Classical guitarist Alex Aldridge is an educator, soloist, and chamber musician from West Des Moines, Iowa. He began his guitar studies at the age of 13 with instructor James Biehn, playing the music of Yes, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and other prominent rock bands.
Alex first discovered his love for Classical guitar upon beginning his music studies at The University of Northern Iowa in 2010, with professor Robert Dunn. He graduated with a Bachelors in Music in 2015. In 2014 he attended “The Volterra Project” in Tuscany, Italy, a week-long summer guitar workshop hosted by Greek guitarist Antigoni Goni. This experience was life-changing and guided him to The Hartt School in Connecticut, where he earned his Master’s in Classical Guitar Performance with Richard Provost in 2019.
Alex has performed internationally on a handful of occasions, and throughout the New England area. In addition to concertizing, he was an educator at several music studios in Connecticut from 2017-2021 before returning to Iowa.
Alex has performed in master classes for internationally acclaimed guitarists Christopher Parkening, Antgoni Goni, Gaelle Solal, Scott Tennant, Thibaut Garcia, Andrew York, Jason Vieaux, Christopher Ladd, Oscar Ghiglia and several others.
In 2018 Alex and his duo partner, flautist Sierra Schmeltzer, were awarded 2nd place in the annual Hartt School Chamber Music Competition. More recently, Alex performed on a promotional video for Luthier Toby Rzekpka which was featured during the 2020 Guitar Foundation of America’s online convention. He currently maintains a large studio at Grinnell College and resides in Ames.