We are thrilled to welcome our new Principal Cello Alex Lavine.
Alex Lavine is a dynamic cellist and recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where he was honored with the Kraeuter Musical Foundation Award and twice recognized in the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition. His recent performances have taken him to prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the DiMenna Center, and Bohemian National Hall.
A passionate chamber musician, Alex has appeared at the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and performed alongside esteemed artists such as Carmit Zori, Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Charles Neidich, Colin Carr, Zvi Plesser, Kwan Yi, and Emanuel Gruber.
In October, Alex was selected to perform in the Rising Stars concert at Cello Akademie Rutesheim, where he also studied with Wen-Sinn Yang. He has served as principal cellist with orchestras at both the Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University, and was a member of the inaugural season of the New Carolina Sinfonia.
Dedicated to arts education and community engagement, Alex is currently a faculty member at the Richmond Music Trust. He was co-founder and Director of Marketing and Development for Bloomington Connect, an initiative focused on training artist-citizens in underserved spaces. He has previously taught at the Opportunity Music Project and Larchmont Music Academy, assisted Julia Lichten at the Meadowmount School of Music, and presented masterclasses at East Carolina University.
Alex’s principal mentors include Julia Lichten, David Geber, Eric Kim, Emanuel Gruber, Bonnie Thron, and Jeffrey Solow. He recently relocated to London to pursue postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Hannah Roberts. He is the recipient of Second Prize in the North London Music Festival’s D’Addario String Competition, and has been shortlisted for North and East London’s Musician of the Year—a distinction that includes a London concerto debut in February 2026.
He is grateful to Help Musicians for supporting his studies, and performs on a 1979 cello by Colin J Irving, purchased with a grant from the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments.
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