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Alexander Baboian is an eclectic guitarist, composer and educator from the US based in the Netherlands. He has been described by renowned music educator Hal Crook in JazzWax as a "future major voice in Jazz," and by All About Jazz as "a superb composer, an original improviser, and an apt bandleader." Graduating from the renowned Berklee College of Music in 2014, Alexander was awarded the Guitar Department Achievement Award twice and represented the college in major national festivals such as the Washington DC Jazz Festival, Boston Beantown Jazz Festival and JEN Jazz Conference.
After completing his studies at Berklee Alexander relocated to Europe and spent several years immersed in the vibrant art scene of Berlin, Germany, working with various forms of music and types of ensembles, taking part in memorable performances at the Morgenland Festival, Fusion Festival, Karneval der Kulturen, and Fête de la Musique. His growing interest in his own cultural heritage brought him to Armenia in 2018 where he was invited to teach in the Jazz department of Yerevan State Conservatory and worked closely with beloved Armenian pianist Vahagn Hayrapetyan. His continued academic ambitions brought him to Belgium in 2021, where he completed his master’s studies in the Jazz department of Royal Conservatoire Antwerp on a scholarship from the VLUHR and where he had the opportunity to work with renowned artists such as Joey Baron, Chris Potter, and Lionel Loueke.
As a Jazz artist and instrumentalist Alexander has appeared at major venues in America, Europe, and Asia such as The Kennedy Center, The Bohemian Caverns, Scullers, MIT and Harvard University Radio WHRB (US), A-Trane, B-Flat, Kunstfabrik Schlott (DE), The Music Village, The Hotclub Gent (BE), The Bimhuis (NE), Opus Jazz Club (HU), U Maleho Glena (CZ), Cafesjian Center for the Arts (AM), Ogikubo Velvet Sun (JP), and All That Jazz (KR) as well as festivals such as the DC Jazz Festival, JEN Jazz Conference, Beantown Jazz Festival (US), Morgenland Festival, Fusion Festival (DE), Lamantin Jazz Festival (HU), and the Goldon Apricot Film Festival (AM).
Alexander’s debut album as a leader Curiosity (2014), featured his original compositions and arrangements for contemporary Jazz trio and quintet and was well received, being described by Hrayr Attarian at All About Jazz as "an intimate, contemplative and supremely lyrical work... sonic poetry." Although his music is deeply rooted in the jazz tradition, it is rich with many other influences such as blues, soul, folk, classical, and electronic music. His compositions have been presented at De Singel, CC Muze, Howest Hogeschool, The Bimhuis Amsterdam, Hnita Jazz Club, and UGent Art Science Interaction Lab.
His broad artistic vision has lead to interdisciplinary collaborations between music and the visual arts (painter Oliver Orthuber and VJ Chuu); spoken word (Rhode Island University Annual Langston Hughes Poetry Reading); and dance (tap dancer Christopher Erk’s Tap in View and choreographer Katherine Leung’s Dreamscapes). He has contributed music to short films, animations, and video games (Capcom’s Shinsekai:Into the Depths) and participated in art installation projects (Isaac Chong Wai’s The Horizon Where We Can Never Touch at CHB Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin and Ana Prvacki’s Performing Daily Practice at the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum, Boston).
Emphasizing education as one of his foremost passions, Alexander has taught lessons and lead workshops internationally in the US, Armenia, South Korea, The Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Some of the bright names in contemporary music he has had the good fortune of studying with include David Tronzo, Simon Shaheen, Alain Mallet, Jamey Haddad, David Fiuczynski, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi, Bruce Bartlett, Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins, Bert Joris, David Gilmore, Tim Miller, Rick Peckham, Neil Leonard, Abigail and Norman Zocher, Andrew Claes, Dago Sondervan, Artur Avanesov, and Marti Epstein.
