Australian-Italian artist Alex Raineri is a piano player, harpsichordist, composer, improviser, curator, producer, writer, musical director and educator. Born in 1993, his home-base is on Jagera and Turrbal land in Meanjin (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia). Alex is the artistic director and producer of the annual Brisbane Music Festival and is the owner and creative director of theatre space FourthWall Arts. He is an artist ambassador for Kawai Australia.

Though trained classically, Alex is passionate about deconstructing genre barriers, nurturing how the tendrils of an old (classical) tradition can resonate vibrantly in today’s world. Alex’s creative ethos embodies a gentle shift towards a utopian future, leveraging storytelling through music as a powerful vehicle for manifesting social change. 

His collaborative and original work foregrounds diversity and innovation. As a commissioner, he has activated over 90 new works. As a performer, he has an expansive repertoire traversing Monteverdi to Xenakis and he is equally authoritative in interpreting the classical canon and premiering new work. Alex’s own compositional practice explores the intersection between old and new, weaving musical conventions in fresh ways. Beyond music, he has collaborated with dancers, actors, filmmakers, visual artists, and designers. 

Critical praise for his work has lauded him as “a musical chameleon … a visionary prophet of the keys” (Limelight), “fearless, playful, and technically formidable” (Stage Whispers), "a born communicator" (The Australian), and “a brilliant young musician" (Otago Times). 

As a performing artist, Alex’s extensive international touring includes shows throughout America, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the Queensland, Tasmanian, Darwin, and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Ensemble Q, Southern Cross Soloists, Four Winds Festival Orchestra, Bangalow Festival Orchestra, Queensland Youth Symphony and the Queensland Pops Orchestra. 

As a recording artist, discography includes releases with Decca, Parma Records, ABC Classic, Kammerklang, MOVE Records, Soothe Sounds and multiple independent releases. He has made television appearances in Australia and Germany, and radio broadcasts on BBC, ABC, Radio NZ, California Capital Public Radio, Chicago’s WFMT and Florida’s WSMR and all of the Australian MBS Networks. 

Alex is the Artistic Director of the annual Brisbane Music Festival. Praised for its "diverse programming" (Limelight), BMF celebrates its ninth year of operations in 2026. Within the festival he embodies a multitude of roles including; artistic director, producer, marketing and social media manager, grant writing and philanthropy, and the coordination and delivery of an impactful young artist program. BMF has toured festival shows to London, Melbourne, Sydney, Bundaberg and Maleny. As an independent producer, he delivered the 2024 iteration of Nova Muse Festival, touring throughout Tasmania.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Alex has commissioned over 90 works and has given over 140 World Premieres and over 170 Australian Premieres to date. Australian premieres include music by Messiaen, Lachenmann, Feldman/Beckett, Reich, Cage, Luther-Adams, Birtwistle, Furrer, Kurtag, Saunders, Fure, Henze, Murail, Hurel, and Aperghis. Alex has worked with and/or commissioned works from many of Australia's leading composers including Brett Dean, Liza Lim, Chris Dench, Elliott Gyger, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, William Barton, James Ledger, Kate Moore, Lachlan Skipworth, Gerard Brophy, Paul Dean, Lyle Chan, Erik Griswold, and many others. 

Alex’s own compositional practice sits in the creative space where tradition aligns with innovation. It interrogates the intersection between the old and the new, weaving conventional ‘known’ sounds in fresh new ways. The gestural language of his work is firmly rooted in strong creative concepts, linking the abstract nature of art music to more concrete narratives. With gesture as a focal point, Alex’s compositional practice is imbued with varying levels of prescriptiveness, oscillating between notated music and semi-improvisatory realms. His works have premiered/featured at the Queensland Art Gallery, Harrigan’s Lane, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and Brisbane Music Festival.

Ongoing collaborative partnerships include; Lina Andonovska, Jessica Aszodi, Lotte Betts-Dean, Jack Bochow, Jakob Bragg, Luke Carbon,  Rebecca Cassidy, Lyle Chan, Lisa Cheney, Courtenay Cleary, Matthew Connell, Roger Cui, Paul Dean, Trish Dean, Chris Dench, James Dobinson, Melody Eötvös, Alexandra Flood, Max Foster, Drew Gilchrist, Marian Heckenberg, Jonathan Henderson, Adam Herd, Jonathan Hickey, Julia Hill, Finn Idris, Joshua Jones, Brendan Joyce, Jeremy Kleeman, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Camilo Lopez, Irena Lysiuk, Laurence Matheson, Tim Munro, Natalie Nicolas, Katina Olsen, Katherine Philp, Laura Raineri, Jenna Robertson, Thea Rossen, John Rotar, Jodie Rottle, Dario Scalabrini, Karin Schaupp, Oliver Scott, Brenton Spiteri, Daniel Shearer, Bethany Shepherd, Bethany Simons, Katie Stenzel, Simon Svoboda, Angus Wilson and Samantha Wolf. Alex is one half of violin/keys/electronics duo Helcarax and one third of the trio Ways by Ways. He was a core member of Southern Cross Soloists (2015-21) and was a founding member/pianist of Kupka's Piano (2012-18).  

Notable chamber music collaborations include; Andreas Ottensamer, Twoset Violin, eighth blackbird, ELISION, Asko|Schönberg, Rubiks Collective, Lior, Sara Macliver, Mirusia, Natalie Clein, Natsuko Yoshimoto, Greta Bradman, Lorina Gore, Amy Lehpamer, Claire Edwardes, Li Wei Qin, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Warwick Fyfe, Jack Liebeck, Kathryn Stott, Slava Grigoryan, Brett Dean, William Barton, Sophie Rowell, Jane Sheldon, Lisa Moore, Stefan Cassomenos, Ensemble Offspring, Orava Quartet, Camerata, Topology, ensemble interface, Miroslav Petkov, Wilma Smith, James Crabb, Andrew Goodwin, Eva Kong, Amalia Hall, Ensemble Nikel, Speak Percussion, Kroumata Percussion, Arcadia Quintet, Michael Houston, Andrew Pelletier, Richard Haynes, Carl Rosman and many others.

Significant appearances in major Australian festivals/series/venues include; Australian Digital Concert Hall, Utzon Music Series, Musica Viva International Concert Series, Melbourne Recital Centre, Ukaria, MONA, GOMA, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of NSW, HOTA, Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival, Phoenix Central Park, Opera Queensland Studio Series, Music in the Regions, Bangalow Music Festival, Bendigo Festival of Exploratory Music, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Four Winds Festival, Ten Days on the Island, Canberra International Music Festival, Queensland Music Festival, Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival, Music by the Sea, Castlemaine Festival, Recitals Australia, Sunshine Coast Chamber Music Festival, Bleach Festival, 3MBS Marathon and Radiothon, Australian Piano Duo Festival, Brisbane Baroque Festival, QSOCurrent, Canberra Symphony Orchestra Recital Series, Queensland Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series, 4MBS Festival of Classics, Contra Concerts, Queensland Art Song Festival, Nova Muse Festival, Australian Flute Festival, Voxalis Opera and Crossbows Festival.

International festivals/series/venues appearances include; Summer Courses for New Music (Darmstadt), Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), University of Music and Theatre ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ (Leipzig), IMPULS Academy (Graz), Espoo Cultural Centre (Helsinki), Haags Pianohuis (Den Haag), Grimeborne Opera Festival (London), The Cockpit Theatre (London), University of Sheffield (UK), University of Huddersfield (UK), Hugh Lane Gallery (Dublin), Queens University (Belfast), Dame Myra Hess Series (Chicago), Epiphany Concert Series (Washington DC), Tuesday’s at Emmanuel (Baltimore), Castles and Cathedrals Recital Tour (California, various), Brisbane Symphonic Band Taiwan Tour (Rhapsody in Blue - soloist), Concours musical international de Montréal, Aroha Music Series (Bay of Islands), University of Waikato (Hamilton), University of Otago (Dunedin).

Major awards include; Churchill Fellowship (2024), Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music Kranichsteiner Musikpries (2014), APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards Queensland Luminary Award (2021), in Daily’s 40 Under 40 (2025), Australian National Piano Award (2014, winner), ANAM Concerto Competition (2014, winner) and Kerikeri International Piano Competition in New Zealand (2014, winner). Alex has been a prizewinner and/or finalist in the Sydney International Piano Competition, Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, Mietta Song Competition, ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards and Freedman Classical Music Fellowship. Alex has worked as a panellist for APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards, Musica Viva’s Strike a Chord and the Kayserberg International Piano Competition.

Embracing versatility, the focal point of Alex's professional practice is within the realms of classical music, though often extends to the realms of jazz, musical theatre, pop, rock, and folk music. Alex has curated and/or partaken in many innovative cross-genre and inter-disciplinary projects traversing theatre, film, contemporary dance, ballet, visual art, contemporary performance art, and fashion. This includes collaborations with Dead Puppets Society, Australasian Dance Collective, Brisbane Writers Festival, Kaldor Public Arts Projects, Queensland Theatre, Queensland Ballet, Makeshift Dance Collective, Victorian Theatre Company, Dark Unicorn Productions, Paul Kildea, Peter Bassett, Helen Morse, Damien Beaumont, Paddy Cooper, Jason Klarwein, Eljo Agenbach and more.

He regularly collaborates with Opera Queensland as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and repetiteur. Alex has been musical director for; Testament for Grimeborne Festival in London, St Kilda Tales for Victorian Theatre Company & Brisbane Music Festival at Melbourne’s Theatreworks, In a Grove (Cerrone) and Are You Lonesome Tonight for Opera Queensland and Staged for Brisbane Music Festival. As a repetiteur Alex has worked on productions of; La Boheme (Puccini), Tosca (Puccini), Macbeth (Verdi), A Flowering Tree (Adams), Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), La voix humaine (Poulenc), and The Call (D’Netto) for Opera Queensland, Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Monteverdi) for Green Opera in London, The Diary of One Who Disappeared (Janacek) for Victorian Opera, Il Tabarro (Puccini), Suor Angelica (Puccini) and Gianni Schicci (Puccini) for the Cuskelly Summer School, The Telephone (Menotti) for Brisbane Festival, and Staged (Raineri/Idris/Robertson/Shearer) for Brisbane Music Festival.  

As an educator, Alex has given masterclasses at; the University of Sheffield (UK), University of Chico (USA), University of Dunedin (New Zealand), University of Hamilton (New Zealand), Australian National Academy of Music, University of Melbourne, University of Western Australia, New England Conservatorium, Lismore Conservatorium, Clarence Valley Conservatorium and AMEB Queensland.

Alex was a radio-presenter on 4MBS Classic FM (2022-2024). From 2015-2023 he held associate artist positions at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and at the University of Queensland. As a writer, his work has been disseminated by various publications and forums including Limelight, ClassikON, in Daily, The Music Trust’s Loudmouth, Australian Music Centre's Resonate, Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, and extensive program notes for Brisbane Music Festival, Southern Cross Soloists, Nova Muse Festival and Opera Queensland.  

In his student years, Alex's principal mentors were Timothy Young, Leah Horwitz OAM, Stephen Emmerson, Huguette Brassine, and Genevieve Lacey. Alex’s composition mentors include Jane Sheldon and Gerard Brophy. Through scholarships, fellowships, courses, and masterclasses, Alex has received further impactful mentorship from Imogen Cooper, Nicolas Hodges, Lisa Moore, Lisa Kaplan, Boris Berman, Anna D’Errico, Mark Knoop, Peter Hill, Ian Pace, Kathryn Stott, Paul Lewis, Steven Osbourne and many others.

Alex completed undergraduate studies in Brisbane at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University (class of 2013) graduating with Class I Honours and a University Medal. He continued studies in Melbourne (2014-15) in the Professional Performance Program at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), continuing in 2016 with a Fellowship year.  Alex holds a Licentiate Diploma from the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) and a Licentiate Diploma with Distinction from Trinity College London.