Since his orchestral debut at age 11, pianist Alex McDonald has soloed with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has performed across the United States as well as in Israel, Canada, Japan, and South Korea; additionally, he has been a featured performer on PBS, WRR, NPR, and WQXR. Awards and fellowships include second prize at the 2007 New Orleans International Piano Competition and second prize at the 2001 Gina Bachauer International Young Artist Piano Competition. In 2008, he was named a Harvey Fellow by the Mustard Seed Foundation; in 2013, McDonald was accepted to compete in the 14^th Van Cliburn Competition, the first native Texas to be accepted in more than 30 years.

Dr. McDonald currently teaches piano at Texas Woman’s University, having previously taught as adjunct faculty at Richland College as well as at the Juilliard School, where he also was a Teaching Fellow for both the Literature and Materials and Piano Minor departments. Additionally, his private piano students have been admitted to Juilliard and Eastman, as well as the pre-college division of the Manhattan School of Music. Deeply concerned about a healthy integration of life with music, he has actively pursued community formation both as an R.A. in the Juilliard residence hall and as president of Juilliard Christian Fellowship.

Dr. McDonald received his pre-college training under Lois Nielson, with additional coaching from Stephen Nielson and Pamela Paul; his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance under Russell Sherman; and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Juilliard under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Julian Martin. He continues to receive coaching from Mr. Nielson, Sam Wong, Tamas Ungar, and John Owings. His doctoral document, a source study on manuscripts and editions for Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, has been cited in the most recent edition of the sonata by Alfred Publishers, edited by Nancy Bricard.