“Keen intuition, fullness and mastery… Fierce energy! When I see and hear someone like Alexei play Chopin or Liszt, I understand what it means to be a true player, to have that true calling.”
– P. Elliott Doherty, novelist
Forging a reputation for his “passion, imagination, and utter commitment”, pianist Alexei Aceto was raised in a multi-generational musical family. He began studying the piano at age five with Trudy Borden (former faculty, Preparatory Divisions: Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory), holding his first public solo recital at age eleven. At fifteen, Alexei was accepted into the studio of Charis Dimaras, under whose tutelage he earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Ithaca College School of Music in 2021, graduating summa cum laude and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. Alexei currently pursues graduate-level performance studies with Arnaldo Cohen at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, holding the position of Associate Instructor in Piano.
Making his professional debut in 2017 as recitalist for Classical Pianists of the Future’s 10th anniversary season, Alexei has since enjoyed a continued relationship with PBS affiliate WSKG’s “Classical Expressions” TV/Radio program, on which he has appeared as performer, host, and co-producer. He has given recitals throughout the Central New York region, which have been featured in concert seasons of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra and Syracuse’s Civic Morning Musicals organization. His performances gained nationwide recognition in 2022 after airing repeatedly on NPR’s Performance Today with host Fred Child.
Alexei has appeared with renowned conductors Marius Stravinsky, Grant Cooper, Toshiyuki Shimada, and Octavio Más-Arocas, and ensembles such as the Virtuosi Brunenses in Perugia, Italy, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in New York. Winner of the 2019 and 2020 Ithaca College Concerto Competition, in Fall 2021 Alexei was invited to return to Ithaca College’s Ford Hall to perform Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22 in two concerts with the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra. Holding honors in many other solo and concerto competitions, Alexei was a finalist in the 2021 Chautauqua Institution Piano Competition.
Alexei has performed in masterclasses for luminaries Nikolai Lugansky, Sergei Babayan, Jeremy Denk, and Shai Wosner. An avid chamber musician with a diverse collaborative repertoire, he has also received masterclasses from Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, and John Novacek. At festivals such as the Chautauqua Institution Piano Program and Art of the Piano, Alexei has worked with artists including Alexander Gavrylyuk, Jerome Lowenthal, Jon Nakamatsu, Alexander Kobrin, Boris Slutsky, Asaf Zohar, and Malcolm Bilson. He has received invaluable mentorship from Dmitri Novgorodsky, additional instruction from Karl Lutchmayer, Eric Himy, and Jennifer Hayghe, and lessons in Baroque organ performance from Annette Richards.
Alexei’s most recent solo recitals have featured major works by composers ranging from J.S. Bach, Beethoven and Brahms to Schumann, Bartók, Janáček, and his father, Robert Aceto. In 2022, Alexei was selected by groundbreaking post-minimalist composer David Borden to make premier studio recordings of three of his Preludes and Fugues for solo piano, composed between 2013 and 2020, one of which is dedicated to Alexei.
Integral to his artistic mission is bringing innovation and accessibility to music performance to raise appreciation among younger generations for the qualities, depth, and emotional resonance of music from all eras in the classical tradition. This ambition first took shape in 2012 when, at age thirteen, he co-authored and performed in an original multimedia production, Reading Satie: Les Sports et divertissements, which featured dramatic recitation of Erik Satie’s dadaist poetry by actress Erin Hilgartner and live performance of the composer’s piano miniatures synchronized with original film montage digital projections. In 2021, continued involvement in multimedia production led Alexei to collaborate in the music ensemble for Hidden Books II: a thousand ways to say “I Love You”, an event conceived, designed, and directed by internationally acclaimed Japanese printmaker Kumi Korf.
Alexei draws much of his inspiration from literature and the natural areas of his home in Upstate New York, where he likes to take walks with his boisterous Irish wolfhound.
“To say [the recital] was masterfully performed is an understatement. Alexei’s range of technicality and musicality brings this demanding literature to new heights; he creates layers of sound an orchestra would be proud to own and perhaps best of all, he humbly put himself second to the music itself. Today I learned about the artistry of those composers as well as the artistry of an up and coming master performer. Time well spent indeed!”
—Dr. Susan Avery, Associate Professor of Music Education, Ithaca College, retired
“… Alexei is just too nuanced for words… seeing him perform is like watching the inside of a delicate submarine life form: there is a preternatural grace, respect and unconditional love that actually pains me to see… It’s humbling and yes, as you know, sacred…”
– Franklin Crawford, Tinytown Times
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[ Repertoire available upon request ]
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