Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1995, Alex Berko is a contemporary American composer and pianist who received the 2021 ASCAP Morton Gould Award. His catalog includes choral, orchestral, and chamber works along with a selection of jazz arrangements. Piano lessons began at age four, and by nine he had started writing his own music. Three years after that, Stephen Stanziano began teaching him composition. During his final high-school years he trained with Sandra Shapiro and Tim Mauthe in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s pre-college division.
At Indiana University, Aaron Travers served as his composition instructor and Edmund Battersby as his piano teacher. While there he wrote Lincoln for SATB choir; the piece later appeared on the Crossing’s critically acclaimed album Rising w/ the Crossing. After earning a BM in composition in 2018, he entered the graduate program at Rice University, studying with Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, and Karim Al-Zand. He also held the Brown Fellowship and taught music theory and ear training in the Shepherd School of Music Preparatory Department.
In 2021 he received the ASCAP Morton Gould Award for the orchestral work Among Waves and completed his Rice studies the following year. Several commissioned pieces received premieres in 2022, among them There is a City for orchestra, You Through Me for chorus and string quartet, and Erupt/Erode for piano. In addition to his choral and orchestral output, Berko has composed film scores and collaborated with Cleveland’s Verb Ohio Contemporary Ballet company. During 2023 he held artistic residencies at the Ragdale Foundation in Chicago, the Luzerne Music Center in New York, and the American Festival for the Arts in Texas. He continues to live in Cleveland, Ohio, where he works as an accompanist and piano instructor.
At Indiana University, Aaron Travers served as his composition instructor and Edmund Battersby as his piano teacher. While there he wrote Lincoln for SATB choir; the piece later appeared on the Crossing’s critically acclaimed album Rising w/ the Crossing. After earning a BM in composition in 2018, he entered the graduate program at Rice University, studying with Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, and Karim Al-Zand. He also held the Brown Fellowship and taught music theory and ear training in the Shepherd School of Music Preparatory Department.
In 2021 he received the ASCAP Morton Gould Award for the orchestral work Among Waves and completed his Rice studies the following year. Several commissioned pieces received premieres in 2022, among them There is a City for orchestra, You Through Me for chorus and string quartet, and Erupt/Erode for piano. In addition to his choral and orchestral output, Berko has composed film scores and collaborated with Cleveland’s Verb Ohio Contemporary Ballet company. During 2023 he held artistic residencies at the Ragdale Foundation in Chicago, the Luzerne Music Center in New York, and the American Festival for the Arts in Texas. He continues to live in Cleveland, Ohio, where he works as an accompanist and piano instructor.
Albums
