Alex Aldridge is an educator, soloist, and chamber musician from West Des Moines,
Iowa. He began playing electric guitar at age 13 under the instruction of James Biehn, and was inspired by classic rock acts like Yes, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix. He began studying music at the University of Northern Iowa in 2011 under the instruction of Robert Dunn. It was here he was first introduced and fell in love with classical guitar. He earned his BA in music in 2015. In the summer of 2014 he attended the Volterra project in the Tuscan city of Volterra, Italy, a week-long guitar workshop Italy hosted by Greek guitarist Antigoni Goni. This inspiring event led him to Hartford Connecticut, where he studied at the Hartt School Conservatory under the instruction of Richard Provost beginning in 2016. While at Hartt he performed in several masterclasses for acclaimed guitarists such as Jason Vieaux, Oscar Ghiglia, Andrew York, Scott Tennant, and several others. He and his duo partner, flutist Sierra Schmeltzer, also took 2nd place in the annual Hartt School chamber music competition.
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 2016-2021 before returning to Iowa. More recently in 2025, Alex performed “The History of the Tango” with flutist Hannah Oceana for the Cedar Valley Chamber Music society’s “Last Tango in Iowa” concert. In December of the same year he performed “Concerto for Guitar No.1 in D, Opus 99” by Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco with the Central Iowa Symphony. He currently maintains a large studio at Grinnell College and resides in Ames. While classical guitar is his area of expertise, he is also well-versed in rock, funk, blues, and other electric guitar-centric styles.
