“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 made his professional debut in 2017 for Classical Pianists of the Future, and has since given recitals throughout New York State, featured in concert seasons of the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse’s Civic Morning Musicals organization, the Chautauqua Institution, and as returning collaborator with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. Alexei enjoys a continued relationship with PBS affiliate WSKG’s “Expressions” TV/Radio program, on which he has appeared as performer, host, and co-producer, and in 2022 gained nationwide recognition when his performances aired repeatedly on NPR’s Performance Today with host Fred Child.
Alexei holds performance degrees from Ithaca College, where he won the 2019 and 2020 IC Concerto Competition while studying with Charis Dimaras, and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the position of Associate Instructor in Piano while studying with Arnaldo Cohen. A returning participant at the Chautauqua Institution Piano Program, Alexei was finalist in the 2021 Chautauqua Institution Piano Competition and 2024 Sigma Alpha Iota Concerto Competition.
An avid collaborative pianist, Alexei is quickly becoming recognized for his “inimitable charm and spirit” in the chamber music sphere. He has appeared with artists such as violist Kyle Armbrust, cellist Elizabeth Simkin, trombonists Evelyn Carlson and Jennifer Wharton, hornist Adam Unsworth, and the Grammy-winning Sō Percussion. As recipients of the Steinway Series Guest Artist Award at the 2023 Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Italy, Alexei and violinist Gabriel Art Mendoza performed a program of sonatas for violin and piano at University of South Florida for its 2023-24 Steinway Series. Alexei shone in the 2024-25 season, traversing the five Beethoven cello sonatas with cellist Panos Dimaras in their recital series The Beethoven Project, and appearing as guest artist at the inaugural Wyoming International Chamber Music Festival.
As soloist, Alexei has performed with conductors Marius Stravinsky, Grant Cooper, Toshiyuki Shimada, Rossen Milanov, and Octavio Más-Arocas, and ensembles such as the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, and the Virtuosi Brunenses in Perugia, Italy. An active performer or contemporary music, Alexei works with composers Robert Aceto and groundbreaking post-minimalist David Borden, for whom in 2022 Alexei made premier studio recordings of three of his Preludes and Fugues for solo piano.
Alexei hopes to raise appreciation among younger generations for the qualities, depth, and emotional resonance of music from all eras in the classical tradition by bringing innovation and accessibility to music performance. 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.
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“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
Selection from my Beethoven Project with Panos Dimaras, cellist
Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102/2
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[ Repertoire available upon request ]
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