From Washington Township, New Jersey, Dr. Alexander Lo is an avid educator and performer.
Alex started his piano studies at the age of 8 and shortly after began taking lessons at Rowan University with Professors Raffi Besalyan and Veda Zuponcic. During his high school years, he made his orchestral debut as the winner of the 2010 Washington Township Sinfonia Orchestra Concerto Competition and received top prizes in The Greater Princeton Steinway Society Scholarship Competition, Steinway Society of South Jersey Young Pianist Competition Senior Division and Advanced Pianist Division, Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey, and Music Teachers National Association State Senior Division. He also received an Honorable Mention in the West Chester University School of Music Pre-Collegiate Piano Competition and earned 2nd Place in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition.
Since then, Alex has led an active musical career as a guest artist, in competitions, and at festivals in China, Japan, and across the United States. In 2024, he was selected as a Professional Artist for the Global Outstanding Chinese Artists Association (GOCAA), leading to a solo concert tour in seven cities across China in July 2025. His additional awards include 3rd Prize in the Chautauqua Piano Competition (2022) and 2nd Prize in the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition (2016). He was also a finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Performance Competition (2019) and the Osaka International Music Competition (2016).
As a pianist, Alex pursues primarily solo performances within the classical genre and has focused on expanding this repertoire in recent years, including collaborative performances in popular styles and exploring the music of underrepresented composers. This research has involved presenting a lecture recital on the life and works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in December 2022, as well as incorporating jazz and ballet transcriptions into his concert programs.
Alex currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Piano and Music Theory at Northwest Florida State College. Prior to relocating to Florida, he taught collegiate Class Piano and Secondary Piano Lessons at the Eastman School of Music for six years. In 2021, his dedication to his students was recognized by Eastman faculty, who awarded him with the Teaching Assistant Prize for Excellence in Teaching. His students have soloed with the University of Rochester Chamber Orchestra and continued graduate musical studies at New York University. Furthermore, Alex worked with piano students ranging from early childhood to adult age as Studio Piano Teacher at Newbrough Piano Studio.
Believing his responsibilities as an educator extend beyond music lessons, Alex hopes to strengthen his surrounding community wherever he goes. From 2015-2023, he worked with the Eastman School of Music’s Office for Residential Life and served as its Area Coordinator during his final year. During this time, he supervised student leaders, organized campus events, and supported students to promote positive learning experiences and foster a culture of inclusion. This work allowed him to play a role in shaping his students’ overall personal development and in building future leaders.
Alex completed his undergraduate and graduate education at the Eastman School of Music with Professor Natalya Antonova, graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature with a minor in Music Theory.