Alexandre Tavares

Alexandre Tavares is a Portuguese pianist whose artistic identity lies at the intersection of contemporary music, improvisation, and live electronics. Currently based in Basel, he is dedicated to expanding the expressive language of the piano by integrating acoustic performance with live electronics, instrument preparations, and interdisciplinary collaboration. His work challenges traditional performance roles and explores new relationships between the performer, the instrument, and technology.

He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Creative Interpretation in New Music at Musik Akademie Basel, under the guidance of Marcus Weiss, Yaron Deutsch, Sarah Maria Sun and Gilles Grimaître (his primary piano teacher). Alexandre is also developing his practice in live-electronic performance with mentors Svetlana Maraš, Cedric Spindler and Volker Böhm, and in improvisation, with Andrea Neumann.

His artistic practice thrives on close collaboration with composers, conductors, and interdisciplinary artists. Alexandre has worked with a wide range of creators such as Afonso Nogueira, Alessandro Perini, Bastien David, Beltran Gonzalez, Canco López, Franz-Josef Elmer, Carmel Curiel, Changjin Ha, Dzovinar Mikirditsian, Elias Frisk, Félix Ibarrondo, Haodong Wang, Jan Wierzba, Love Carbin, Marco Pereira, Mehmet Ali Simayli, Mihai Codrea, Mike Svoboda, Belenish Moreno-Gil & Óscar Escudero, Sanziana Dobrovicescu, Simon Steen-Andersen, Sunghyun Lee, Sungtae Paek, Stefano Grasso, Yiran Zhao, and Varun Rangaswamy. He views performance as a living, community-driven act; thus, his collaborative focus extends into his deep interest in improvisation.

While his artistic practice is forward-looking, Alexandre’s foundations are rooted in classical training. He studied in Portugal at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo, with prior mentorship from Luís Duarte and Luís Filipe Sá. His background includes extensive experience in chamber music, accompaniment, and a heavy exposure to jazz and world music traditions—elements that continue to shape his musical voice.

Alexandre has participated in a wide range of masterclasses, projects, and workshops, also collaborating with established figures in the contemporary music scene – such as Benjamin Kobler, Christian Dierstein, Jürg Henneberger, Nicolas Hodges, etc. His work has been featured in international settings including festivals (MUSICA Strasbourg, IMPULS in Graz, ATTACCA in Basel) ensemble projects, and interdisciplinary performances.

In December 2025, he was a soloist with Ensemble Diagonal at the Museum Tinguely in Basel, performing Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques.

Above all, it is the central question of what the contemporary piano can still mean—and how it can coexist within today’s artistic ecosystem—alongside the role of community in shaping modern sound, that drives his evolving practice.