Alexander Tovar was born in Los Angeles, California, to a musical family; his father and uncle, composers and his mother, a pianist. By age 10, Alexander had written his first opera, Strega Nona, from ...Show More
Alexander Tovar was born in Los Angeles, California, to a musical family; his father and uncle, composers and his mother, a pianist. By age 10, Alexander had written his first opera, Strega Nona, from the Tomie de Paola book, which he composed for his father's birthday. After this ambitious work, Alexander formally began music lessons, studying trumpet, piano, and guitar. While on his way to becoming a serious jazz trumpeter in high school, he gained strength and discipline in composition. By his senior year he had written a piece for his high school orchestra. During his last semester at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, Alexander was introduced to Robert Kraft, President of Fox music. Mr. Kraft quickly became a mentor and supportive friend, introducing Alexander to film and television composer, Roger Neill. Alexander worked for Neill, assisting on a concert at the Hollywood Bowl featuring the French music duo, AIR, and as a music copyist and sound designer for Neill's comic opera, The Beastly Bombing: A Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by True Love, which won best musical of the year at the LA Weekly Awards. It was Robert Kraft who introduced Alexander to his musical hero, Philip Glass.After graduating from high school, Alexander moved to New York City to work for Philip Glass at his private studio in the East Village. He became a music assistant to Philip Glass and Nico Muhly, working on two motion pictures: Undertow (2003), and Taking Lives (2003). Returning to Los Angeles, Alexander continued to work with Neill while attending Pasadena City College, studying philosophy. He transferred to the University of Southern California in Fall, 2005, studying composition privately with Stephen Hartke, Tamar Diesendruck, Frank Ticheli, and David Fick, writing several pieces for various ensembles, all which have been performed live at USC.Tovar's piece, "Eudaemonia", was selected on the New Music for Orchestra concert, conducted by Donald Crockett and broadcasted live on 91.5 KUSC. In Spring, 2008, while still at USC, Alexander worked as a copyist and orchestrator for the Nickelodeon television show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. In Fall, 2009, he was commissioned to compose a piece for the opening season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic honoring Gustavo Dudamel as part of the inaugural gala event. His concert and film music has been performed throughout the country including New York and Boston. Slovenian composer Borut Krzisnik has described his music as "sparkling, masterly composed pieces full of energy". John Zorn has called Alexander's music "wild stuff", having an "impressive range".Alexander recently worked on an Elton John and Leon Russell album, entitled, "The Union", produced by T-Bone Burnett. Tovar's score to The Crown Prince was recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, 2010. He remains an assistant and orchestrator for Van Dyke Parks. Alexander is currently producing a musical entitled "Mr. Genius", writing the book and the music. Hide
