Alexander Rider studied with Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly, and was then a scholarship student of Imogen Barford at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama. From here, he graduated with distinction, and was subsequently honoured with a Guildhall Artists’ Fellowship.

With interests encompassing period performance to the newest music, Alexander freelances with major ensembles throughout the United Kingdom. These include the BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, London Chamber Orchestra, Ballet Rambert, the Aurora Orchestra, English Touring Opera, Brighton Philharmonic, Chroma, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Academy of Ancient Music. 

As a soloist, Alexander is noted for his affinity with French music at the turn of the last century, and for his work on original instruments of the period. Using an Erard harp built in 1902, Alexander has made painstaking research into the époque and given numerous lectures and recitals to great acclaim. He has lectured at the World Harp Congress in Cardiff, for the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest), The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Harp on Wight Festival. He is delighted to have recorded this first volume of forgotten French treasures for harp for Willowhayne Records, with further volumes to be recorded in 2022 and 2023.