Summer Institute, Zodiac Music Festival, highSCORE Festival, and Longy’s Divergent Studio.

As a performer, Alexander plays the piano and homemade electronic systems in a variety of styles, from classical to jazz to free improvisation to DJ sets. He has played in venues including Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), Red Room (Baltimore), and Rhizome (DC). When playing free improvisation or DJ sets, he uses some combination of grid controllers, modular synthesizers, feedback spring reverb, Microsoft Excel, ORCA, and (almost always) Max/MSP.

Computer programming is a crucial aspect of Alexander’s creative practice. He is well-versed in general-purpose languages such as C, C#, Python, Swift, and JavaScript, as well as languages designed for music and multimedia, including Max/MSP/Jitter/Gen, SuperCollider, and TouchDesigner. Notable recent projects include jingle bach, an audiovisual installation generated from YouTube commercials; Microtonal Lab, a website offering microtonal ear training and composition tools; and VariTuner, a microtonal tuner and tone generator app for iOS devices, featuring a built-in library of over 5000 microtonal scales.

Alexander currently serves as President of Peabody Improvisers Collective, a student organization dedicated to free improvisation and alternative ways of music-making outside the conservatory curriculum. He previously served as President of Society of Composers at Berklee, where he produced six concerts and conducted interviews with renowned composers.

Alexander was born in 2000 and grew up in Lishui, China.