Short Bio

A black and white photo of Alexander wearing a black scarf looking back at the camera

Alexander Wu is a composer, improviser, pianist, electronic producer, and programmer based in Baltimore, MD. He is interested in far-fetched logic, misplaced memories, profaned tools, and sometimes disappointing sounds. He likes to mechanize the body and embody the machine, just as much as he likes to mechanize the machine and embody the body. Above all, however, he likes when both refuse to be either.

吴缺，作曲人，也演奏即兴音乐、弹钢琴、制作电子音乐、编程。住在美国巴尔的摩。他的兴趣包括：牵强的逻辑、误置的记忆、被亵渎的工具、有时令人失望的声音。他喜欢让身体成为机器、让机器成为身体；他也同样喜欢让机器做机器、让身体做身体。但他尤其热爱那些身体和机器都拒绝成为身体、又拒绝成为机器的时刻。

Long Bio

Alexander Wu is a composer, improviser, pianist, electronic producer, and programmer based in Baltimore, MD. He is interested in far-fetched logic, misplaced memories, profaned tools, and sometimes disappointing sounds. He likes to mechanize the body and embody the machine, just as much as he likes to mechanize the machine and embody the body. Above all, however, he likes when both refuse to be either.

Alexander playing the piano behind plants, shea butter, and a few books titled “Sellout” placed on black shelves

Alexander received his master’s degree in Composition from Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, studying with Dr. Sky Macklay, and he received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Composition and Electronic Production and Design, with a minor in Creative Coding. His composition mentors at Berklee included Beth Denisch, Gabriele Vanoni, and Marti Epstein. At Peabody, he received the P. Bruce Blair Composition Award (2025), and at Berklee, he received the Jeronimas Kačinskas Composition Award (2023), Max Matthews Computer Music Award (2023), Millican Endowed Scholarship (2023), and Earle Brown Composition Award (2022).

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 Impulse New Music Festival, Sō Percussion Summer Institute, Zodiac Music Festival, highSCORE Festival, and Longy’s Divergent Studio.

Alexander sitting in front of a controller and a laptop in a concert

As a performer, Alexander plays the piano in classical and jazz idioms, and he plays free improvisation with homemade electronic systems. As a programmer, 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. He has also built a custom live coding environment within Microsoft Excel as part of his ongoing series Planning Obsolescence, which reappropriates productivity tools for musical instruments. Other notable programming projects include 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 has served as President of Peabody Improvisers Collective, a student organization dedicated to free improvisation and alternative ways of music-making outside the conservatory curriculum, and 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.