Alexander Paley is widely recognised for his dazzling technique, his exceptionally wide repertoire of concertos and solo piano works, and the depth of his unique and personal interpretations.

Born in Chisinau, Moldova, he began studying the piano at the age of six, gave his first recital at the age of 13, and at 16 won the Moldovan National Music Competition. He then studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Bella Davidovitch and Vera Gornostayeva, completing his postgraduate studies in 1981.

He won important prizes, including the First Prize at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1884, the Bosendorfer Prize in 1986, the Grand Prize at the first Vladigerov Competition (Bulgaria) in 1986, the Debut Young Artist Grand Prize (New York) in 1988, the First Prize at the AIEX de Vries (Belgium) in 1990.

Today he performs throughout Europe and China, playing concertos with the Orchestre National de France, the Radio France Philharmonic, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, with conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Ivan Fisher, Marin Alsop, Lawrence Foster and Jean-Claude Casadesus.
He has given recitals at Radio France in Paris, in the Grands Interprètes de Lyon series, at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, at the Laeiszhall in Hamburg, at the Lille Piano Festival, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, at the Forbidden City in Beijing, in Vienna, Austria etc...

Alexander Paley is one of the most sought-after pianists in the United States. He has played and still plays regularly at Carnegie Hall in New York, but also in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. He has been a guest of the Chicago, Washington, St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles and New York Orchestras. In Washington, since his first triumphant appearance in 1991 with the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, he has performed every year at the Kennedy Center. Of a recital of Bach's Goldberg Variations and Suite Française No. 5, the Washington Post wrote: "Such a recital is rare. The first half was so moving that the intermission became a delightful pause, both to savor the sublime art that had just been heard, and the pleasure of knowing that there were still great emotions to come.

He is the partner of such eminent artists as Bella Davidovich, the late Mstislav Rostropovich and Vladimi Spivakov, and has performed with such important ensembles as the Vermeer, Ysaye and Fine Arts Quartets.

The year 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the Alexander Paley Festival at the Moulin d'Andé in Normandy. This festival, consisting of a week of recitals, lieder and chamber music concerts, has become a highlight of the season for many French music lovers. In 1997 he made his debut as a conductor at the festival, conducting Pergolesi's La Serva Padrone and Telemann's Pimpinone at the Théâtre d'Evreux. Since then he has conducted and performed the complete keyboard concertos of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and conducted Verdi's La Traviata at the National Opera of Moldova. In addition, Alexander Paley directs an annual festival in Richmond, Virginia, which has been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for its bold programming and superb concerts since its inception in 1998.

Alexander Paley has recorded a wide range of works, including the complete piano works of Balakirev (ESS.A.Y. ), works by Scriabin and Weber (Naxos), cello and piano sonatas by Chopin and Rachmaninov with cellist Alexander Dmitriev (Accord), Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Septet (Musidisc), the world premiere recording of Giovanni Sgambati's piano concerto with the Montpellier Philharmonic (Actes Sud Musicales), in 1994 Anton Rubinstein's Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 4 with the Russian State Orchestra (Russian Disc), Sheila Silver's Piano Concerto with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra (Naxos) in 2003, a recording of works by Jean-Louis Agobet with the Strasbourg Philharmonic (Timpani, CD awarded at the Victoires de la Musique 2006). He has recorded a series of CDs for Blüthner Records, including 10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet and two suites from Prokofiev's Cinderella, as well as works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bartel, Chopin, the Goldberg Variations and Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, not to mention a live DVD entitled Bluthner Soirée with Alexander Paley, featuring Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert's lieder. His recordings include both the Enesco cello sonatas with Alexander Dmitriev and the complete Enesco violin sonatas with violinist Amiram Ganz.

A complete set of Rameau's harpsichord pieces and the first volume of Rachmaninov's piano works (Preludes op.23 and Etudes-Tableaux) were released for the La Musica label in December 2020. The second Rachmaninov volume (Preludes op. 32 and Variations on a theme by Corelli) will be released in November 2021.