Susan Alexander-Max

Susan Alexander-Max is an American-born British fortepianist best known for her period performances of baroque and classical music. She graduated from the Juilliard School of Music and later studied with Ilona Kabos in London. She is a member of the period-instrument chamber group The Music Collection with Simon Standage (violin) and Jennifer Ward Clarke (cello). She was also professor of piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She plays on a fortepiano by Derek Adlam.

Susan Alexander-Max was born in New York City and is recognised internationally as a leading fortepianist and clavichordist specialising in the music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Having graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, Susan won a scholarship to study with Ilona Kabos in London, where she now resides. She was finalist in the International Bach Competition and has performed, recorded and taught extensively throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, the Far East and Europe. A featured performer on international radio and television, she has played, as soloist and chamber musician, in festivals, museums and galleries, universities and music colleges world-wide.

Highlights of Susan’s performances include venues and festivals such as the Cheltenham International Festival of Music, Queen’s Festival of Early Music, Belfast, the English Haydn Festival, the Haydn Festival, Eisenstadt, Austria, the Vleeshuis Museum, Antwerp and the Prague Spring International Festival of Music. She is a frequent guest artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and she can be heard regularly in the major London venues.

She has been featured as concerto soloist, recital soloist and chamber musician and has given the première performances of the Piano Quartet by the Russian composer Leonid Feygin, ‘Figures’ and ‘Tetrapteron’ by the Swiss composer Jean-Jacques Dünki, ‘January 1795, Spring, Stanzas for Music and So We’ll Go No More a Roving’ by Rachel Stott of the UK, and ‘Eduardova Rides the Tram’ by the New Zealand composer, Glenda Keam.

Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London until 1996, Susan is director of the chamber ensemble, The Music Collection, and the educational project, Music in Schools. In great demand as specialist in early keyboards, she gives masterclasses and lecture recitals throughout the world. She has taught at Universities in England, Ireland, the United States, and China. She has also taught in the masterclass series at the Juilliard School of Music, New York City, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse, Paris, and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

As recording artist, Susan has performed the Chamber Music of Hummel, the Early Piano Sonatas of Clementi and the complete keyboard works of Domenico Zipoli, volume 2. This latter CD was recorded in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, on their Cristofori fortepiano of 1720. All CDs have been awarded top ratings, and they have received outstanding reviews internationally. The second in the series of Chamber Music by Hummel was also awarded BBC recommendation of the month. Her latest CD of Clementi Piano Sonatas has recently been released, as well as the Concertos of Johann Christian Bach. Future recordings include a third CD of Clementi’s early piano Sonatas, Hummel piano Sonatas and the piano Sonatas Op.5 by Johann Christian Bach.

Susan has been presented on British, American and European radio and television, including BBC Radio 3, England.