ALEX BROWN
GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer Alex Brown is at the forefront of a new generation of genre-defying artists. Hailed by The New York Times for his “crystalline touch and worldly approach,” Brown fuses jazz, classical, Latin, and contemporary traditions with a singular voice as both an improviser and composer.
A long-time member of Paquito D’Rivera’s ensemble since 2007, Alex Brown has played a central role in several GRAMMY-winning and nominated projects spanning both jazz and classical spheres. He was a co-recipient of the 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium for Passion for Bach and Coltrane, alongside Jeff Scott, Imani Winds, and Harlem Quartet. He has also performed on GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winning and nominated projects with Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, and Paquito D’Rivera.
Brown has performed with a wide range of leading artists across genres, including Yo-Yo Ma, Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Cho-Liang Lin, Valerie Coleman, Armando Manzanero, Warren Wolf, Miguel Zenón, New York Voices, and Chris Thile (on Live from Here). In 2016, he was a featured soloist in Rhapsody in Blue with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto in Mexico City. He has appeared at major festivals and venues around the world, including the Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl, and Newport Jazz Festival.
As a composer and arranger, Brown blends his classical training and deep jazz roots with a modern, borderless perspective. In 2025, Brown was commissioned by Lyrica Baroque in New Orleans to compose a new sonata for oboe and piano, further expanding his contributions to the contemporary chamber music repertoire. In 2023, he wrote the string arrangements for Kendrick Scott’s Unearthed, featuring Harlem Quartet. He has created orchestral and large ensemble works for artists such as Bobby Broom and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown’s Global Big Band, and Andre Nickatina, with whom he reimagined the rapper’s music for orchestra in a genre-bending collaboration. His versatility has also led to work in film, TV, and commercial campaigns for brands such as Orbitz, Zimmermann, Omega, and Vogue.
Brown’s discography as a leader includes Pianist (2010), The Dark Fire Sessions (2021), and Island to Island (2025), a co-led project with steel pannist Victor Provost.
Born in 1987 and raised in Columbia, Maryland, Brown earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory and a Master of Music in Studio Jazz Writing from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. He currently serves on the faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and is a Yamaha Artist.