Short Biography
Alexander Garde is a multi-disciplinary percussionist based in Washington, D.C., where he is a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. He earned a Bachelor of Music Degree with Academic Honors as well as a Minor in Liberal Arts from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he was the recipient of the 2020 George Whitefield Chadwick Medal. Alex pursued additional graduate studies at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Alex’s passion for both contemporary and orchestral music has allowed him to not only serve as a founding member of Boston-based new music ensemble Alinéa, but also to perform with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony while earning fellowships to world-class music festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.
As an educator, Alex has been honored to present masterclasses at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He currently works with Yorktown High School and the Arlington Public School District in Arlington, VA as a percussion specialist. An advocate for community outreach and education, Alex has proudly worked with DaCamera of Houston, the Houston Youth Symphony, and NEC’s Preparatory School to inspire the next generation of musicians.
Long Biography
Alexander Garde is a multi-disciplinary percussionist based in Washington, D.C., where he is a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. Alex holds a Bachelor of Music Degree with Academic Honors as well as a Minor in Liberal Arts from the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was the recipient of the 2020 George Whitefield Chadwick Medal. At NEC, he studied with Daniel Bauch, William Hudgins, and Matthew McKay of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He pursued graduate studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas, studying with Matthew Strauss of the Houston Symphony.
Alex enjoys performing with a wide range of orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music ensembles. In addition to his position with the USMB, he has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Boston, MA), Houston Symphony (Houston, TX), New World Symphony (Miami, FL), Sioux City Symphony Orchestra (Sioux City, IA), Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (Annapolis, MD), and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (Fairfax, VA), where he serves as the Principal Percussionist. He has received fellowships to prestigious summer music festivals around the world, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Round Top Festival Institute.
A strong proponent of the importance of contemporary music as a way to push boundaries and inspire change in the field, Alex is a founding member of the Alinéa Ensemble, a new music ensemble based in Boston, which was recently a finalist for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Ensemble Award. He was involved with the ensemble’s premieres of new works by Michael Finnissy, Richard Barrett, and Ti McCormack, as well as taking part in a residency at Ithaca College in December, 2021. He has also performed contemporary chamber music by composers such as George Crumb, György Ligeti, Kaija Saariaho, Charles Wuorinen, and Giacinto Scelsi. This passion for new music has additionally driven Alex to premiere works by influential modern composers, including “Small,” a work for solo percussion by Joan Tower, as well as to commission a variety of solo and chamber repertoire composed by his colleagues.
An advocate for community outreach and music education, Alex has been honored to present masterclasses at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Previously, he has proudly worked with DaCamera of Houston as a Young Artist, with NEC’s Preparatory School as an ensemble manager and percussion coach, and with the Houston Youth Symphony as a percussion intern. Currently, Alex works with the students of Yorktown High School (Arlington, VA) and the Arlington Public Schools as a percussion specialist. Outside of music, Alex enjoys photography, golfing, skiing, and enjoying a good cup of coffee with friends.
Alexander Garde 